Historic Home Exterior Painting

Painting an older house the careful way

Painting a historic home well is mostly about prep: taking off only the paint that has failed and keeping the original wood. Historic homes have old wood, many layers of paint and details that are hard to replace. Safe Choice Painting paints historic and older homes as part of our exterior painting work.

We work in local historic districts and on older streets outside them.

How much paint should come off?

Less than most people expect. The National Park Service's Preservation Brief 10, on paint problems on exterior woodwork, says the general approach is to remove paint to the next sound layer using the gentlest means possible, then repaint. Full removal to bare wood is only for areas where paint is cracked and peeling all the way down.

The brief also warns about harsh methods. It notes that historic buildings have been set on fire with blow torches, and that wood has been scarred by sandblasting and rotary tools. We do not use open flame or sandblasting on old wood. Hand scraping and sanding do most of the work.

How we prepare a historic exterior

1. Look closely. We go wall by wall through siding, trim, porch parts, window frames and eaves, and write the prep into the estimate.
2. Wash gently. A low-pressure wash with a mild cleaner, rinsed well. High pressure can force water into old wood.
3. Scrape and sand. Failed paint comes off by hand, down to the next sound layer, and edges are feathered.
4. Point out soft wood. Soft or rotted wood on sills, trim and porch parts is shown to you before painting.
5. Prime. Bare wood and any exposed end grain get an exterior primer.
6. Caulk with care. Open joints at trim are sealed. Laps in clapboard stay open so the wall can dry.
7. Two finish coats. A quality acrylic, brushed where detail calls for it.

Color rules in historic districts

Rules depend on the district, and the neighborhood pages give the details:

• Oak-Hickory, Denton. Exterior painting follows color standards in section 4.9.4 of the Denton Development Code, with a Certificate of Appropriateness from the city. See our Oak-Hickory page.
• West Denton Residential Historic District. Listed on the National Register on February 11, 2021. Under federal law, a National Register listing on its own places no restrictions on what a private owner does with the house.
• Highland Park, Ardmore. A 2012 Oklahoma survey identified it as a potential historic district. See our Highland Park page.
• McLish Place, Ardmore. A 2017 survey covered 70 homes, mostly Craftsman.

We help with HOA color approvals and with the color details a city application asks for, such as the names of the body, trim and accent colors.

Old wood windows

Old wood windows are painted with the trim. Loose glazing putty is pointed out before painting, sashes are worked so they are not painted shut, and paint is kept off the glass except for a thin line that seals the edge of the putty. We do not rebuild sashes or replace glass.

Choosing period colors

Paint makers offer historic and preservation collections built around older homes. Victorian and Queen Anne houses often carry three or more colors to show off trim. Craftsman homes lean on earthy body colors with a second color on rafter tails, brackets and porch columns. Simpler cottages may be a single body color with white trim. We do not do lab paint analysis, but we can show you collections that suit the era.

Wood siding, porches and trim

Many historic homes here are wood-sided with deep trim and front porches. Our wood siding painting page covers clapboard and lap siding, porch floor painting covers porch floors and ceilings, and trim, fascia and soffit painting covers the trim.

Planning a historic repaint

Historic exteriors take longer than most repaints because of hand scraping and the number of details. Brackets, spindles and window trim are cleaned and painted by hand. Rotted sills, trim and siding boards are pointed out at the walkthrough and handled through our wood rot repair service before paint goes on. Wood porch decks are covered on our deck staining page.

Nearby

• Exterior painting
• Exterior painting in Denton, TX
• Exterior painting in Ardmore, OK
• Wood rot repair
• Deck staining