Timber & Brush. We Fix the Wood First. Then We Paint.

Timber & Brush is an exterior wood repair and painting specialist on the Connecticut Shoreline, based in Madison, CT. We replace rotted fascia, failing soffit, deteriorating trim, and damaged clapboard and siding. Then we paint the finished surface. The work demands both skills, so we trained for both. CT Home Improvement Contractor License HIC #0705088.

The Work

Timber & Brush is an exterior wood repair specialist on the Connecticut Shoreline. We replace rotted fascia, failing soffit, deteriorating trim, and damaged clapboard and siding. Then we paint the finished surface. The work demands both skills , carpentry and painting , so we trained for both.

Most contractors on the CT Shoreline are one or the other. A painter who occasionally deals with wood damage or a carpenter who does not paint. That gap is where exterior work on shoreline homes falls apart. The painter paints over the rot. The carpenter fixes the wood but hands off the paint scope. The homeowner coordinates two contractors and ends up with no one accountable for the full result.

We do the full job. The same crew that diagnoses the wood problem is the crew that replaces it and the crew that paints the finished surface. One scope, one schedule, one contractor standing behind the whole job from the first probe to the final coat.

Why This Specialty

Most exterior paint jobs on shoreline homes fail early because the wood underneath was already compromised when the paint went on. Salt air, freeze-thaw cycles, and moisture intrusion from gutters, flashing, and grade drainage put more stress on coastal wood than inland wood. The visible surface deteriorates faster. The structural failure underneath progresses before the surface shows it.

The typical contractor response is one of two shortcuts. Paint over the damage , the painter who does not have the carpentry skill to fix it properly. Or aluminum wrap the visible problem , the contractor who does not want to do the carpentry and covers the damaged board so the house looks clean from the street while the rot continues behind the wrap.

Neither solves the actual problem. The paint over rot blisters and peels in two seasons. The aluminum wrap fails in three to five years, and the underlying damage is significantly worse than it was before the wrap went on.

Timber & Brush replaces the wood properly, addresses the moisture source where we can identify it, and finishes with premium paint on sound substrate. That work lasts twenty years. The shortcuts do not.

Why the CT Shoreline Specifically

Exterior wood failure on Connecticut Shoreline properties follows patterns that we have seen across hundreds of jobs in Madison, Guilford, Branford, Clinton, and the surrounding towns. The cedar clapboard colonials that need their lap seams re-caulked and their fascia probed before any paint goes on. The older cottages in Old Saybrook and Westbrook with porch columns that look fine from the street but are hollow from the base up. The Victorians in Guilford with original trim profiles that need to be matched from specialty millwork rather than substituted with generic stock. We know this housing stock, we know the failure patterns, and we know what a repair needs to look like to hold on a coastal property.

Tony Marchetti – Senior Carpenter

Tony Marchetti brings nearly thirty years of specialized carpentry experience to the Timber & Brush team. He spent most of his career working the Connecticut shoreline, much of it running his own shop, building a reputation for the kind of exterior and finish work most carpenters won’t take on. Rotted fascia on saltbox colonials, dock framing worn down by tidal water, porch columns on estates older than the towns around them, and period-correct trim on houses where the original millwork hasn’t been made in a century.

He learned the trade the old way, apprenticing under a finish carpenter who believed a joint should hold without glue and a scribe line should disappear into the grain. That standard never left him. He still scribes by hand and still walks every job before he commits to it.

After years of carrying the weight of running his own business, Tony decided he’d rather spend his days doing the work he loves without the headaches that come with owning the shop. Joining Timber & Brush lets him focus on the craft, mentor the crews coming up behind him, and bring his eye to the jobs that need it most across Madison, Guilford, Branford, and the waterfront in between. The tools have changed over thirty years. His standard hasn’t.

How We Work

Same crew, same job, same accountability. The person who diagnoses the wood problem is the person who fixes it and the person who paints the finished surface. No coordinating between subcontractors. No scheduling gaps between the carpentry and the paint. No conversations where one contractor says the damage is not their scope.

Every job starts with a walkthrough and a probe. We find the full extent of the wood damage before we quote anything. We give you a written estimate that covers the full scope , wood repair and paint , before any work begins. We do not start on a verbal agreement. We do not cut scope when we get on the job and find more than the surface showed.

When we finish, the repair is primed, painted, and integrated with the surrounding surface. You cannot tell where the new wood ends and the original begins. That is the standard we hold ourselves to on every job, whether it is a single fascia board in Clinton or a full exterior wood repair and repaint on a Victorian in Guilford.

What We Use

We use cedar where the painted wood profile and aesthetic matter and the location allows for normal maintenance. We use PVC trim board where long-term moisture exposure or limited future access makes a wood product a maintenance liability. We use pressure-treated lumber for structural and below-grade applications. Every replacement piece is primed on all faces before installation.

For paint, we use Benjamin Moore Aura and Sherwin Williams Emerald on every exterior job. Labor cost dwarfs product cost on any exterior painting project. Using a cheaper product to save a small amount on material produces a finish that fails two to three years sooner at the same labor cost to repaint. We specify premium products on every job because it is the right call for the homeowner.

Our Roots on the CT Shoreline

Our team has roots on the Connecticut Shoreline going back over 35 years through our sister company White Oak Tree & Landscaping. That history means we know the housing stock, the seasonal conditions, and the moisture patterns that drive exterior wood failure along this coast. We are not a regional contractor working from a franchise playbook. We are a local crew that has been on these properties for a long time.

We also work alongside other teams within our company when a job calls for it. If we are replacing rotted fascia and spot a gutter system routing water directly into the wood, our gutter team can handle that work rather than leaving you to coordinate a second contractor. The same goes for drainage issues and roof-related wood damage. You deal with one phone number and one point of accountability, not a list of contractors to manage.

Where We Are Going

Marine carpentry and dock restoration is on the roadmap as our portfolio of CT Shoreline customers grows. The same moisture-driven wood failure patterns that affect exterior residential wood affect dock and marine structure wood, and the same approach , probe first, replace properly, finish to last , applies. With Tony's veteran marine background now firmly embedded in our core field operations, we are uniquely equipped to expand our reach down to the water line. We will officially launch that distinct service line when the operational base supports it. If you have a dock project in the meantime, reach out and we will let you know where we stand.

Work With Us

If you have rotted wood, failing fascia, soft soffit, deteriorating trim, or an exterior paint job that keeps failing early on a Connecticut Shoreline home, we want to hear about it. We schedule a free walkthrough, probe the full exterior condition, and give you a written scope before any work begins.

We are based in Madison, CT and serve Madison, Branford, Guilford, Clinton, Old Saybrook, Killingworth, North Branford, East Lyme, Westbrook, Essex, Old Lyme, East Haven, and Durham.