Siding, fascia, soffits, and exterior trim. Cowboy Painting LLC handles full exterior repaints, color changes, and touch ups in Minnesota. Power wash, scrape, prime, and two coats. Built to handle cold winters and humid summers. Free on-site quote.
Exterior paint takes the biggest beating of any paint on your property. Sun fades it, rain soaks it, snow piles against it, and freeze-thaw cycles crack the surface. A good exterior paint job in Minnesota lasts 7 to 12 years. A bad one needs redoing in three. The difference is the prep, the product, and the crew.
Cowboy Painting LLC has been painting exteriors in Minnesota for over 30 years. We do siding, fascia, soffits, gutters, doors, garage doors, exterior trim, and stucco walls. Most jobs are residential, but we handle small commercial buildings too. Single family homes, townhomes, and rental properties are our regular work.
Exterior painting is weather-dependent. We schedule jobs for the right window, usually late April through October in Minnesota. Painting too cold, too hot, or in high humidity ruins the cure. We watch the forecast and reschedule if needed. The paint job has to last, so we do not paint when conditions are wrong.
A complete exterior repaint starts with pressure washing. Dirt, mildew, and chalking paint have to come off before primer goes on. We use a mid-pressure wash with a mildew killing solution. After the house dries 24 to 48 hours, we scrape any loose paint, sand rough spots, and prime bare wood with an exterior grade primer. Caulking is checked at every joint and replaced where it has cracked. Only after all that is done does the first coat of paint go on, and we always apply two coats for proper coverage.
Color changes on exterior paint take more product than people expect. Going from a dark color to light requires tinted primer plus two finish coats. Going light to dark also needs two coats but holds better visually. We bring sample boards in your top three colors and view them at different times of day, since exterior light changes the color significantly. Sun-facing walls often look lighter than shaded walls of the same paint, which clients sometimes notice after the job is done if not warned ahead.
Most exterior repaints take three to seven days depending on house size, story height, and the amount of trim. A single story rambler with vinyl siding is faster than a two story with cedar shake and lots of detailed trim. We give a clear timeline with the quote and stick to it. Daily cleanup is included. We do not leave ladders, drop cloths, or paint cans in your yard overnight unless the job is finishing the next morning. Your property looks normal at the end of every day.
Most exterior paint failure is caused by surface problems, not bad paint. Rotted wood, cracked caulk, and failing primer cause peeling within two years. Before painting, we check every wall for soft spots, holes, and damaged trim. Small rotted sections get cut out and replaced with new wood. Larger structural rot gets flagged for a carpenter, since painting over it just hides the problem. Proper exterior prep prevents callback jobs and keeps the new paint looking right for the full life of the coating.
Caulking is one of the most overlooked steps in exterior painting. Old caulk shrinks, cracks, and pulls away from the joint, letting water behind the siding. We remove failed caulk and apply new exterior grade caulk at every seam, corner, and trim joint. This step alone adds years to the paint job. Painting over old cracked caulk locks in the problem. The water still gets in, and the new paint peels from behind. We do this prep on every exterior repaint, not just the ones where damage is obvious upfront.
Bare wood needs primer. New construction siding, replaced boards, and any spots where old paint failed all get a coat of exterior primer before topcoat. Different woods need different primers. Cedar bleeds tannins through latex paint, so it needs an oil based or stain blocking primer. Pine and fir take regular acrylic primer. Pressure treated wood has to fully dry before any primer goes on, sometimes for weeks. We know the differences and use the right product for each surface, not the same primer for everything.
Minnesota weather is hard on exterior paint. Winters drop below zero, summers hit the 90s, and the spring freeze-thaw cycle expands and contracts every painted surface. Cheap exterior paint cracks, chalks, and peels within three years here. Quality paint with the right prep lasts 10 to 12 years on siding and trim. We use Sherwin-Williams Duration, SuperPaint, or Benjamin Moore Aura for exterior work. These products are built for climate stress and hold color longer than budget options.
Sun exposure varies by wall direction in Minnesota. South-facing walls take direct sun much of the year and fade faster. North-facing walls stay shaded and develop mildew more often. East and west walls split the difference. We sometimes recommend slightly different products or extra coats on the sun-facing walls of a house, since they will fail first. This kind of detail comes from 30 years of watching the same paint perform differently on different walls of the same building.
The right time to paint exterior matters as much as the right paint. Cold paint does not cure properly, leading to early failure. Hot paint flashes and dries unevenly. Humid days cause moisture in the film. We paint between 50 and 85 degrees with low humidity. That window in Minnesota is mostly May through September, with some good weeks in late April and October. We schedule jobs accordingly and reschedule when conditions go wrong. Painting in the wrong window costs you the whole investment.
Exterior paint protects the building, not just the look. Done right, it adds years to siding, trim, and structural wood. Here is what you get.
Pressure washing and surface prep that removes mildew, chalking paint, and dirt before any primer or paint goes on
Caulk replacement at every joint and trim seam to keep water out of walls and prevent rot
Bare wood priming with the correct product for cedar, pine, fir, or pressure treated lumber
Two finish coats on every wall, not one coat to save money on the bid
Premium paint products built for Minnesota climate stress with 10 to 12 year color holds
Daily cleanup with no ladders, drop cloths, or paint cans left in your yard overnight
A written quote that breaks down materials, prep work, and number of coats with no hidden charges
These come standard on every exterior job. Tell us what you need painted and we will write a quote within the week.
Recent basement paint jobs from homes in the Twin Cities metro. Click any photo to view full size.
We watch the forecast and only paint exterior in the right window. Painting in cold or wet weather ruins the cure.
Pressure wash, scrape, caulk replacement, and bare wood priming. The prep is what makes paint last in Minnesota weather.
Sherwin-Williams Duration and Benjamin Moore Aura standard on exterior jobs. These hold color and fight mildew for years.
Exterior painting covers siding, fascia, soffits, exterior trim, doors, garage doors, and shutters. Quotes include pressure washing, scraping, priming bare wood, caulking, and two finish coats. Daily cleanup and surface protection are standard.
A single story home runs $3,500 to $7,000 depending on siding type and prep needed. Two story homes are $5,500 to $12,000. Large homes with cedar siding or heavy detail can go higher. We quote each job after seeing it.
No. Residential exterior painting is cosmetic and does not require a permit. Some HOAs require color approval before painting, so check your covenants if you live in a managed community.
A single story home takes three to five days. Two story homes run five to ten days depending on siding and trim detail. Weather can extend the schedule. We give a clear timeline before starting.
Late April through October. Temperatures need to stay between 50 and 85 degrees with low humidity for paint to cure properly. We avoid painting in early spring rain or late fall cold snaps. Best weeks are usually June through September.
We do exterior painting work in the Twin Cities metro and the towns around it. Most jobs are within a 45 minute drive of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Below is where we work most often.
Your town not on the list? Call us anyway. We cover most of the metro and parts of Greater Minnesota.
On-site visit. Written quote. No fees, no pressure. Antonio gets back the same day. Tell us what you want painted.
Walls, ceilings, doors, and trim inside the house. Drywall patching, sanding, primer, and two coats of paint, standard on every job.
Learn MoreStucco needs the right paint or it cracks. We use elastomeric coatings that flex and seal, plus chip patching before any paint application.
Learn MoreCabinets stay in place. We remove doors, sand, prime, and spray for a smooth finish. No brush marks, no drips, no mess.
Learn MoreBaseboards, crown molding, doors, and window casing. Caulking, filler, light sanding, and clean cut lines on every edge every time.
Learn MorePressure wash, light sand, and apply solid stain or deck paint. We work around the weather so the finish actually cures correctly.
Learn MoreWhen cabinet boxes are still solid, refinishing saves money over replacement. Strip, sand, prime, and recoat in your color choice.
Learn More