Sherwin-Williams painting in Houston.

Duration, Emerald, SuperPaint, and ProClassic are the Sherwin-Williams lines we put on Houston houses. Duration is the exterior acrylic people ask for when siding, stucco, and trim take full sun and Gulf humidity. Emerald is the higher interior paint, and Sherwin-Williams also makes an Emerald exterior for a wall you want smoother and easier to wash. SuperPaint is the practical interior and exterior when a whole house needs a solid coat. ProClassic is the enamel for doors, trim, and cabinets, where brush marks show and the film has to be harder than a wall paint.

We look at the surface before we name a line. A chalking south wall, a mildewed north wall, new fiber cement, and a patched living room are not the same paint job. Color is chosen outside, in daylight, against the brick or the siding, because a chip under a kitchen light will lie to you. Sherwin-Williams and Floor & Decor are trademarks of their owners, and we are an independent contractor. We use these paints on your house.

Paint fails in Houston when it goes on a dirty, chalky, or damp surface. We wash the outside, including the mildew on shaded stucco and under trees, and we scrape what is loose. Chalk on an old south or west wall has to come off, or the new coat peels in sheets. Bare wood, rusted nail heads, and water stains get a primer that matches the problem. Caulk goes at windows, doors, and gaps that have opened in the heat, and then the paint.

Inside, patches are floated so the repair disappears, and the texture is blended on walls that already have it. A stain from an old leak needs a stain-blocking primer or it bleeds through the finish coat. Glossy trim is sanded so the next coat has something to hold. We mask floors, stone, and hardware. The sheen is part of the decision: a flatter wall hides a patch, and a satin or enamel on trim, baths, and kitchens can be wiped down.

Houston air is often wet enough that a wall is still sweating in the morning, especially on the north side and under a deep porch. Paint applied over that moisture loses its bond. We wait until the surface is dry, and we follow the temperature window printed on the can. The other failure is a dark color on a west wall in the July afternoon, when the film skins over before it can level and leaves lap marks. We start those walls earlier, or we come back when the sun has moved.

Mildew is a living stain, common on shaded stucco, under live oaks, and on the back of a house that never dries. Painting over it traps it in the film. We clean it first. Inside, a bathroom or a kitchen that stays humid wants a washable sheen, and the fan has to work, because paint is not a substitute for ventilation. After a closed-up summer house, we look for condensation on the walls before we schedule the interior.

New siding and new stucco need paint as part of closing the wall, not as a someday project. Fiber-cement board that arrives primed still needs paint on the field and on every cut end. A factory-finished board is a different product, and we do not paint over that finish to freshen one patch. Stucco hairline cracks are filled before the coating, because a coat of paint alone opens again with the next dry spell. If the wall already has a thick coating, we say so before we add another film that can trap water.

After hail or wind, the paint is the last step, once the siding, the stucco, or the wood behind it is sound. A cracked board is replaced. A soft spot at a hose bib is opened and dried. Then we paint the repair, and usually the whole plane, because a new patch on a faded south wall will show. South and west sides fade faster here than the north. We say that before a one-gallon touch-up is ordered. The same storm may have marked the roof. That is a separate look.

After a leak, a supply-line break, or a flood, paint waits until the drywall is dry. A wall can look ready and still read wet on a meter, and Houston humidity makes that common on a slab. We do not close a damp wall with primer. Water stains get a stain-blocking primer. If the drywall was cut out, the new board is taped, textured to the room, primed, and then painted far enough that the sheen matches. A ceiling stain from a roof leak is the same sequence once the roof is keeping water out.

A kitchen or a bath remodel is painted when the drywall and the tile are done, so the color is the last layer and not a surface we have to protect through demolition. Whole rooms are painted, not a single new wall, when the old color would leave a line. Cabinets, if you want them painted, are a separate prep: degrease, sand, a bonding primer, then an enamel such as ProClassic. Wall paint on a cabinet door will not hold up to hands and cleaners.

A few rooms are often a day or two once the walls are ready. A whole interior, or a two-story exterior, takes longer, and drying, repairs, and rain add days we will name after we see the house. Exterior work pauses for storms. If you are filing a claim because wind or water damaged the walls, we photograph the damage and the repair. The estimate is the price of the prep and the Sherwin-Williams paint. You file the claim. Your insurer decides coverage and payment. We are not public adjusters, and we do not give legal advice.

The office is at 511 Crestwater Ct, Houston, TX 77082. Scheduled visits are Monday through Saturday, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Call (713) 909-0034 for a free estimate. We paint houses across Houston, including Katy, Sugar Land, Bellaire, The Woodlands, River Oaks, Memorial, and West University. Family-owned since 1993.