A 1970s Marlborough split-level with original cedar siding — 50+ years of weather and 4 prior paint cycles. The owners wanted one more cycle of life out of the cedar before considering replacement.

The challenge

Cedar at this age has differential paint adhesion across elevations — south-facing siding has more layers of failing paint to scrape, north-facing has less. Plus we needed to schedule into a tight 10-day dry-weather window without rain forecast on either side of the paint days. Forecast dictated the schedule, not the calendar.

What we did

  • Soft-wash with mildewcide, dwell, rinse — first day always a wash day
  • Scrape to sound substrate on south + west elevations (heavy work)
  • Sand transitions on shaded north + east where less failure happened
  • Oil-bond prime all bare cedar — locks down the substrate, prevents tannin bleed
  • Full caulk replacement at trim-to-siding joints (~750 linear feet)
  • Two coats BM Aura Exterior in Amherst Gray, sprayed with back-brush on cedar grain
  • Black shutters and Linen White trim hand-brushed

The result

Cedar gets another 10-15 years of life from this cycle. The home reads modern despite being 50+ years old — color choice + crisp trim does most of that work.

For Marlborough exterior work, see exterior painting in Marlborough.