Painting Older Homes and Churches in Columbia and College Grove

Around Columbia and College Grove, many buildings have real history: Victorian-era houses near Historic Columbia, old farmhouses on rural land, and country churches that have stood for generations. One of them is College Grove United Methodist Church, and we were contracted to repaint its whole exterior. That job is a good way to show what an older building needs.

The College Grove church

College Grove United Methodist Church was built in 1888 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988, on its 100th birthday. It is still an active church with a busy congregation. When its exterior couldn't wait any longer, the job was a full exterior repaint. We wrote about it on our old blog in April 2018.

The coating system was simple and deliberate:

1. Primer over the entire building. Every surface got an oil-based exterior primer, not just the bare spots.
2. Caulk. Joints were sealed with Sherwin-Williams caulk.
3. Two finish coats. The building got two coats of Sherwin-Williams SuperPaint, an exterior acrylic.

Two things about that system carry over to almost any older house around here.

The primer decides whether the paint holds. Many older buildings carry oil-based paint from decades past. Acrylic paint won't bond well to old oil paint on its own, so a primer made to bond to the old surface goes on first. Priming the whole building, instead of spot-priming, gives the finish coats one even base.

Two coats, every time. A second coat builds the film that stands up to sun and rain. Our standard on siding and trim is two finish coats.

What to look at on an older house

Before talking about color, walk around the house slowly. On older buildings, a few areas tell you most of what you need to know.

Window sills and frames. Sills take the most rain and sun. Check for soft wood and cracked glazing.

Porches. Floors, steps, the bottoms of columns and railings hold water. These are often the first parts of an older house to need repair.

The lowest boards. The bottom courses of siding sit closest to the ground and splash-back, so they're often the first boards to rot.

Gutters and drainage. Many paint problems on older houses come from water that isn't being carried away.

Any rot is probed, photographed and quoted separately as carpentry, so you see and approve every repair before it's done. The laps of wood siding are left open when caulking, so the wall can breathe and dry.

Porches deserve their own plan

A front porch is often the heart of an older home, and it takes a beating. Porch floors need a coating made for foot traffic, not regular wall paint. Ceilings, columns and railings each need their own attention.

Choosing colors

Older houses usually look best in colors that suit their era: a farmhouse in a white or soft cream body with dark shutters, a Victorian-era house with a body color, a trim color and one accent. For a sense of how a full palette comes together, a College Grove house we wrote about on our old blog used Sherwin-Williams SW 6199 on the siding, Shoji White (SW 7042) on accents and details, Thunderous (SW 6201) on additional features and Iron Ore (SW 7069) on the shutters, all in satin. The work covered the siding, trim, shutters, porch ceilings and railings.

Test large color samples in sun and shade, and look at them next to the roof, any stone or brick, and the porch floor.

Taking care of it afterward

Keep gutters clear, trim back shrubs so siding can dry, wash off mildew on shaded walls, and touch up porch steps and sills before small cracks become larger repairs.

How we can help

Nash Painting has painted Middle Tennessee homes since 2009. There's no deposit, the written bid lists exactly what's included, and painting work carries a warranty of up to 10 years, depending on the package. See our exterior painting page, learn about our work in Columbia and College Grove, or schedule an estimate.