Lap siding or clapboard
Beveled boards run in overlapping horizontal courses, thin at the top and thick at the butt. Paint lets go first along the lower edge of each board, where water sits.
Wood Siding Painting and Repair in Rancho Cucamonga
Rancho Cucamonga Elite Painting is San Bernardino County's trusted specialist in wood siding painting in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, specializing in T1-11 panel siding, hardboard lap siding and cedar board and batten. We offer swollen board replacement and edge sealing on plywood and hardboard.
- Free on-site estimate
- Written scope, coat by coat
- Colors you approve first
Get a free painting estimate
Or call (909) 922-1329. Calls only, we do not receive text messages.
About our wood siding painting & repair
Our team provides oil-alkyd primer on every cut end and butt joint, delivering painting that seals the siding against water and sun for both residential and commercial projects. The crew that probes your siding board by board is the crew that paints it, and we write the scope to name each repair, the primer and the number of coats.
From sealing the bottom drip edge of a grooved plywood panel to repainting every wall of a wood-clad house, our team handles every detail. Serving Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Montclair and Claremont, we keep painted siding tight, sealed and even in color.
Why Rancho Cucamonga Elite Painting
How We Work
No salesperson hands you to a stranger. The person who measures the job answers for it.
Written scopePrep, primer and finish coats listed surface by surface
Colors firstSamples on your wall, and association submittals prepared for review
One crewThe crew that quotes the job is the crew that paints it
CA License #585047Licensed, insured and bonded
Which wood siding is on your house
Wood siding painting in Rancho Cucamonga starts by naming the siding, because lap boards, board and batten, grooved plywood panels and hardboard each fail in their own way and each needs its own prep. Stucco covers most houses in California, so wood siding here usually turns up as a gable, a band under the eaves, a garage wall or the whole skin of an older ranch house in Alta Loma.
Board and batten
Wide vertical boards with narrow strips covering the joints. The battens hide movement between boards, and the top and bottom ends are all end grain.
T1-11 plywood panels
Sheets of plywood with grooves cut to imitate boards, sold as Texture 1-11 or reverse board and batten. The panel edges and the bottom edge soak up water unless they are sealed.
Hardboard lap siding
Compressed wood fiber pressed into boards that look like lap siding. It is factory primed, it takes paint well while the coating is intact, and it swells once water reaches a raw edge.
Swelling, checking and soft boards
Before any siding is painted, every wall is checked for swollen edges, face checks and soft wood, because paint over a failing board looks good for a season and then fails with it. The inspection is what decides whether your siding is a repaint or a repair and repaint.
Plywood siding carries small lathe checks inside its face veneer from the way the veneer is peeled. Outdoors, repeated wetting and drying lets those checks spread to the surface, and they can crack right through a paint coating. A checked panel that is still sound is scraped, primed and given a full film; a delaminating panel is replaced.
Hardboard shows water damage at its edges. A bottom course that has swollen, softened or started to flake is past painting, so those boards are replaced before the wall is primed.
Solid lumber is probed at the ends, at joints, and anywhere siding runs down to a roof, since those are the places decay starts. Siding that butts tight against roof shingles cannot be reached with a brush at its end grain, so we point it out on the walk and seal what can be reached.
Sealing edges and end grain before the finish
The single step that most decides how long a siding repaint holds is sealing end grain and panel edges with an oil-alkyd primer before any topcoat, because those cut surfaces drink water far faster than the face of a board. Primed end grain stops paint failure near the ends of boards.
- Bottom edges of T1-11 panels and hardboard courses, primed as far as a brush can reach.
- Butt joints between lap boards, and the ends of any board we replace, primed on every face before it goes up.
- Replacement boards back-primed with a stain-blocking primer, which keeps them flatter and cuts down cupping on flat-grain wood.
- Nail heads that show rust countersunk, filled, spot primed and top-coated, with corrosion-resistant nails used on every repair.
Caulk is used where siding meets trim and window casings, and never as a stand-in for flashing. A gap at a Z-flashing over a panel seam is left open as a drip edge, since sealing it traps water behind the siding.
Paint or solid-color stain on siding
Siding that already carries paint stays under an opaque finish, either paint or a solid-color stain, because a penetrating stain cannot soak through an old film. On T1-11 and other saw-textured plywood, paint gives the longest service of the three options, and it is our usual recommendation for panels already painted once.
Paint
An acrylic latex topcoat over the right primer builds the thickest film for the amount applied, which is what a face-checking panel needs to bridge its surface.
Solid-color stain
An opaque stain performs much like paint on siding and keeps more of the saw texture showing. It is a good fit on rough board and batten, and it can go over old paint.
What hardboard will not take
Hardboard cannot take a semitransparent stain or a water-repellent treatment. It needs paint or a solid-color stain, kept continuous so no raw fiber is left open. Cedar or redwood siding that has never been painted is a different decision, with stain on the table as well. If the wall is shingles or shakes rather than boards, that choice is covered on our shingle siding page.
The process
How a wood siding repaint runs
Walk and probe
We go around the house with you, probe the siding at its ends and edges, and mark every board or panel that needs replacing.
Wash and scrape
Walls are washed, loose paint is scraped to a firm edge, and chalky or mildewed areas are cleaned so the primer grips.
Repair
Swollen hardboard, delaminated plywood and soft lumber are cut out and replaced with matching profiles, fastened with corrosion-resistant nails.
Seal and prime
End grain, panel edges and new boards get oil-alkyd primer, and bare spots are primed before the finish.
Two finish coats
Siding is brushed and rolled or sprayed and back-brushed, so the coating is worked into grooves and laps rather than sitting on top of them.
Walk it again
We walk the walls with you and clear the punch list before the ladders come down.
Wood siding on older houses and association buildings
Houses built before 1978 may carry lead in their old siding paint, and that job belongs with our historic home painting work, where lead-safe practices, period colors and older wood repair lead the scope. This page is for the newer stock: plywood panel and hardboard siding put up on houses and garages after 1978, and board siding on newer builds.
Association boards and managers whose buildings carry T1-11 or hardboard accents face the same failure on every building at once: bottom edges swelling where sprinklers hit and where soil sits against the wall. We can walk each building, list the replacement boards by elevation, and schedule the repair and repaint in phases. A new siding color on a house in an association generally goes to the architectural committee for written approval first.
What wood siding painting costs
Repairing and repainting the wood siding on a fully wood-clad house in the Rancho Cucamonga area is typically estimated at roughly $6,000 to $20,000, while a stucco house with only a wood gable, band or garage wall is typically estimated well below that range.
- Square footage of siding, and how many walls and gables carry it.
- One story or two, and ladder or lift access over landscaping and slopes.
- How many boards or panels are swollen, checked or soft and need replacing.
- The siding type: grooved plywood takes more time to coat than smooth lap boards.
- Rusted nail heads that need setting, filling and spot priming.
- Paint versus solid-color stain, and whether the color changes.
- Lead-safe prep on any siding put up before 1978.
Every figure here is an estimate and may change once the siding has been probed; your written quote after the walk sets the final price. Call to book a free siding inspection.
Colors and Finishes
Questions
Wood Siding Painting & Repair: Common Questions
Can T1-11 siding be painted, or does it have to be replaced?
Most T1-11 can be repainted if the panels are sound. Checked but solid panels are scraped, their edges sealed and given a full film of paint; panels that are delaminating or soft at the bottom are replaced first.
How much does it cost to paint wood siding in Rancho Cucamonga?
Painting a fully wood-clad house is typically estimated at roughly $6,000 to $20,000, depending on the square footage, the height and how many boards need replacing. A gable or accent wall on a stucco house costs much less, and your written quote sets the final price.
Why is the bottom of my hardboard siding swelling?
Water has reached a raw edge. Hardboard edges absorb water and have to stay sealed, so a swollen bottom course is replaced and the new edges are primed before the wall is painted.
Can I stain siding that is already painted?
Only with a solid-color stain, which behaves like paint. A semitransparent stain needs bare wood to soak into, so it will not work over an existing film.
Do you replace rotted siding boards, or only paint them?
We replace them. Every soft or swollen board found on the walk is listed on your estimate and replaced with a matching profile before any primer goes on.
Will you caulk the gaps in my siding?
Joints against trim and windows are caulked. Drip edges above flashing and the laps between boards are left open, because sealing them traps water behind the siding.
Is wood siding painting different from a full exterior repaint?
It is one part of the house. Wood siding needs repairs, edge sealing and end-grain priming that stucco does not, so we scope it separately, and it can be done on its own or alongside the rest of the exterior.
Do I need HOA approval to repaint my siding?
A new color usually goes to the architectural committee in writing first. Repainting in the existing color is often treated as maintenance, though your association's governing documents decide.
Free on-site estimate
Talk to us about wood siding painting & repair
Homeowners get a free on-site estimate. Boards, managers and contractors can send a scope for a bid.
Licensed, insured and bonded · License #585047. Calls only, we do not receive text messages.