Look-over
For a house you want watched, not worked on yet.
- Spring look-overEvery spring
- Written report with photosEvery spring
- Soft wash
- Spot-prime and touch-up
Exterior wood siding, Portland and the coast
We paint your siding, then come back every third summer.
Third Summer Painting is Abby Crowley and a crew of four. We paint clapboard and shingle houses from Eliot to Damariscotta, then return to wash, spot-prime and touch up before the weather gets through.
- Written estimate before any work
- A text before 7 a.m. on a rain day
Every third summer
Three steps, in the same order each time
None of them is a full repaint. Together they catch each board before its paint lets go.
- 01
Wash
A soft wash and a rinse. Salt, mildew and winter grime come off first, so the primer has clean, bare wood to grip.
- 02
Spot-prime
Loose paint is scraped to a firm edge and sanded. Open joints are caulked, and every bare patch and nail head is primed that day, so rain finds primer, not wood.
- 03
Touch up
Finish paint goes over the primed spots, then a full coat on the trim and sills that took the weather. The color is matched to what's on your house.
The Caretaker plan
Choose how much of the three steps we hold for you
Every plan starts with a spring look-over. What follows is up to you. Your price is written after we see the house.
Caretaker
The three-step planThe three steps, once every third summer.
- Spring look-over and reportEvery spring
- Soft wash and rinseEvery third summer
- Scrape, caulk and spot-primeEvery third summer
- Touch-up paint, trim and sillsEvery third summer
- A rinse every summer
Shoreline
For a house in sight of salt water.
- Everything in Caretaker
- Fresh-water rinse of the salt sideEvery summer
- Sills and trim touched upEvery spring
- Porch posts and rails spot-primedEvery third summer
- A full repaint
A plan is a service agreement, not insurance. It is billed once a year, in spring, and renews one year at a time. To cancel, call or text before your renewal date; we send a reminder 30 days ahead. Visits already made aren't refunded. Storm damage, rotted boards and a full repaint are not part of a plan; we quote them in writing before any work.
The year
Where the three steps fall in a Maine year
Paint needs dry siding and a dry forecast. When Maine says otherwise, the crew waits, and you get a text before 7 a.m. with the new day.
Spring look-over
We walk each house on a plan, photograph the weather side and write the report.
Apr to May
Wash
Salt, mildew and winter grime come off once the siding can dry in the sun.
May to Jun
Spot-prime
Scrape, sand, caulk and prime, on the dry days the forecast gives us.
Jun to Aug
Touch-up
Finish coats on the spots, and on the trim and sills that wore.
Jul to Sep
Booking
Winter is for scheduling. Plan visits are booked from November, before summer fills.
Nov to Mar
Why we start low
Paint lets go at the bottom first
Rain splashes up off the ground, snow sits against the lowest course and sills hold water. Those boards fail years before the rest of the wall, so they're the first ones we look at, every spring.
Where we look first
The lowest courses and the corner boards
Sills and window casings
The cut ends of boards
Porch steps, posts and rail bottoms
Coastal siding
Shingle and clapboard, from the shore road to the village green
Showing 5 of 5
Sample photos.
Who comes to the house
Five people, and you meet whoever is coming
Abby walks and writes up every house. The people you meet at the look-over are the ones who come back for the work.
Abby Crowley
Owner and estimator
Walks every house before it's priced and does the spring look-overs herself. Paints on most jobs.
Spiro Vasiliou
Lead painter
Sets the ladders and staging on the tall houses and decides when the wind is too much to go up.
Phouthone Sayasith
Wash and prep lead
Runs the wash and the scraping. On houses built before 1978 he sets the plastic and the HEPA vacuum first.
Meron Teklu
Trim, caulk and color
Does the sills, corner boards and joints where weather gets in first, and matches color on touch-up days.
Niklas Voss
Painter and carpenter
Replaces the boards that can't be saved and primes each new one on every face before it goes up.
After the third summer
What owners write
“We're only up from June. Abby texted photos of the north side in April and said which boards would go first. By July they were done and I hadn't picked up a brush.”
Rowan B.Second-home owner, Southport
“The wash day surprised me. I'd never seen the siding that clean before anyone opened a can. Then they spent two days on the bottom boards.”
Klaudia W.Homeowner, Lyman
“I like the report. Photos, a short list, what's ready this summer and what can wait a year. No pressure, just the list.”
Anatoly Z.Homeowner, South Berwick
“Rain moved our start twice. Both times there was a text before seven in the morning with the new day.”
Haven K.Cottage owner, Georgetown
Sample reviews.
Where we paint
From Eliot to Damariscotta, and the islands
Salt-side houses, village streets and island cottages. If your town isn't listed, ask; we'll tell you straight.
- Cumberland County: Portland, Peaks Island, Chebeague Island, Long Island, Cliff Island · Island trips are planned around the ferry schedule.
- York County: Lyman, Dayton, South Berwick, Eliot
- Midcoast: Georgetown, Southport, Boothbay Harbor, Wiscasset, Edgecomb, Newcastle, Damariscotta
We don't paint north of Damariscotta, inland past Lyman or south of Eliot.
ZIP codes: 04101, 04102, 04103, 04108, 04017, 04050, 04002, 04005, 03908, 03903, 04548, 04576, 04538, 04578, 04556, 04553, 04543
Questions
Before you ask
Why every third summer?
Three years is where we start. Salt, sun and snow wear a house unevenly, so the spring look-over decides your date. The written report sets it, not the calendar, and some houses want a visit sooner or can wait a year.
What does the plan include, and what doesn't it?
Every plan includes a spring look-over and a written report with photos. The Caretaker and Shoreline plans add the wash, spot-prime and touch-up on the schedule in the plan. A full repaint, rotted boards, roof or gutter work and damage from a storm are not included. We quote them separately, in writing, before any work starts.
My house needs a full repaint first. Can you do that?
Yes. If the siding is past spot-priming, the look-over report says so and we write a repaint estimate. After a repaint, the plan keeps it from getting there again. A plan is not a way around a repaint the house needs.
Was my house built before 1978?
If it was, the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule applies to paid work that disturbs paint in homes and child-occupied buildings built before 1978. The firm must be EPA Lead-Safe Certified and follow set work practices: containment, wet scraping, a HEPA vacuum and a documented clean-up. Our firm number is in the footer. Your state or town may add rules, and we'll tell you what we know.
What happens when it rains?
We wait. Paint needs dry siding and a dry forecast, and Maine doesn't always give us one. When the day is off, we text you before 7 a.m. with the new start. Rain days move the schedule; they don't change the scope or the price in your written estimate.
How do I cancel the plan?
Call or text before your renewal date. We send a reminder 30 days ahead. A plan renews one year at a time and is billed once a year, in spring. Visits already made aren't refunded. The terms are in your written plan agreement.
Ask about the plan or a first repaint
Tell us the town and the year the house was built. Abby calls back the next working day to set a walk-through.