Comparing RJL Painting and Precision Paint Experts

Checking windows when weighing an RJL Painting alternative

RJL Painting and Precision Paint Experts are both companies North Central Florida homeowners compare for exterior work. If you're considering an RJL Painting alternative, look closely at how each quote treats the windows. We won't characterize any other company. We'll point out what to ask, since windows are a detail where a bid can quietly differ.

Sills catch rain, sit in sun all afternoon and stay damp after storms. On wood-framed homes and older houses with original windows, that's where paint fails first and rot starts.

Window parts a bid should name

"Paint windows" is too vague to compare. Ask each painter to name which of these are included:

• Exterior casing and brick mold around the frame.
• Sills and the underside of the sill nose.
• Sashes and muntins, on true wood windows.
• Interior stools, aprons and casings, if interior work is part of the job.
• Shutters and decorative window trim.

Rot, glazing and caulk

Probe soft spots with a screwdriver tip during walkthroughs and ask how each painter handles what they find: epoxy wood filler for small areas or replacement of sill sections for larger ones, and who does that carpentry. On older sashes, ask whether loose or cracked glazing putty is replaced, since paint over failed glazing won't hold.

Caulk matters too. Joints between frame and siding should be sealed, but the weep holes and drainage gaps on modern windows shouldn't be caulked shut. Ask each bidder how they handle that.

Sheen, cut lines and working windows

Windows are usually painted in a semi-gloss or satin for durability. Ask how crisp lines on glass are achieved, whether glass is scraped clean afterward, and how sashes are kept from being painted shut. Check that vinyl or aluminum frames are either excluded or coated with a product suited to them; not every frame material should be painted.

Timing window work around the weather

Sills and frames need dry wood before priming and a dry stretch afterward. Ask each bidder when windows fall in the sequence, whether they're painted early in the day so they're set before afternoon storms, and how they'll protect window openings if rain arrives mid-job. Also ask whether windows on the sunniest sides of the house get extra attention, since south and west exposures usually wear out first in Florida.

How Precision Paint Experts handles windows

Our free, written, itemized estimates list window work separately so it can be compared. We use premium 100% acrylic systems on exterior trim and frames. Exterior projects come with a written workmanship warranty of up to 10 years plus the manufacturer's product warranty. See our trim and molding painting, door and shutter painting and about us pages.