First, I'd like to thank you all for your comments. I was hoping to
get a consensus and seemed to get partial agreement in some areas,
disagreement in others.

Some questions posed I'll answer:
1. [QUOTES] Yes, the $8600 quote included the 7 year warantee and
suggested 15-20 years and would brush/roll the paint. The middle
estimate only had the 2 year warantee and claimed it was because they
handle houses across the country in less favorable climates (snow,
etc)

2. [NEW SIDING] No, I haven't considered new siding (vinyl?) because I
assumed it would be much more costly. I will investigate.

3. [PESTS] I don't believe I have any serious infestation problem with
the ants, I've had Terminix come out and spray as well as an
inspection. They concluded that it was fairly normal for the seaon and
area I live in.

4. [ROLL vs SPRAY] The other estimates who suggested spraying usually
mentioned rolling afterwards to get into the cracks. It sounds like
there's not a huge difference as long as the painters are careful in
taping things up well. Generally people never said brush/roll was
worse but maybe not necessary.

5. [CAULKING] I heard quite the debate on whether to caulk between
boards or not. I agree that no amount of caulking would keep out the
pests. The writer who mentioned that they sell a specific device to go
in between the boards sounded the most believable.

6. [TIME] When I suggested the 3 days vs. 2 weeks quote, that included
the entire paint job (prep, paint, etc..). It sounded like anything
under 6 days would be a poor job. The number of people quoted was
usually 3-4.

7. [PRIMING] I heard mixed opinions about spot priming vs. priming
everything. My house has been painted previously so I would think that
any time the paint is scraped off to expose the bare wood priming is
necessary. Priming on top of existing paint is perhaps not necessary.

8. [CLIMATE] I live in Northern California and get a decent amount of
sun. The moisture we get is usually in the winter or fog this time of
year.

9. [OIL vs. LATEX] I hadn't anticipated starting a debate between the
two and it hadn't occurred to me to even ask. I guess I've been using
LATEX inside and assumed OIL was the old way, too messy, and not
necessary with the advances in the LATEX.

10. [COLORS] I had planned to use 3 colors, one for base, one for
trim, and one for the doors. The house is currently a lighter color
than the new will be. I don't believe the existing paint is lead
based, it's not too old but was never done well it seems.


I'm leaning towards the middle quote (~$6500) which would take 6-7
days, spray and roll, 2 yr warantee that he will up to 3 yr. 3/4
quotes said it was wrong to ever caulk between the boards.