Novato is the warmest part of Marin, and paint here wears out from the sun more than the fog. Summer afternoons in town regularly run hotter than in Mill Valley or Sausalito, and south- and west-facing walls take the full force of it. That's when color fades, paint turns chalky and wood siding dries out and cracks. The housing stock adds its own wrinkles. Much of Novato was built from the 1950s through the 1970s, with ranch homes and wood siding now on their third or fourth paint job. Newer neighborhoods, like the homes at Hamilton on the old Air Force base, lean toward stucco and fiber cement, often with HOA rules about color.
Free Estimate
We plan Novato jobs with the heat in mind, from the paint we choose to the time of day we work on each wall. Most of our work here is exterior repaints, and a lot of homeowners add deck staining while we're there, since decks take the same sun. Get in touch and we'll schedule a time to see the house.
Paint That Stands Up to Novato Sun
Sunlight breaks paint down by attacking the binder, the part that holds the pigment together. Once that goes, the color fades and a chalky powder forms on the surface. Higher-quality 100% acrylic paints resist that much better than cheaper blends, and they're worth the difference on a sunny Novato wall. Color choice matters too. Darker colors absorb more heat, which makes the wood underneath expand and contract more and can shorten the life of the paint, especially on south and west walls. Timing matters as well. Paint applied to a wall in direct afternoon sun dries too fast to level out and bond properly, so we follow the shade around the house, painting each side after the sun has moved off it. Front doors and garage doors facing west fade fastest, and a satin or semi-gloss finish there holds its color better and wipes clean. In bayside towns like Tiburon, salt air does most of the damage. Here, it's mostly UV and heat.
HOAs, Stucco and T1-11 Siding
Many Novato neighborhoods are governed by HOAs with approved color palettes, and some require you to submit colors for review before work starts. We're happy to work from your HOA's palette and can provide the paint names and color codes for the application. Newer homes here often have stucco or fiber cement siding instead of wood. Stucco needs hairline cracks filled with a flexible patch and a masonry paint that breathes, while fiber cement takes acrylic paint well once it's cleaned and any bare cut edges are primed. Older ranch homes often have T1-11 plywood siding, which needs its bottom edges sealed, since that's where water wicks in and the layers start to separate. Fiber cement holds paint longer than wood in the sun, so on those homes a repaint usually comes down to faded color rather than failing paint. For HOA boards and property managers, we also handle common-area and multi-unit painting, from fences and carports to whole buildings.