Austin Painting Contractor for Family Homes Built to Outlast the Texas Sun

UV radiation breaks down the binder in exterior paint. That leaves a powdery residue that rubs off on your hand, and the color goes flat. Dark and saturated colors lose depth fastest, and trim and fascia go along with them.

Austin gets very strong UV for most of the year, and summers regularly run past 100°F. South- and west-facing elevations take the full afternoon sun, and the surface gets much hotter than the air. Builder-grade and low-solids paints weren't made for that kind of exposure. Dark exteriors are popular on new infill around Mueller, Zilker and East Austin, and they show fading within a few years. Many homes in Leander and Georgetown's master-planned communities are now 8–15 years into their original builder paint and showing it.

• Chalky white residue when you rub the siding
• Visible color difference between the shady and sunny sides
• Faded, pinkish reds or washed-out blues and grays
• Dull trim and fascia with no sheen left
• Chalk streaks running down onto brick or stone

We see this most on west walls in Circle C Ranch, Avery Ranch and Crystal Falls, and on dark board-and-batten in Mueller. Lakeway and Steiner Ranch homes that face the lake catch reflected light off the water too, so fading speeds up.

We pressure-wash, apply a bonding primer where needed, then two coats of premium UV-resistant 100% acrylic. On high-exposure walls we'll steer you toward colors that hold up.

When the ground under a house shrinks and swells, the framing shifts. That shows up as diagonal drywall cracks, nail pops, gaps where trim meets the wall, split caulk around doors and windows, and cracks in stucco or mortar. Painting over them doesn't last.

East of MoPac and I-35, and across much of Round Rock, Pflugerville and Georgetown, the soil is expansive Houston Black clay. During drought it shrinks, and after big rains it swells again. Austin's long dry spells followed by Flash Flood Alley storms keep that cycle going, so the house moves season after season. Rigid fillers and cheap caulk crack again within months. That's why Austin homeowners expect drywall repair to be part of an interior paint job.

• Diagonal cracks from door and window corners
• Nail pops dotting walls and ceilings
• Gaps between baseboard or crown and the wall
• Caulk joints split open along trim
• Doors that stick or have uneven reveals
• Stepped cracks in brick mortar or stucco

This is common in 1950s–70s ranches in Allandale and Crestview, 1990s tract homes in Brushy Creek and Falcon Pointe, and newer Teravista homes on clay lots. It often gets worse after a dry summer.

We cut out and retape cracks, set and re-secure nail pops, use flexible elastomeric caulk and patching, and match texture before we prime and paint. If the movement looks structural, we'll tell you to have the foundation evaluated first.

When wood or pressed hardboard stays damp, fungi break it down. It goes soft, then crumbles. Paint can't stick to rotted material, and if nobody fixes it, water gets behind the siding and into the wall cavity.

Heavy storms soak exterior wood. Then the heat bakes it dry and opens up every crack in the caulk and paint, and the next rain gets in deeper. Gutters overflowing in a downpour keep fascia boards wet. Lots of 1980s–90s homes in Round Rock, Cedar Park, Anderson Mill and Milwood were built with Masonite-type hardboard siding that swells and rots at the bottom edges. Older central Austin homes have original wood sills that have been through decades of this.

• Soft spots when you press with a screwdriver
• Swollen, flaring bottom edges on siding panels
• Paint peeling in strips around window sills
• Dark staining or gaps at fascia joints
• Carpenter bees, ants or termite activity
• Holes in soffit where pests are getting into the attic

We see this at fascia corners under valleys in Great Hills, on hardboard lower courses in Pflugerville and Round Rock, and on bungalow sills in Hyde Park and Travis Heights.

We cut out the rot, replace it with primed wood or fiber-cement, seal the joints and prime the raw edges before painting. If replacement needs a permit, we'll let you know.

Mildew and algae are organisms that grow on paint in damp, shaded spots. They show up as black, gray or green spots and streaks. They hold moisture against the surface and break down the coating over time, and painting over them just traps them underneath.

Austin's humidity stays high from spring into fall, and that's when mildew grows. Mature live oaks shade north walls in Tarrytown, Travis Heights and Westlake, so those walls never fully dry out. Homes along Lake Travis and Lake Austin in Volente, Jonestown and Lakeway sit in damp air almost all the time. Pressure-washing alone usually doesn't kill the spores, and the growth comes back within a season.

• Black or gray speckling on siding or soffits
• Green film on north-facing walls
• Dark streaks under eaves and gutters
• Musty smell on porches and covered patios
• Growth that comes back soon after washing

It's worst under the oak canopy in Tarrytown and West Lake Hills and on lake-facing homes in Volente and Rough Hollow. Stucco and textured fiber-cement give it more surface to grab onto.

We soft-wash with a mildewcide cleaner and rinse thoroughly, let the surface dry fully, then paint with a mildew-resistant finish or add mildewcide to the paint.

After decades of oil and latex layers, old paint gets brittle. It cracks into scaly patterns called alligatoring and peels down to bare wood. On pre-1978 homes, those layers almost always include lead, so scraping and sanding them is a health hazard.

Central Austin has thousands of homes built before 1940, plus many postwar homes built before 1978. That covers Hyde Park, Clarksville, Old West Austin, Bouldin Creek and Travis Heights. Original wood lap siding and wood windows may have 8–12 coats of paint on them. Austin's heat and wet-dry swings flex those thick, brittle layers until they let go. Cutting corners with dry scraping spreads lead dust into yards, gardens and the house.

• Scaly, cracked paint that looks like reptile skin
• Paint peeling down to bare gray wood
• Paint chips collecting in flower beds
• Window sashes painted shut or binding
• Thick paint buildup hiding trim detail

Most common on Craftsman bungalows in Hyde Park, Victorians in Travis Heights and cottages in Clarksville. Many of these sit in local historic districts where we have to preserve the original materials.

We follow lead-safe certified practices: containment, wet scraping, HEPA cleanup, then an oil-based or bonding primer and premium acrylic topcoats. Repairs are like-for-like so they respect the historic character.

Hail dents and pits siding, cracks paint film, and chips trim and metal garage doors. Even small breaks in the paint let moisture in, so you get rust on metal and swelling in wood.

Spring storms along the I-35 corridor and across Williamson County regularly drop damaging hail. Round Rock, Georgetown, Pflugerville and Cedar Park have all been through repeated hail seasons, and many repaints there go through homeowners insurance. Fiber-cement and hardboard both show spatter marks and cracked paint, and painted metal garage doors dent easily.

• Small circular dings or chips in siding paint
• Dented, chipped gutters and downspouts
• Pitted garage doors and metal trim
• Cracked paint on window trim and fascia
• Rust spots forming on metal after a storm

This happens in clusters after spring storms in Teravista, Brushy Creek, Falcon Pointe and Sun City Georgetown. Whole streets often file claims at once, so crews book up fast.

We document the damage with photos, write an itemized estimate you can use for your claim, seal exposed areas quickly, and repaint the affected elevations to match.

Many homes came with builder-grade flat paint on orange-peel walls and golden oak cabinets. Flat paint scuffs and won't wash clean. The oak cabinets look dated and hold onto grease. Neither one stands up to family life.

Austin's housing boom from the 1990s through the 2010s left a lot of homes with contractor-grade finishes. Now those homes in Cedar Park, Leander, Round Rock and Pflugerville have kids, pets and home offices. Many owners came from out of state and want modern looks like warm whites, greige and painted cabinets. Others are getting ready to sell in a market where neutral, fresh paint helps the listing.

• Walls that burnish or smear when wiped
• Scuffs and fingerprints that won't come off
• Orange-toned oak cabinets with worn finish around handles
• Greasy buildup on kitchen cabinet doors
• Peeling paint in bathrooms near showers
• Touch-ups that flash and don't match

Common in 2000s homes in Avery Ranch, Crystal Falls and Steiner Ranch, and in 1990s kitchens across Brushy Creek and Circle C. Pre-listing repaints spike in spring.

We repaint in scrubbable eggshell or satin with low-VOC products. For cabinets, we degrease, sand, prime with a bonding primer and spray a hard urethane-modified enamel.