Paint protects sound material. It does not repair material that has failed. That one rule answers most paint or replace questions, and it matters in Detroit, where a lot of exterior wood is 70 to 100 years old.
Price ranges on this page are national figures published by HomeGuide for 2026. They are not our quotes. Local labor, paint prices and the condition of your own surfaces move the number up or down. Last checked October 2026.
Should I paint or replace my kitchen cabinets?
Paint them if the boxes are solid, the doors are flat and the layout works for you. Replace them if the boxes are swollen from water, the shelves sag or you want a different layout.
By national figures, painting costs $2,000 to $6,500 and full replacement costs $4,500 to $15,000. Our cabinet painting page covers refacing and refinishing as middle options.
Is it cheaper to paint or replace old siding?
Painting is cheaper when the siding is sound. By the national figures, painting vinyl siding costs $1,500 to $5,000 against $4,800 to $11,100 to replace it. Painting aluminum siding costs $1,500 to $7,000 against $6,300 to $20,100 to replace it.
No matching figures are published for wood, brick or stucco. The real test is condition. If boards are solid and flat, paint. If many are rotted, split or loose, replace those first or the paint money is wasted.
My wood siding is faded, cracked or 30 years old. Should I paint or replace it?
Faded wood siding should be painted. Age alone is not a reason to replace it. Old-growth wood clapboard on Detroit houses has often lasted a century because it was kept painted.
Fine surface cracks can be primed and painted. Boards that are split through, cupped away from the wall or soft should be replaced one by one. A painter can tell you during the estimate how many boards that is. If it is most of a wall, new siding on that wall may make more sense.
My wood siding has some rot. Should I paint it or replace it first?
Fix the rot first. Paint over rotted wood fails quickly, because the wood under it stays wet and keeps breaking down.
Find out why it rotted. On Detroit houses it is usually a leaking gutter, a missing drip cap over a window, soil or a deck touching the siding, or open joints that were never caulked. Replace the bad boards, fix the water source, prime all sides of the new wood and then paint.
The trim is soft or rotting. Fill and paint, or new trim?
Small soft spots in trim can be dug out, hardened and filled. Trim that is soft along most of its length should be replaced.
Window sills, the bottoms of door frames, porch post bases and fascia behind gutters are where trim fails first here, because snow and water sit on them. A filled repair works when the rot is shallow and the rest of the piece is hard. If a screwdriver sinks in easily over a large area, new wood or a composite trim board is the lasting fix.
Can a painter patch dry rot with epoxy, or do I need a carpenter?
A painter can patch small areas of dry rot with a two-part epoxy wood filler. You need a carpenter when the damage is structural or large.
Epoxy suits a sill corner, a short length of casing or a detail that would be hard to copy. A carpenter is the right trade for porch framing, long runs of fascia, door frames that have lost their base, or siding over a wall that may be wet inside. Tell us what you see and we will say which it is.
My deck boards are grey and splintering. Stain or replace?
Grey boards can be stained. Splintering boards usually should be replaced. Grey is only sun damage on the surface, and washing or light sanding removes it.
Splinters, deep cracks and boards that flex or feel spongy mean the wood itself is worn out, and stain will not hold it together. Often only some boards are bad. Replacing those and staining the whole deck is a common middle path. Always check the frame, posts and ledger too.
My aluminum siding is chalky. Paint it or cover it?
Paint it, if the panels are not badly dented. Chalk is the old factory finish breaking down into powder. It washes off, and aluminum holds new paint well once it is clean.
The chalk must come off fully, or the new paint sticks to the powder and not to the siding. After washing, an acrylic paint is applied, with primer where bare metal shows. Aluminum siding is very common on mid-century houses across Detroit, Warren, Westland and Taylor, so this is a job we see often.
Is a 20-year-old deck worth painting or staining?
A 20-year-old deck is worth staining if the frame is sound and most boards are solid. It is not worth it if the posts, joists or ledger are rotting.
Check the structure before spending on a finish. Push a screwdriver into the posts near the ground and into the joists where they meet the house. If those are firm, replace the worst boards and use a solid stain, which hides weathering better than a clear one. If the frame is failing, put the money toward a rebuild.
A free estimate with a written quote is the only way to get a real price for your job. Call or text (313) 251-3869.