Trim Repair & Exterior Painting in Dallas – White Rock Highlands

This two-story White Rock Highlands home needed more than a fresh coat of paint. A hole had opened up in the trim board on the second-story chimney, letting water and pests behind the siding, and cracked caulk lines along the eaves and siding intersections had left the house taking on moisture during heavy rain. Our team repaired the compromised trim, resealed the exterior, and repainted the full structure with a new color palette the homeowners chose for the project.

Project at a Glance

• Location: Dallas, TX
• Neighborhood: White Rock Highlands
• Property Type: Two-Story Single-Family Residence
• Project Size: 6,637 Total Square Feet
• Project Scope: Fiber-cement trim repair, full-structure pressure washing, joint and seam resealing, premium multi-coat exterior painting, and columns, ceilings, and entry door staining

The Challenge: A Rotted Chimney Trim Board and Failing Seals

The homeowners came to us wanting a full repaint with a new color scheme, along with some unfinished repairs left over from previous work. On the second-story chimney, a trim board had developed a hole large enough to let in pests and water behind the siding — the kind of damage that’s easy to miss from ground level but gets worse every time it rains.

Beyond the chimney, caulk lines along the eaves and siding intersections had cracked and lost their flexibility, leaving open joints across the exterior. Repainting over those issues without fixing them first would have locked the problems in rather than solving them.

The Discovery: What the Pressure Wash Revealed

Once the crew got a closer look at the chimney trim, they found the hole went deeper than surface damage — pests and water had direct access behind the siding at that point. Pressure washing the exterior with a trisodium phosphate cleaning solution stripped away failing paint and exposed compromised wood underneath that hadn’t been visible before.

The team also traced the cracked caulk lines across hundreds of linear feet of eaves and siding transitions, confirming the home had been taking on moisture at multiple points despite looking stable from the outside.

The Solution: New Trim, Full Resealing, and a Color Change

We replaced the damaged chimney trim with James Hardie® HardieTrim® fiber-cement boards, which don’t absorb moisture or rot the way the original wood trim did. Every open joint and transition point was resealed with 36 tubes of ProStretch® Lifetime Caulk to close the gaps that had been letting water in.

For the paint itself, we applied Benjamin Moore® Regal Select® at full manufacturer strength across the home, in a MoorGard® pastel base formulated in White Dove for the trim and Revere Pewter for the siding and stucco — the new palette the homeowners chose to replace their previous colors. The columns and porch ceilings were finished separately with Benjamin Moore® Woodluxe® waterborne solid stain in Padre Brown, which breathes differently than standard paint and holds up better in areas exposed to ground moisture.

The Results: A New Color Palette and a Sealed Exterior

The home now has the updated look the homeowners wanted, with White Dove trim and Revere Pewter siding replacing the previous color scheme. Just as important, the issues that prompted the repaint — the chimney trim damage and the failed caulk lines — are fixed rather than painted over.

With the trim replaced in a non-porous material and every seam resealed before painting, the new coating has a stable, sound surface underneath it rather than sitting over compromised wood.

Materials Specification

Why Proper Preparation Matters

Paint only holds up as well as the surface underneath it. The crew started by pressure washing the full exterior with a trisodium phosphate solution to strip away dirt, chalking residue, and film that plain water can’t break down. Loose and peeling paint was scraped away and sanded smooth, and every open joint was sealed with fresh caulk before any paint went on — so the new coating went onto a clean, stable surface rather than over old problems.

Materials Selected for Long-Term Performance

The chimney trim replacement used James Hardie® fiber-cement board specifically because the original wood trim’s ongoing moisture exposure at that height had led to the rot found during inspection — fiber cement doesn’t absorb water the way wood does. Benjamin Moore® Regal Select® was selected for the main paint system for its flexibility through Texas’ temperature swings, applied at full manufacturer strength rather than diluted for easier coverage. The Woodluxe® waterborne stain used on the columns and ceilings was chosen because it stays breathable, letting moisture vapor escape from those overhead surfaces instead of trapping it and causing the paint to bubble.

The Phillips Approach

Rather than painting over the compromised chimney trim, we replaced it and resealed the surrounding joints before any paint was applied. Every coating on this project was applied at full manufacturer strength across the full 6,637 square feet, and the color and staining changes were finalized with the homeowners before work began so the finished result matched what they’d asked for.

Coverage & Warranty

This project is backed by a 3-year workmanship warranty from Phillips Home Improvements. The Benjamin Moore® products used carry the manufacturer’s Limited Lifetime Warranty.

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