Project overview
This was a full exterior repaint on a multi-level home on Chuckanut Drive, finished in October 2026. The house sits above the water, with steep gables, dormers over a covered front porch, and a three-story deck side that drops toward the bay. That combination makes for a demanding job: a lot of surface, a lot of height, and most of it exposed to the weather coming off the water.
The house was pressure washed, and the carpentry turned out to be a bigger job than expected: nearly every corner board on the house was rotten, on top of repairs to door casings, posts and fascia ends. All of it was repaired before any paint went on, and the joints were sealed with oil-based caulk. We masked every window in plastic and tape, sprayed two coats of Benjamin Moore Aura exterior in Low Lustre on the lap siding and gables (with an extension pole for the high gables), and brushed the fascia and trim in Aura Soft Gloss by hand from the roof, tied off to a safety line. A spray shield kept the gutters and soffits clean along the roofline.
The colors are all Sherwin-Williams, color-matched into the Benjamin Moore paint: Unusual Gray (SW 7059) on the body, Pure White (SW 7005) on the trim, fascia and garage door, and Waterloo (SW 9141) on the front door, a deep blue that replaced the old red. It's the kind of exterior house painting we do across Bellingham and Whatcom County.
Painting on Chuckanut: wind, rain and salt air
Homes along Chuckanut take more weather than most of Bellingham. Wind and rain come straight off the bay, and the salt air works on every edge and seam. Rot shows up first where water sits, and on this house that was the corner boards: end grain at the bottom of every corner, taking rain off the bay for years. Paint fails first where it's thinnest, so on an exposed house, sound wood under the paint and full, even coverage matter more than anywhere: the corners, the laps and the bottom edges of the siding need the same film as the flat faces. Spraying lays down a consistent coat across long runs of lap siding, and hand-brushing the trim and fascia works the paint into the joints where water tries to get in.
Height is the other challenge. High gables and roof edges over a steep drop need real setup: extension poles to reach the peaks from safe footing, and a safety line for anyone working the roofline. Taking the time on setup is what lets the finish work get the attention it needs.
Our process
- 1. Pressure wash. The whole exterior washed clean before any repairs or paint.
- 2. Carpentry repairs. Nearly every corner board was rotten, plus door casings, posts and fascia ends. All repaired so the paint goes onto sound wood.
- 3. Caulk. Joints and seams sealed with oil-based caulk.
- 4. Mask and protect. Windows wrapped in plastic and tape, and drop cloths down before any paint was opened.
- 5. Spray the siding. Two coats of Benjamin Moore Aura Low Lustre in Sherwin-Williams Unusual Gray (SW 7059), sprayed with an airless gun, with an extension pole on the high gables.
- 6. Brush the trim and fascia. Aura Soft Gloss in Sherwin-Williams Pure White (SW 7005), brushed by hand from the roof, tied off to a safety line.
- 7. Shield the gutters and soffits. A spray shield along the roofline kept overspray off the gutters and soffits.
- 8. Doors. The front door and four back doors in Benjamin Moore Command, and the garage door sprayed Pure White.
- 9. Final walkthrough. A last check of every side of the house before the job was done.
The front door: red to Waterloo blue
The front door got its own treatment. It's a carved door with leaded-glass sidelights, and it started out red. We power-sanded it, then hand- and detail-sanded the carved panels and edges, vacuumed off the dust, cleaned it, masked the glass, and sprayed it in Benjamin Moore Command, color-matched to Sherwin-Williams Waterloo (SW 9141), all in a single day. Command is a tough, commercial-grade finish built for surfaces that get handled every day, which is exactly what a front door is. Spraying a carved door lays paint evenly into the recesses that a brush tends to overload or skip.
Thinking about your own entry? See our front door painting service in Bellingham.
The garage door
We sprayed the garage door the same way, in Pure White to match the trim: the frame masked off, drop cloths down on the driveway, and an even coat across every panel. See how we approach garage door painting in Bellingham.
Chuckanut Exterior Repaint — Project Photos
Related work and services
- This project is part of our exterior house painting service. See typical costs on our exterior painting prices page.
- Garage door looking tired? Read about our garage door painting.
- More work near Fairhaven & Chuckanut: a Fairhaven stucco repair and exterior repaint above the bay, and a new-construction office in Fairhaven.
- Browse the full Bellingham portfolio.