A full case study of a premium custom-built home repaint in Fairfield by General Painting Co. — prep through finish, with real photos.
| Town | Fairfield, CT (Fairfield County) |
| Home style | Premium custom-built home |
| Year built | 2000–2020 |
| Siding type | mixed (HardiPlank + cedar accents + brick) |
| Color palette | Sherwin Williams Sea Salt (siding) · Pure White trim · Tricorn Black accents |
| 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.
Greenfield Hill is one of the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhoods in Connecticut — the antique colonials here often need full clapboard restoration before paint, not just repaint over the existing.
The Fairfield climate combines coastal moisture and inland freeze-thaw, which is why we specify different systems on different elevations of the same home. 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 Fairfield 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 Fairfield neighborhoods including Greenfield Hill, Southport, Stratfield, Black Rock-adjacent.
About 5–10 working days, weather-permitting, with our standard 3-person crew.
Sherwin Williams Sea Salt (siding) · Pure White trim · Tricorn Black accents
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.