Haruko Yoshida
Owner and estimator
Walks every house before it's priced and writes the estimate herself. Sets the schedule from the forecast, a week at a time.
Craftsman and Victorian house painters in Seattle
Old Seattle houses, painted between the rains.
We're Haruko Yoshida and a crew of seven. We repaint bungalows, foursquares and Victorians, and we plan every job around the dry weeks, not the other way round.
The rain window
When each job runs, month by month
Exterior paint needs dry boards and a few dry days after. In Seattle that usually means June to September, so that's when most of our exterior work runs. The rest of the year has its own jobs.
Exterior painting
Siding, trim, porches. Booked a dry week at a time.
Jun-Sep
Moss and mildew wash
Walls and north sides wash first, then dry before any paint.
Apr-May
Siding and sill repairs
Rot, loose boards and failed caulk are fixed before paint.
Apr-Oct
Porches and decks
Floors and steps need several dry days to cure.
Jul-Sep
Interiors and built-ins
Rain doesn't matter indoors, so winter belongs to them.
Oct-Mar
Estimates and color consults
We walk houses all year, and book next summer early.
all year
Our usual pattern. The forecast decides each day.
When it rains
If it rains, we stop and move the crew.
Wet wood and wet caulk hold paint badly, and it peels in a year or two. So we watch the sky, and you hear from us before the weather does the deciding.
We check the forecast the evening before and again at 6 a.m.
We cover what's open, clear the site and leave if boards are wet.
We text you the next dry day the same morning.
A rain day moves the schedule, not the written scope.
What we paint
What we paint, and what we fix first
Craftsman exteriors
Lap siding, shingles, brackets, beams and porch columns, washed, repaired and painted in dry weeks.
ExteriorsVictorian exteriors
Clapboard, casings and brackets, with scaffolding where the height calls for it.
ExteriorsWindows and trim
Sills, casings, fascia and corner boards, where weather gets in first.
Windows and trimPorches and railings
Ceilings, posts, rails, floors and steps, with cure time between coats.
PorchesInteriors and built-ins
Wainscot, picture rail, crown, bookcases and window seats, sanded by hand.
InteriorsSill and siding repair
Soft wood, loose boards and failed caulk, fixed before the first coat.
What's included
Houses built before 1978
Old paint can contain lead, so we work in a set order
Here is what happens on the ground and on the walls of every house built before 1978. The numbers match the steps beside the photo.
Plastic goes down first
Sheeting covers the ground out to the drip line, and shrubs we can't move.
Windows and doors are closed
What opens near the work is taped shut, so dust stays outside.
Paint is misted and scraped by hand
No dry sanding, no open flame and no heat gun on old paint.
A HEPA vacuum takes the chips
Chips and dust are vacuumed from the sheeting, never swept.
Wipe-down and a look
Sheeting is folded in, surfaces are wiped, and we check before the next side.
Who comes to the house
A crew of eight, led by three people you'll meet
Haruko, Dongwook and Marites walk the house, set up the work and check it at the end. Five painters work with them.
Dongwook Kwon
Exterior crew lead
Runs the exterior crew and sets up the plastic, tape and vacuum before anyone scrapes a house built before 1978.
Marites Magsaysay
Prep and trim lead
Leads the prep: wet scraping, sill and casing repair, caulk and the final clean-down of every surface.
Sample reviews
What neighbors write after the last coat
“Our 1912 foursquare had four layers of paint on the porch. They scraped it wet, vacuumed everything and left the yard cleaner than they found it.”
Kerri B.Montlake
“They checked the forecast every morning and texted me twice when they moved a day. The trim edges are crisp and nobody tracked anything into the house.”
Hakeem T.Beacon Hill
“Two window sills were rotted through. The estimate listed them by name, and the bill matched the estimate.”
Carolina H.West Seattle
“I wanted the built-in bookcases painted without losing the profile of the moldings. They sanded by hand and it shows.”
Sonja L.Madrona
Sample reviews.
Where we paint
Seattle's older neighborhoods, and two islands
We work where the Craftsman bungalows, foursquares and Victorians are. If your street isn't listed, ask and we'll tell you.
Seattle neighborhoods
- Fremont
- Greenwood
- Magnolia
- Capitol Hill
- Montlake
- Madrona
- Leschi
- Mount Baker
- Beacon Hill
- Columbia City
- West Seattle
Across the water
- Bainbridge Island
- Vashon
We don't paint north of Edmonds, south of Tukwila or east of Lake Washington.
ZIP codes: 98102, 98103, 98107, 98108, 98110, 98112, 98116, 98117, 98118, 98122, 98126, 98136, 98144, 98199, 98070
Questions we get most
Will I get a written estimate?
Yes. After we walk the house, we send a written estimate that lists each surface, the repairs, the number of coats, the products and sheens, the colors, cleanup, the schedule and when payments are due.
My house was built before 1978. Does that change anything?
Yes. The EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) rule applies to paid work that disturbs paint in homes and child-occupied buildings built before 1978. The firm must be EPA Lead-Safe Certified and use set work practices. Our firm number is in the footer, and the Houses built before 1978 page walks through the steps. Your state or city may add rules; we'll tell you what we know.
What happens if it rains?
We check the forecast the evening before and again at 6 a.m. Wet boards and wet caulk don't get paint. If rain starts mid-day we cover what's open, clear the site and text you the next dry day. Rain moves the schedule; it doesn't change the written scope.
Who buys the paint, and which brand?
We buy it and list it on the estimate. We use premium exterior and interior paint, name the product, and give you its data sheet if you ask.
Can you give me a price over the phone?
We can say what a house like yours often involves, but a price comes only after we walk it. Old houses hide rot, layers of paint and surprises behind the gutters.
Get started
Request an estimate
Tell us about the house and the year it was built. Haruko calls back the next working day to set a walk-through.