Exterior house painting in Rowlett, TX, timed around the Texas sun

Exterior house painting in Rowlett, TX: what I cover

I paint the parts of a house that take the weather: siding, trim, fascia, soffits, front doors, garage doors, and brick or stone. The ranch house shown on this page is a good example. The stone veneer went white, the trim and garage door went dark, and the siding went light gray.

Sun is what wears exterior paint down here. Whatever is on your house now, the walls facing the afternoon sun usually fade and chalk first, while the shady side can look much younger. I look at every side of the house, not just the front, before I price the job.

Why prep matters so much on an exterior

Paint only holds as well as what’s under it. Put it over dirt, chalky old paint or peeling flakes and it fails with them. So before any color goes on, I clean the surfaces, scrape and sand loose paint, fill holes, caulk open joints around trim and windows, and spot-prime bare wood. If the house was built before 1978, some of that old paint may contain lead; I’m EPA lead-safe (RRP) certified and follow lead-safe work practices whenever scraping or sanding disturbs it. Walkways, plants and fixtures get covered, and I clean up after myself.

Some problems paint can’t fix. Soft or rotted wood has to be replaced before it’s painted, or you’re paying to coat a problem. Ground movement is another. Much of North Texas sits on Houston Black clay, which swells as it gets wet and shrinks as it dries out, and an ASCE homeowner guide names siding and trim joints pulling apart at the corners as an outside sign of it. I’ll caulk those gaps, but one that keeps reopening is a foundation question, not a paint one.

Brick and stone need to be clean and fully dry, and bare masonry takes a primer made for it. If you’re stuck on colors, try combinations on the sample house in my color visualizer, then look at real samples on your own walls before you commit. I can use any brand color you pick.

Painting around North Texas heat, dew point and hail

DFW’s normal high is 95.6°F in July and 95.8°F in August, with about 106 days a year at 90°F or hotter, per NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals. Benjamin Moore puts the optimal painting temperature at 77°F, recommends planning within 35–100°F, and notes that a wall’s surface temperature can differ from the air’s. Sherwin-Williams warns that direct sun in the hot summer months dries paint too fast, causing lap marks and poor adhesion. So in summer I follow the shade around the house.

Moisture matters too. Benjamin Moore cites an industry standard of painting a surface that’s more than 5 degrees above the dew point, and Sherwin-Williams says to stay above the dew point for at least 48 hours after application. April and October average highs of about 76°F and 78°F are close to ideal. The catch is that May and October are the wettest months here, so I check the forecast before every coat.

Then there’s hail. Texas led the country in major hail events in 2025, with 902 of 5,432 nationwide, per the Insurance Information Institute. Hail can chip paint and dent or split wood trim and fascia, and bare wood left open soaks up water. If you have an HOA (about 30% of occupied Texas homes are in one, per the 2023 American Housing Survey), get your colors approved in writing first. Repainting a house twice is an expensive way to learn the rules.