Just want to pass on my experience with my owner/builder Hardie Plank installation. I prepainted approx. 600 sticks of primed HP in a heated shop with a Cloverdale covercoat flat acrylic latex. (If you don't prepaint then the primed overlap never gets sealed correct?) I had heard of the chalking problem with HP, and so restacked the prepainted plank with heavy plastic wrap between each piece. The rumour at the time (2008) was that contact with the raw back of the hardie plank caused the chalking on the front. I gave the installed siding a 2ND coat of the Cloverdale,,, all for naught, I got chalking and fading within five years!!!!! I suspect the paint quality, even though we asked for the longest lasting paint they had. At seven years commenced repainting this 2 story house and its five, 12 in 12, 33ft. peaks, with BM Aura, rrrrrrr. The real reason I am posting is a discovery I made when siding my garden shed with the Hardie. I took to sealing the cut ends, front and back, plus the lower drip edges and the upper overlap with some oil primer I had kicking around. Then painting the finished job with the remaining Cloverdale. A few years later the chalking appears where primed hardie got only the latex paint, just like the main house. BUT NO CHALKING WHERE THE OIL PRIMER WAS APPLIED!!! See attached photographic proof. So don't be so fast to discount using an oil primer on your Hardie Plank! I have now primed shed with the oil primer from Home Hardware as a test, and will update how it pans out. Sorry for rambling long, Quadlock owner/builder, Norm

I live in the northeast and have seen lots of painting in the past few weeks. It's still pretty warm here (temps in the 70s), so I think you're good for at least another month. I think the general rule of thumb is not to go below 50 degrees. I personally would not push it beyond late October because you don't want to apply the paint only to see the temperature drop below the recommended temp.

At first, I was thinking a light gray could work, if it picks up one of the brick colors. I think the white trim here also helps balance that pairing. This was a custom color, but it looks way less brown based than Gauntlet Gray to me, more like the steel tones of your lightest gray brick. Then I started to think that with all your roof, a dark gray, like Gauntlet Gray would divide your rather short house. That's probably why it's painted a color close to the roof. Here's a dark gray shorter house,(painted something like Winchester Gray, a poster thinks.) that has a matching roof, unlike yours. Personally, I wouldn't like this dark gray on your house. Would you ever consider going to a chocolate brown, with red accents? Here, your roof is the third color, as is their orangey natural wood trim. Paint the garage the red. Your setting is gorgeous!

I think a color like this would suit the surrounding landscape better than white. It’s a good looking house, and I see no need to try and make it appear larger. It doesn't seem that you have enough room for properly sized shutters. The landscaping can provide most of the curb appeal.