Doors and windows, painted

A front door is the smallest job on the house and the one people look at the longest. It’s also the one that shows a rushed brush from the sidewalk.

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Why is a door slower than a wall?

A wall is one surface. A door is a dozen: the faces, the panels and their edges, the stiles, the top and bottom, the hinge edge, the lock edge, and the jamb and stops around it. Every one of them meets another at an angle that has to be cut in by hand.

Then it has to dry before it shuts. A door closed too early sticks to its own jamb and peels the first time somebody pulls it. That’s why a door usually means the room is open to the weather for part of a day.

What gets taken off first

Handles, locks, strike plates, knockers, numbers, and the hinges where it makes sense. Painted-over hardware is the clearest sign of a fast job, and it’s the thing you touch every single day.

Weatherstripping gets pulled or masked rather than painted. Paint on a seal stops it sealing.

Windows, from the inside

Sashes, stops, the sill and the apron, plus the casing around the opening. On an older house the sash is often painted shut already, and freeing it is part of the job rather than a surprise during it.

Glass gets cut to a clean line. Some crews mask it and some cut it by hand with a brush and scrape the overrun. Either is fine. A wavy line isn’t.

Windows, from the outside

This is where the house takes its weather. Sills sit flat and hold water, and the bottom corners of the frame are the first place it gets in.

Anything soft there gets repaired before it’s painted, not covered. Push a thumb into the corner of a sill. If it gives, paint isn’t the fix and wood rot repair comes first.

What moves the price?

How many: Doors and window openings are counted one at a time, because that’s how the work happens.
What shape they’re in: A door with sound paint needs a scuff and a coat. One that’s peeling down to bare wood is a different job.
Inside or out: Outside brings the weather, the height and the repairs into it.
How far the color moves: A dark front door over a light one, or the reverse, can take a third coat to look solid.

A door or two on its own is a small job, and there’s no minimum. Ask and we’ll price it.

Doors and window trim usually go in with interior painting or exterior painting. If the window itself is fogged, stuck or soft, you want replacement rather than paint.

Just the front door, or every window in the house?

Tell us which, and send a photo. We call back and set a time to come look.

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