We just wrapped up a full exterior repaint on a home in Cumming, Georgia, and I want to walk you through how it went. If you’re thinking about exterior house painting in Cumming or anywhere around Lake Lanier, this is a good look at what actually happens between the estimate and the last coat on the shutters.
Why we drive to Cumming
Our home base is Gainesville, and most of our work is in Hall County. But Cumming is part of our regular service area, along with towns like Buford, Flowery Branch and Dawsonville. We give Cumming homeowners the same prep, the same Sherwin-Williams products and the same checks between coats that we do on every job in Gainesville.
The prep came first, and there was a lot of it
Before a drop of paint went on this house, we did quite a bit of work. Here’s what the prep looked like:
- Replaced a good amount of siding that was too far gone to paint
- Replaced quite a few pieces of rotten wood
- Pressure washed the whole house to get dirt, pollen and mildew off
- Scraped all the loose paint
- Caulked all the way around: trim joints, corners and openings
I’ll say it plainly: we are painters, not remodelers. The siding and wood repairs were there to support the paint job. If you paint over soft wood or failing siding, the new paint has nothing solid to hold onto, and you end up paying twice. I wrote more about that in why we fix rotten wood before we paint.
Fall painting means waiting on the dew
When we started painting, it was a beautiful October day. But there’s one thing about this time of year in North Georgia that homeowners don’t always think about: heavy morning dew.
On fall mornings the siding and trim can be wet well into the morning, even when it isn’t raining. Paint needs a dry surface to bond the right way. So on this job we waited until around 10 or 11 in the morning to start painting each day, once things had dried off. That may look like a slow start from the street, but it’s the right call. Rushing paint onto a damp house is how you get problems down the road.
If you’re planning a fall exterior project, expect your painter to work around the dew. A good crew will use the early part of the day for prep work, masking or touch-up and save the painting for when the surface is ready.
The paint we used
For this home we used Sherwin-Williams Duration Exterior in a satin finish. Duration is one of the Sherwin-Williams exterior lines we reach for on full repaints. Satin gives the body of the house a soft, low sheen that still cleans up well. If you’re trying to decide on a finish, our paint sheens guide explains the differences, and our Sherwin-Williams exterior paints and stains guide covers the products we use most.
What got painted
A full exterior repaint means more than the siding. On this house we painted:
- The body of the house
- The soffits
- The fascia boards
- The gutters
- The shutters
We masked the windows before painting so the glass stayed clean. The shutters were the last thing on the list. On the final day the body, soffit, fascia and gutters were all done, and we spent the day finishing the shutters and wrapping up.
Questions to ask any exterior painter
Whether you hire us or someone else, here are a few things worth asking before an exterior repaint in Cumming:
- Will you pressure wash, scrape and caulk before painting?
- How will you handle rotten wood or damaged siding you find?
- Which paint line and sheen are you using on the body and trim?
- Are the soffits, fascia, gutters and shutters included?
- How do you schedule around morning dew and rain this time of year?
Clear answers to those questions tell you a lot about how the job will go. You can read more about how we handle all of this on our exterior house painting page.
Thankful for this one
This was a great project for us, and we’re thankful the homeowners trusted us with it. Jobs like this are why I like posting the whole process instead of just the finished pictures. The finished house looks good in a photo, but it’s the prep, the patience with the weather and the right product that decide how long it stays that way.
Get a free estimate
If your home in Cumming, Gainesville or anywhere around Lake Lanier is due for a repaint, I’d be glad to come take a look, point out anything that needs fixing first and give you a straight answer. You can also request an estimate online, or call or text 678-943-6720 for a free estimate.
Written by James Wheeler from a Wheeler Painting full exterior repaint in Cumming, GA, October 2026.