Exterior painting and wood repair for Old Town (98403) view homes
Old Town is where Tacoma started: Job Carr's cabin went up here in the 1860s, and the business strip along North 30th Street still has some of the city's oldest commercial buildings. The homes climb the bluff above Ruston Way and Commencement Bay, a mix of late-1800s and early-1900s houses, small cottages and newer view homes squeezed onto steep lots. Many sit with a full face toward the water, catching wind-driven rain off the bay all winter and strong afternoon sun in summer.
At a glance
- ZIP
- 98403
- County
- Pierce County
- Part of
- Tacoma, WA
- Best exterior window
- Late May to mid September
- Phone
- Answered 24/7
That exposure is hard on paint and harder on wood. We see a lot of rotted window sills, split corner boards and soft deck ledgers on the bay side of Old Town houses, and painting over them only buys a season or two. Our crews cut out the bad wood and replace it through wood rot repair before primer, then seal joints with a flexible caulk. On the steepest lots, a pressure washing and soft washing day at the start clears salt film and mildew so primer actually bonds.
Why does paint fail faster on the bay side of an Old Town house?
Walls that face Commencement Bay get the full force of storms coming in over the water, and they dry slowly on gray days. Salt carried in the air settles on the surface, and if it is not washed off, it sits under new paint and weakens the bond. Then summer sun bakes the same face. That wet and hot cycle pulls caulk joints apart and opens the end grain on trim, which lets water in behind the paint. Gutters that overflow onto that face make it worse, so we look at them too.
Our answer is to treat the water side as its own job. We wash it thoroughly, let it dry, replace soft wood, prime all end grain and bare spots, and use a high-quality acrylic with good flexibility. Sills and trim on that face get an extra finish coat. We also look at gutters and flashing, because many failures start there. A well-prepped bay face can hold up for many years, while a rushed one often fails in two or three.
What we watch for here
- Bay-facing walls that take wind-driven rain and salt film, which shortens paint life on the water side.
- Bluff lots with three-story downhill faces and little level ground for ladders.
- Rot at window sills, sill noses and the bottom courses of siding on older houses.
- Large expanses of glass on newer view homes that need careful masking before any spray work.
- Tight parking on the steep streets between North 30th and Ruston Way during work days.
Houses common in Old Town and how we prep them
Late-1800s and early-1900s houses
Original clapboard and window trim on these homes are scraped by hand with lead-safe methods, then primed with oil-based primer on bare wood.
Small worker cottages
Simple one-story and story-and-a-half homes are quick to stage. We often find old rot at the base of the siding where it meets the foundation.
Modern view homes
Newer houses built on the bluff tend to have large window walls, fiber cement or cedar siding, and tall decks. We use lifts or staging and mask the glass carefully.
Older mixed-use buildings on North 30th
Brick and wood storefronts get masonry-safe cleaning, breathable coatings on brick and enamel on wood trim and doors.
Painting jobs we do most in Old Town
Exterior House Painting
Exterior house painting in Tacoma means washing off mildew and dirt, checking that the siding reads about 15% moisture or less, scraping and sanding loose paint, fixing rot, caulking, priming bare wood, then applying two coats of exterior acrylic.
See exterior house paintingWood Rot Repair
Wood rot repair in Tacoma means probing fascia, trim, sills, corner boards and siding for soft wood, cutting out the decay, then replacing boards or rebuilding small areas with epoxy filler.
See wood rot repairPressure Washing & Soft Washing
Pressure washing in Tacoma covers siding, decks, fences, driveways, walkways and patios.
See pressure washing & soft washingCaulking & Sealing
Caulking and sealing in Tacoma means cutting out cracked or shrunken caulk around windows, doors, trim, corner boards and penetrations, cleaning and drying the joints, adding backer rod in wide gaps, then applying a flexible exterior sealant that can be painted.
See caulking & sealingDeck Staining
Deck staining in Tacoma means cleaning off moss and gray wood, sanding rough or failing areas, brightening, then applying a penetrating stain to the boards, rails and stairs once the wood reads about 15% moisture.
See deck stainingSiding Painting
Siding painting in Tacoma means matching the prep and paint to the material: fiber cement gets cleaned and primed at cut edges, T1-11 plywood gets its bottom edges sealed, vinyl needs a vinyl-safe color, and wood lap needs scraping and spot priming.
See siding painting
Painting questions from Old Town
How do you get to the downhill side of a steep Old Town lot?
It depends on the lot. Some houses take tall extension ladders with leg levelers, others need pipe staging set on the slope, and a few need a lift brought in from the street below or a neighbor's driveway with their permission. We figure out access at the walk-through, and it is built into the price from the start.
Should I stain or paint my deck that faces the bay?
For an older deck with mixed boards and past paint, a solid stain usually lasts longest. For a newer cedar deck in good shape, a semi-transparent penetrating stain looks better and is easier to maintain. On the bay side, expect to recoat horizontal surfaces more often than vertical ones. We look at how the boards drain and how close the deck sits to the ground before we recommend one or the other.
Can you repaint around the big windows on my view home?
Yes. We mask glass with film and tape before spraying, cut frames by hand where needed, and remove masking the same day so adhesive does not bake on. On large window walls, we often brush the trim entirely to keep overspray off the glass. Any spots we miss on the glass get cleaned with a razor and water during the final walk-through.
Neighboring areas we paint
Painting a home in Old Town?
Call and tell us what you are painting. We answer 24/7 and set up a walk-through at a time that suits you.