San Anselmo sits in the middle of the Ross Valley, and its homes get a little of everything Marin throws at paint. Many of the older houses near downtown and along the creek are craftsman bungalows and shingle homes from the early 1900s, with deep porches, exposed rafter tails and wood that has been painted or stained many times. Up in the hills around the Seminary and out in Sleepy Hollow, oaks shade the lots and winter moisture lingers for days after a storm. San Anselmo Creek runs right through town, and the neighborhoods close to it stay damp through the rainy season. Each of those conditions breaks paint down a little differently, and the fix starts with recognizing which one you're dealing with.
Free Estimate
Most of our San Anselmo projects are repainting bungalow and shingle exteriors and kitchen cabinet makeovers in homes that still have their original kitchens. We'll go over the house together and put everything in a written estimate. Call or use the form to get started.
Craftsman Bungalows and Rafter Tails
The details that make a craftsman bungalow look good are the same ones that make painting it slow. Exposed rafter tails, knee braces, tapered porch columns and wide window trim all have edges and end grain where water gets in. Rafter tails are the usual weak spot. They stick out past the roof with their cut ends facing the weather, and once the paint cracks there, the wood starts to rot from the tip back. We scrape and sand each one, treat soft wood or flag it for repair, prime the end grain and paint them by hand. Porches get the same attention, since floor boards and steps take both rain and foot traffic. Many owners here choose a three-color scheme, one for the body, one for the trim and one for accents like the window sashes or the door, which suits the style and shows off the woodwork. Older homes up the valley in Fairfax share a lot of these details, and we approach them the same way.
Oak Shade, Creek Damp and Winter Moisture
Homes under big oaks and near San Anselmo Creek dry out slowly after rain, and paint on the shaded sides pays for it. You'll see mildew spots, peeling along the bottom few rows of siding and paint lifting off window sills. Before we paint, the walls get a mildew-killing wash and enough dry days for the wood to give up its moisture. Siding that sits too close to the soil or behind dense shrubs gets extra attention, since it's always the first to fail. Oaks also drop a steady stream of leaves, pollen and sap, so we schedule exterior work for stretches of dry weather and cover plants and walkways carefully. Decks and fences under the same trees go gray and mossy fast, and staining damp, shaded decks and fences on the same visit keeps the whole property in step.