Frequently Asked Questions About Exterior Wood Repair and Painting on the CT Shoreline.

We always inspect the wood before any paint goes on. If we find rot during the walkthrough, we scope the repair and give you a written estimate that covers both the wood work and the paint. We will not apply exterior paint over failing wood because it shortens the finish life and leaves the underlying rot to spread.

No. We do not offer aluminum wrap. It covers the visible damage while the wood underneath keeps rotting. We replace the wood properly, address the moisture source, and paint the finished surface. If you specifically want aluminum wrap, we can refer you to a contractor who offers it, but we will not put our name on that work.

Yes. We operate under CT Home Improvement Contractor License HIC #0705088 and are Licensed and Insured on every job.

The team behind Timber & Brush has over 35 years of experience on Connecticut Shoreline properties through our sister company White Oak Tree & Landscaping. Timber & Brush launched in 2026 as a dedicated exterior wood repair and painting specialist on the CT Shoreline.

We serve Madison, Branford, Guilford, Clinton, Old Saybrook, Killingworth, North Branford, East Lyme, Westbrook, Essex, Old Lyme, East Haven, and Durham. Madison, CT is our home base.

Everything is handled in-house with our own crew. We do not subcontract the carpentry to a separate carpenter or the painting to a separate paint crew. Same team, start to finish, one contractor accountable for the whole job.

Paint blistering in the same spot every season, soft or spongy wood under finger pressure, fascia boards that feel flexible when they should be rigid, and visible discoloration at the roofline or around windows are all signs of active wood rot underneath the paint surface. The only reliable way to know the full extent of the damage is to probe the wood with an awl. We do that on every walkthrough before we give you a scope or a number.

Almost always further than it looks. By the time the paint blisters on the face of a fascia board or a clapboard, the rot has usually traveled into adjacent boards and sometimes into the framing behind the finish material. We probe every board adjacent to visible damage to find where the sound wood begins before we cut anything.

Light structural work yes , rim joists, headers, and sill plates in non-load-bearing locations are part of our regular scope. Major structural framing that requires a licensed engineer's involvement we refer to a qualified partner. We document any structural damage we find during a repair and discuss it with you before we proceed.

Yes, in most cases. Older Connecticut Shoreline homes used profiles , beaded, rabbeted, and wide-exposure clapboard among them , that are still milled today by specialty suppliers. We source matching profiles rather than substituting a generic modern board so the repair integrates with the surrounding surface.

Only as part of an exterior project crossover. If we are repairing a door frame or window sash from the outside and the interior trim is affected by the same rot, we address it as part of the same job. We do not take on standalone interior carpentry projects.

No. We do not offer aluminum wrap. It is a band-aid over a structural problem , the wood underneath keeps rotting while the wrap makes the house look fine from the street. We can recommend a contractor who offers it if that is specifically what you want, but we will not put our name on that work.

Wood filler is appropriate for small surface defects , nail holes, minor dings, and hairline cracks in otherwise sound wood. It is not a structural repair. A board with active rot has lost the cell structure that gives wood its strength. Filling it gives you a surface that looks repaired but will fail again, usually faster than the original rot progressed. If a board is structurally compromised, we replace it.

Yes. We assess the structural impact of carpenter ant damage, replace compromised framing and finish material, and coordinate with a pest control partner if active infestation is present before we close the repair. Carpenter ant damage is almost always associated with a moisture intrusion that we identify and document as part of the repair scope.

If the face of the fascia board is soft at the probe, hollow behind the face, or separating from the rafter tails behind it, the board almost certainly needs full replacement. If the damage is limited to paint failure on a structurally sound board, cleaning, priming, and repainting may be sufficient. We assess this during the walkthrough and tell you exactly what we find.

Fascia rot that recurs in the same location after being repaired or repainted almost always traces back to a moisture source that was not addressed , a gutter that overflows at that location, a failed end cap, or a section of gutter that has pulled away from the fascia mounting. We identify and document the moisture source on every fascia repair we do and address it before we close the repair.

Yes, always. We assess the joist condition, the ledger board connection at the house, and the post base and hardware condition before any new decking goes down. Replacing deck boards over failing framing is the same problem as painting over rotted wood , it looks right from the surface and fails faster than the original material.

Post base failure is the most common deck railing failure on CT Shoreline properties. Water pools at the post base, the finish coat breaks down, and moisture works into the base of the post and behind the post hardware. The rot travels from the base upward through the post interior and into the rim joist framing at the mounting connection. We probe the post base and the adjacent rim joist framing before we quote any railing repair scope.

We use Benjamin Moore Aura and Sherwin Williams Emerald, or the substrate-appropriate equivalent for your specific siding material. We specify the product by name in the written estimate before any work begins. We do not use builder-grade products on coastal homes.

Seven to twelve years on a properly prepped surface with premium paint and sound substrate, depending on exposure. South and west facing elevations on CT Shoreline homes take more UV and weather than sheltered north facing surfaces and typically sit at the lower end of that range.

Yes, it is included in prep. We clean every surface before scraping, sanding, priming, and caulking begin. For full property soft washing and surface restoration beyond standard painting prep, that work is handled by our sister brand Soap and Stone.

No. We are exterior specialists only. Every job we take on is on the outside of the home.

Yes. Trim-only exterior painting is a standalone service we offer across the CT Shoreline. We give a written estimate on trim-only projects the same way we do on full house repaints.

Yes. Vinyl siding painting requires a specific product approach , we use paint formulated for vinyl substrates with a bonding primer where the surface condition requires it. Color selection on vinyl painting is limited by the expansion characteristics of the substrate, and we discuss those considerations with you before the work begins.

Yes. Every failed caulk joint at windows, doors, trim transitions, and penetrations gets cut out and replaced with premium exterior caulk before any primer or finish coat goes on. Caulking is a prep step, not an afterthought at the end of the job.

Yes. Exterior caulking and sealing is available as a standalone service for homeowners who want to address joint failures between full paint cycles. We assess every joint on the exterior, cut out what is failing, clean and prep each joint surface, and apply the right product for the specific joint type and substrate.

Call us at (203) 684-5139 or fill out the contact form on this page. We schedule a walkthrough, inspect the property including wood condition, and give you a written estimate covering the full prep, wood repair, and paint scope before any work begins.

Yes, always. We do not give verbal ballpark estimates. Every estimate is a written document that covers every component of the project scope, the materials specified by name, and the project timeline. We do not start work without a written estimate agreed to by both parties.

We walk the full exterior, probe every area showing signs of paint failure or soft wood, assess caulk joint condition at every trim and siding transition, and note gutter and flashing conditions that may be creating moisture intrusion. We tell you what we find before we give you a number, including damage in areas you may not have been aware of.