ELLWANGER PAINTING
BELLINGHAM, WA
360‑389‑2829
Finished exterior repaint of an early-1900s bungalow on Eldridge Street in Bellingham, WA—medium-gray cedar lap siding, Capital White trim, arched porch, and stone steps.

Eldridge Neighborhood Exterior House Painting

This early-1900s bungalow on Eldridge Street had good bones and bad paint. The original cedar lap siding had been left to weather through too many Bellingham seasons—peeling, fading, lifting paint, failed caulk joints, and moisture working its way into the wood. A full exterior repaint on siding in that condition isn't a quick coat of paint; it's rebuilding the finish from the substrate up. We scraped it back, washed and scrubbed it clean, sealed the bare cedar with oil primer, re-caulked with oil-based caulk, and finished it in two coats of Benjamin Moore Aura Exterior.

Bellingham, WA · Summer 2026 · Licensed (WA #ELLWAPL779QL) · 5-year workmanship warranty

Scope of work: Full exterior repaint—siding, trim, doors, and storm windows. In order: scrape all failing paint back to a sound edge, pressure wash with a bleach-and-soap solution, hand-scrub the siding with a soft-bristle brush, prime the bare cedar with an oil-based primer, re-caulk seams and joints with oil-based caulk, then two finish coats of Benjamin Moore Aura Exterior—Low Lustre on the siding and Soft Gloss on the trim—applied spray-and-backroll for an even, well-worked film. Doors were finished in Benjamin Moore Command for extra durability. Body color is a medium gray with Capital White trim and doors. About three weeks start to finish.

The hardest part of this job was the siding itself. Decades-old cedar lap that's been left under failing paint absorbs moisture season after season, and wood that's carried that much moisture doesn't take a new finish easily—it tends to push the coating back off as it dries, which is what causes bubbling. Getting a clean, bubble-free finish on siding in this condition takes more prep, more dry time, and more labor than a typical repaint: thorough washing, letting the wood come back down to a paintable moisture level, and locking it down with oil primer before any topcoat goes on. That's the difference between a repaint that looks good for one season and one that actually holds. The photos below walk through the prep, primer, and finished phases.

Eldridge Exterior Repaint — Project Photos

Have an older Bellingham home with cedar siding like this?

Early-1900s homes in Eldridge and the surrounding Bellingham neighborhoods often need real prep before any new paint goes on—scraping back failing layers, washing, drying, and oil-priming bare cedar so the finish actually holds. That's exactly the kind of exterior house painting we do. See more of our work in the Bellingham portfolio, check our painting prices, or request a free estimate and we'll walk your home with you.