Excellent painting and careful preparation. Our house looks amazing!
Exterior House Painting in Santa Monica, CA Built for Salt Air and 310 Days of Sun
Santa Monica Expert Painting is the Santa Monica Bay region's trusted expert in exterior house painting, specializing in stucco recoating, wood siding restoration, and coastal-grade trim and fascia enamel. We offer pressure washing and elastomeric coating systems, with 100% acrylic exterior repaints built for salt-air durability. Fully licensed, insured and bonded.
From the first foot of dry-rotted fascia we cut out to a finished colour submittal for an HOA board, our team handles every detail. Serving Santa Monica and neighbouring Malibu, Pacific Palisades and Brentwood, we walk the elevations, probe the wood, photograph the failures and put the whole scope in writing.
- Free exterior painting estimate
- Rotten wood replaced, not caulked over
- HOA colour submittals prepared
- Licensed, insured and bonded
Reviews
What clients say about our exterior repaints
Our home’s exterior looks brand new again. The finish is smooth, even, and professionally done.
The exterior paint had faded badly from years of sun exposure. After the project was completed, our home had stronger curb appeal and a fresh, updated appearance. The trim work looks especially sharp.
Beautiful exterior painting and excellent workmanship from beginning to end.
We had peeling paint and minor surface damage on the outside of our home. The team prepared the problem areas carefully before applying the new paint. The finished exterior looks smooth, durable, and professionally restored.
Santa Monica Expert Painting transformed our older home with fresh interior and exterior paint. The preparation work was thorough, the color coverage was consistent, and the finished surfaces look outstanding. The entire property now feels well maintained and updated.
Friendly service, beautiful results, and great attention to detail.
Santa Monica Expert Painting repaired several damaged areas of drywall before repainting our bedroom. The repaired sections blend perfectly with the surrounding walls, and the finished room looks clean and polished.
01
Why coastal exteriors fail faster here
Paint on the Westside works harder than paint eight miles inland. Three forces are doing the damage, and they do not take turns.
Salt
Onshore wind carries chloride-laden mist inland well past Lincoln Boulevard. It deposits on the film, holds moisture against it, and drives corrosion at every nail head, railing bracket and steel window frame.
Sun
Roughly 310 days of sunshine a year means relentless UV, which breaks down the binder holding pigment together until it powders off as a chalky bloom on your hand. That is chalking. Once it starts the coating is thinning, and saturated colours give way first.
Damp
The marine layer that locals call May Gray and June Gloom keeps north and west elevations wet into late morning for weeks at a stretch. Shaded surfaces that never fully dry grow mildew, and mildew painted over grows straight back through the new coat.
The result
A shorter repaint cycle than inland Los Angeles. Inland stucco can hold eight to ten years. Facing the water in Ocean Park or north of Montana Avenue, a good acrylic exterior typically runs five to seven years, and an ocean-facing elevation can need attention two or three years before the street side does.
02
What we paint on the outside
We walk the elevations, probe the wood, photograph the failures and put the whole scope in writing.
Stucco walls
The dominant exterior in this city. Hairline crack repair, patching, primer, and either 100% acrylic or an elastomeric system depending on how the wall is moving. Deeper substrate work lives on our stucco painting and crack repair page.
Wood siding and shingles
Board siding, cedar shingles and clapboard on the older bungalow stock. Scraped, sanded, spot primed, and coated with a film flexible enough to move with the wood.
Trim, fascia, eaves and rakes
The parts that fail first because they take the water. Rotten sections are cut out and replaced, not caulked over.
Doors, garage doors and railings
Front doors in a hard enamel, garage doors in an exterior-grade acrylic or waterborne alkyd, metal railings and gates in a direct-to-metal coating over a rust-inhibiting primer.
| Substrate | System | Sheen | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stucco, good condition | 100% acrylic latex, two coats | Flat to low-sheen | Breathable, best UV and chalk resistance per dollar |
| Stucco, cracking or chalked | Elastomeric over masonry primer | Flat | High build, bridges hairline cracks, holds movement |
| Wood siding and trim | Acrylic or waterborne alkyd over bonding primer | Satin to semi-gloss | Flexible film, sharp edges on trim |
| Bare or weathered wood | Oil or alkyd penetrating primer | n/a | Seals tannin and grain before the topcoat |
| Metal rail, gates, steel frames | Direct-to-metal acrylic over zinc-rich or rust-inhibiting primer | Semi-gloss | Chloride corrosion is the enemy on the coast |
| Shaded north elevations | Mildew-resistant acrylic | Flat to satin | Marine-layer damp keeps these walls wet longest |
Every architectural coating we apply meets South Coast AQMD Rule 1113 VOC limits, which is why the low-VOC formulations you see on a Santa Monica exterior are standard rather than an upcharge.
03
100% acrylic or elastomeric
Both are correct answers to different walls, and choosing wrong costs money.
100% acrylic
Goes on at normal film build, breathes well, resists UV and chalking, and recoats easily in five to seven years. It is the right call on stucco that is sound, on all wood, and on any wall where trapping moisture is a risk.
Elastomeric
A high-build, rubbery film that bridges hairline cracks and takes movement. It belongs on stucco that keeps cracking, on parapet walls, and on west elevations taking wind-driven rain. The trade-off is real: it is thick, it is far less breathable, and if moisture gets behind it, from a failed flashing or a leaking scupper, it blisters and sheets off in panels. We do not apply it over a wall with an active water source. We fix the water first.
04
Prep is most of the job
Prep, not paint, is what separates a straightforward repaint from a heavy one on the same footprint.
Pressure wash
Salt film, chalk, dirt and mildew come off, because nothing sticks to any of them. Shaded elevations get a mildewcide wash, not just water.
Scrape and sand
Loose and peeling coating removed to a sound edge, then feathered so the transition does not telegraph.
Wood repair
Rotten fascia, rake board, siding ends and trim cut out and replaced with new material. Probing beats guessing, so we test suspect boards with an awl on the walkthrough.
Caulk
Every joint that moves or leaks: siding to trim, trim to stucco, around windows and doors, at penetrations. An elastomeric-grade sealant, not painter's putty.
Patch stucco
Hairline cracks filled, larger cracks cut out and patched, texture matched to the surrounding wall.
Prime
Bare wood, bare stucco, rust, and any severe colour change get the appropriate primer. Spot priming where the substrate is sound.
Coat
Two finish coats, sprayed and back-rolled on stucco so the material is worked into the texture rather than sitting on top of it.
Detail and walk
Hardware reinstalled, plants uncovered, site cleaned, then a walk with you.
05
Wood rot, fascia and the water path
Rot is a water problem that paint gets blamed for.
On Santa Monica homes it starts in three places: fascia behind a failed gutter, the bottom two inches of siding where it meets a planter, and window sills on the weather side. We replace the affected members, prime all six sides of new material before it goes up, then correct whatever put water there. Painting over soft wood sells the same repair twice, and we will not do it.
HOA, landmark and colour approval
Most Santa Monica condo and townhome associations require a colour submittal before work starts, and boards meet on their own schedule, not yours. We prepare board packages: colour chips, manufacturer product data, elevation drawings marked with body, trim and accent placement, and our certificate of insurance.
Properties inside the Third Street Neighborhood Historic District, designated July 1, 1990 with 38 contributing buildings from 1875 to 1930, follow a different path. Designated landmarks and contributors are reviewed by the city's Landmarks Commission, and exterior changes can require approval. If your home is one, we say so at the walkthrough and build the schedule around the review.
What shapes the estimate
How much wood needs replacing, how much of the existing coating has failed, story count and access, since hillside lots and zero-lot-line homes need more staging, whether elastomeric is specified, and the number of colours.
06
Frequently asked questions about exterior house painting
How often should a Santa Monica home be repainted outside?
Five to seven years for a quality acrylic on stucco near the coast, sometimes longer on protected east elevations. Ocean-facing walls often need attention first. Inland Los Angeles gets more years out of the same product.
What is the chalky powder coming off my wall?
Chalking, the visible end of UV breaking down the paint's binder. It has to be washed off completely before recoating, otherwise the new paint bonds to loose powder instead of the wall.
Can you just paint over mildew?
No. It grows back through the new coating. Shaded elevations get a mildewcide wash and a mildew-resistant topcoat.
Do I need elastomeric?
Only if the stucco is cracking or moving. On sound stucco a 100% acrylic system breathes better and recoats more easily later.
Do you replace rotten wood?
Yes, as part of the scope. Fascia, rake, siding ends and sills are cut out and replaced, primed on all sides, then finished.
How long does an exterior repaint take?
A single-story home is generally four to six working days including wash and prep. A two-story house with significant carpentry can run two to three weeks.
What about weather and the marine layer?
We start after surfaces dry, usually mid-morning during May and June, and stop early enough for the film to set before evening damp. Schedules flex around it rather than ignoring it.
Will you handle the HOA colour approval?
Yes. We assemble the submittal package with chips, product data and marked elevations, and we wait for the board's decision before ordering material.
Do you paint metal railings and gates?
Yes, with a rust-inhibiting or zinc-rich primer under a direct-to-metal topcoat, which is the only system that holds up against chloride corrosion this close to the water.
07
Service areas and related painting services
We repaint exteriors across 90402 north of Montana, 90403 and 90404 through Mid-City and Wilshire, and 90405 across Ocean Park and Sunset Park, plus the Main Street and Montana Avenue corridors.
- Interior House Painting
- Ceiling Painting
- Kitchen Cabinet Painting
- Drywall Repair & Painting
- Wallpaper Removal & Repainting
- Marine & Coastal Exterior Repaint
Every painting service we offer.
Service areas
Coastal coverage extends to Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Manhattan Beach and the bluff-top homes of Rancho Palos Verdes. The complete list of cities we cover is on the coverage page.
Get your free exterior painting estimate
Send us the address and we will schedule a walkthrough, probe the wood, note the failures and hand you a written scope you can compare line for line.
- Free written estimate per elevation
- Coastal-rated primers and finishes
- Licensed, insured and bonded