Background: The craftsmanship and attention to detail seen in some of these historic houses that we work on in SW Montana is astonishing. This home located just off of Main Street in Livingston is no exception. Built in 1914, this historic home surprisingly still had all fully original siding, trim, and windows well over 100 years later. The entry room was lined with two-sided, wood-paned windows and doors. At Bobcat Painting, when we see a home like this, we know the only way to properly paint it is to do it like they used to. We put down our masking supplies and paint sprayers, selected our finest brushes and got to work after some much needed prep.

​

Process: There was a substantial amount of work to do to get this home sealed, scraped, primed, and washed so it would be ready for its fresh coat of paint. Our crews worked for over a week scraping old bubbling paint off the south side, peeling the failing paint off of the foundation, removing and cleaning all sides of storm windows, and meticulously picking the cracking paint on each of the window sills inside and out. They worked to putty and caulk all gaps, cracks, and holes that may leave the home vulnerable to damage if left untreated.  Once we made certain that everything was sealed and the substrate was ready for paint, we performed a complete cleanup of the site to prepare for painting. In an effort to keep the aesthetic of the exterior paint job consistent with the architecture of the home, it was important to us and our homeowner that the work was done by hand with long, straight brush strokes. We knew it was well worth the extra effort when we put our brushes down at the end of the project and stepped back. Our great grandparents' house builders would have been impressed.