House Painters in Mountain Brook, AL

Oak Shade and Mildew Near Jemison Park and Overton

Mountain Brook's oak canopy is one of the best things about living here and one of the hardest things on exterior paint. Around Jemison Park, along the creek lots in Cherokee Bend, and on the heavily wooded estate lots in Overton, some walls almost never see direct sun. They stay damp after every rain, grow green mildew, and collect leaf debris in the gutters that spills onto fascia and trim.

Painting over mildew does not kill it. It grows back through the new film. Our prep starts with a pressure wash and mildew treatment, then priming of any bare wood. On the shadiest walls we often recommend Sherwin-Williams Duration or Emerald over our standard SuperPaint, since the thicker film holds up better against dirt and mildew. If clogged gutters are soaking the trim, we will point that out and can handle the gutter work too.

Painted Brick and Limewash on Lane Park's Traditional Brick

Lane Park and the streets near English Village are full of traditional brick from the 1930s through the 1950s. Some owners want to keep the brick natural and repaint only the trim. Others want a lighter, softer look. For those, limewash is often a better fit than paint on an older home: it soaks into the brick, lets the masonry breathe, and wears to an aged finish rather than peeling.

Paint gives a cleaner, more uniform color and typically lasts 10 to 15 years or more on brick. Whichever you choose, the coating has to be breathable. Old brick that cannot dry out will push the finish off from behind. Expect brick painting or limewash to run about $3.00 to $6.50 per square foot, and we sample both on your wall first.

Rotted Sills and Porch Trim on Older Mountain Brook Homes

On houses this age, the paint estimate and the carpentry estimate are hard to separate. Window sills, porch columns, fascia, and the bottom edges of wood siding are where rot starts. Our house painters in Mountain Brook work for a licensed home builder, so we repair those pieces as part of the job instead of filling them with putty. We typically find rot in:

• Window sills and the bottom rails of old wood sashes
• Porch columns, bases, and ceiling boards
• Fascia boards behind overflowing gutters
• Door thresholds and the trim around them

Wood rot repair usually runs $12 to $30 per linear foot, and we spell it out in the estimate so nothing comes as a surprise once the scraping starts.