A full case study of a premium custom-built home repaint in Darien by General Painting Co. — prep through finish, with real photos.
| Town | Darien, CT (Fairfield County) |
| Home style | Premium custom-built home |
| Year built | 2000–2020 |
| Siding type | mixed (HardiPlank + cedar accents + brick) |
| Color palette | BM Aura Edgecomb Gray · White Dove trim · Hale Navy door |
| Crew | 3–5 painters, owner on-site |
| Prep stage | Soft-wash · scrape & sand · wood repair · full caulk · spot prime |
| Paint | Benjamin Moore · Sherwin-Williams · Sikkens |
| Warranty | Written · transferable workmanship warranty |
Premium new-build homes have a reputation for needing no work. Then the seventh year hits and HardiPlank panel seams start showing through, west-elevation trim begins to chalk, and the cedar accent walls fade unevenly. This was that house. Rebalanced color across the elevations and the home reads brand-new from the curb.
Darien's Tokeneke and Goodwives shoreline homes face year-round salt air corrosion, which is why we always specify two coats of Benjamin Moore Aura Exterior on south- and west-facing walls here.
The Darien climate puts particular stress on south- and west-facing walls — UV plus salt-laden Long Island Sound air. Every choice on this project — from the soft-wash protocol to the brand of caulk we used — was made with that climate in mind.
Like most Darien homes of this build vintage, we found prep work that wouldn't have been visible to the homeowner: fascia rot above the second-story dormers, caulk lines that had separated cleanly from the adjacent siding, and a small section of corner board that had to be replaced before paint. All of it was itemized in the estimate.
Hero photos, work-in-progress, and finish.
Exterior paint doesn't fail because of the paint — it fails because of the prep underneath it. Here's everything we do, in order, before paint touches your home.
Every exterior surface gets cleaned of dirt, pollen, mildew, moss, chalking, and oxidation before any prep tool touches the wood. The single biggest reason cheap paint jobs peel is that they're painted over contamination.
Every bit of loose or failing paint is hand-scraped off, with edges feathered smooth so the new paint lays down flat instead of in visible ridges.
Rotted trim, fascia, and siding sections replaced with like-for-like material. All bare wood and every spot-primed area gets a high-adhesion primer before topcoat.
Every siding-to-trim seam, window frame, door frame, corner board, and gap gets a tight bead of exterior-grade caulk. Keeps water out and makes the lines look crisp.
Premium paint applied with brush and roller for proper film thickness, with back-brushing to work the paint into the grain. Two full coats — never one heavy coat.
We walk the property with you before calling it done. Anything you flag gets touched up the same day.
For client-privacy reasons we keep specific addresses private but we work across all Darien neighborhoods including Tokeneke, Noroton, Rowayton-adjacent, Goodwives River area.
About 5–10 working days, weather-permitting, with our standard 3-person crew.
BM Aura Edgecomb Gray · White Dove trim · Hale Navy door
Every project includes our written, transferable workmanship warranty. If any peel, crack, or flake is attributable to our prep or application, we come back and fix it at no charge.
Call (203) 456-1375 or fill out the estimate form below. Free on-site estimate within 48 hours, written and itemized.
Free on-site estimate within 48 hours. Owner-led crew, premium paint, written transferable workmanship warranty.
Free on-site estimate within 48 hours. No pressure, no pushy sales — just an honest written quote you can take to other contractors.