Houses usually don’t fall apart all at once. A bead of caulk around a window cracks, a gutter fills up with oak leaves, a sill starts going soft where the rain sits on it. Each of those is a small thing on the day you spot it, so it gets put off, and a year or two later it’s a bigger repair than it ever needed to be.
Our Annual Maintenance Program is how we keep that from happening. We put the upkeep on a calendar and keep track of it for you, and every visit doubles as an inspection. Below is what’s in each plan, how the year usually runs and how a home joins. The Annual Maintenance Program page has the full details.
The Three Plans
You can sign up for the exterior plan, the interior plan, or the Bundle, which is both. Each plan has a set list of base services. Bigger jobs get added on and quoted separately.
The Exterior Plan
- A soft wash of the whole house, once a year
- Paint condition inspection and touch-ups
- A full caulking audit and resealing
- Gutter cleaning and a downspout flush, twice a year
- Wood rot inspection and minor repair
- A yearly defensible-space review, based on CAL FIRE guidelines
The Interior Plan
- Paint condition audit and touch-ups
- Checking and resealing the caulk in wet areas
- A check of door hardware and hinges
- Baseboard and trim inspection
The Bundle
You get everything in both plans. On top of that, the Bundle comes with a Fine Paints of Europe color consultation once a year, priority scheduling, better member terms on add-ons, and first access when it’s time to book a repaint.
Why Each Service Is on the List
Pretty much everything on the exterior list is about keeping water off the wood, plus one item for fire. Here’s the thinking behind each one.
Soft wash. Dirt, pollen and mildew sit on paint and hold moisture against it. A soft wash uses low pressure, so it cleans the siding without driving water into the joints the way a pressure washer can.
Paint inspection and touch-ups. Paint tends to give out in a few spots first, usually a sill, the end of a board, or wherever a downspout splashes. If we touch those up while they’re small, the water never gets in behind them.
Caulking. The sealant around windows, doors and trim dries out over time, and the wood moving with the seasons pulls it loose. Once a joint opens up, rain runs right into the wall. Redoing it on a schedule closes those gaps before the wet season.
Gutters and downspouts. Leaves don’t all come down in one month, so we clean the gutters and flush the downspouts twice a year. When a gutter overflows it soaks the fascia and the siding under it, and a plugged downspout dumps its water right at the foundation.
Wood rot. Rot starts where water hangs around, like sills, the bottoms of trim boards and the ends of siding. Catching it early keeps the fix small. Minor repairs are part of the plan and anything bigger gets quoted on its own. If we find rot in a load-bearing member, we refer that to an appropriately licensed contractor.
Defensible space. California law (PRC 4291) requires defensible space for homes in State Responsibility Areas and Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones. Once a year we check yours based on CAL FIRE guidelines and write down Zone 0, 1 and 2 conditions for your file and your insurer. That check is not a CAL FIRE inspection, and your insurer is the one who decides coverage and pricing. There’s more on our wildfire mitigation page.
The interior plan works the same way. Caulk around tubs, showers and sinks keeps water out of the walls. Doors and hinges get used every day, so they wear out of adjustment. And baseboards and trim are usually where you first notice scuffs, gaps or a bit of moisture damage.
How a Typical Year Runs
We try to do each job in the season where it helps most. Outside paint and caulk go on best in dry weather, so the exterior work happens from spring into summer, and we save the interior work for the rainy months. A typical year looks something like this.
| Season | What happens |
|---|---|
| Spring | Soft wash of the whole house, gutter cleaning and a downspout flush, and a full inspection of the property and the paint |
| Summer | Paint touch-ups and caulking, the wood rot check and minor repairs, and the defensible-space check before fire season |
| Fall | The second gutter cleaning and downspout flush, weather sealing to close out the exterior, and booking any add-ons such as decks, hardscape or a repaint |
| Winter | Interior paint check and touch-ups, caulk in the wet areas, door hardware and trim, and a color consultation with planning for next year |
Treat that as a starting point. We set the actual schedule around your house.
Add-Ons
Larger jobs aren’t part of the base plans. You can add them when you sign up or any time during the year, and we quote each one after we’ve looked at what your house needs. Bundle members get better terms on all of them.
On the outside, that includes a full exterior repaint with Fine Paints of Europe systems, which the yearly condition checks help us plan ahead for. It also covers staining and sealing wood decks and fences (wood decks get a bead test every year, and composite decks just get washed), washing the outside of the windows, washing and sealing the driveway and hardscape, fire-resistant coatings where the defensible-space review says they’re needed, and ember-resistant screening on the soffit, ridge and gable vents with 1/8 inch metal mesh.
Inside, you can add full room repaints, cabinet refinishing, a maintenance coat on the hardwood floors where they get the most traffic, a refresh of the baseboards and trim, or touch-ups on built-ins and custom millwork.
How a Home Joins
Getting started takes four steps.
- Initial consultation. This takes 30 to 45 minutes and there’s no fee. We walk the property with you and talk about whether the program makes sense for it.
- Pre-enrollment inspection. A condition assessment that takes 2 to 4 hours. It’s a paid visit, and what you pay is credited in full toward your program.
- Condition report and proposal. You get it within 3 to 5 business days. It has your custom proposal, the add-ons we’d recommend and the yearly schedule.
- Acceptance and launch. Once you accept, we set up your calendar and book the first visit. The program is usually up and running within 30 days.
Every home gets that inspection first, and we’re selective about which homes we take on, since the program is built for larger Peninsula properties. If there’s active wood rot, it gets fixed before the home is enrolled, so the program starts from sound surfaces.
How We Price It
We don’t publish a price list. The paint systems on your house, the materials, the surfaces, the size and the condition all change how much work there is, so we quote each program after we’ve seen the home in person.
The inspection tells us what your finishes need this year and what can wait. From there we send you one fixed price for the year, based on the products we’ll use and how often we’ll come out. That price, your schedule and a record of every visit are kept in your private client portal.
Programs run a year at a time and you can change things at renewal. If you’re going to be traveling or remodeling, or your priorities change, just let us know.
Common Questions
What’s included, and what costs extra?
Everything listed in your plan is included. Bigger optional work, like a full repaint, sealing a deck or the hardscape, or refinishing cabinets, gets quoted separately as an add-on.
What if something comes up between visits?
Program members get priority response for anything that can’t wait.
How does this relate to my warranties and insurance?
Regular maintenance is the kind of care that workmanship and manufacturer warranties expect, and your yearly defensible-space check is written up for your insurer. That check is based on CAL FIRE guidelines and is not a CAL FIRE inspection, and your insurer decides coverage and pricing.
How is this different from just repainting?
A repaint is one project. The program keeps the paint, wood, seals and vents in good shape all year, so you repaint when you’re ready to, instead of when the house forces you to.
If you’d like to see whether the program fits your home, the Annual Maintenance Program page has everything in one place. You can request a consultation there, or call us at (650) 961-7415.
