By Sherman Lionel, Founder – Shaq’s Painting Inc.
The Exterior Painting Projects Details at a Glance
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Address | 58 Mathersfield Dr, Toronto, ON M4W 3W5 |
| Neighbourhood | Leaside / Moore Park, Toronto |
| Service | Exterior Painting |
| Surface types | Vertical board-and-batten siding (upper) + original brick (lower, unpainted) |
| Body colour | Deep navy blue |
| Trim colour | White/cream (fascia, window surrounds, garage door frames) |
| Garage doors | Painted to match body – deep navy |
| Shutters | Dark (left as-is) |
| Paint product | [CONFIRM WITH SHERMAN – e.g. Sherwin-Williams Emerald Exterior / Benjamin Moore Aura Exterior] |
| Coats applied | Primer + 2 finish coats |
| Lead painter | Sherman Lionel, Owner – Shaq’s Painting Inc. |
| Service area | Toronto, Leaside, GTA |
What the Homeowner Needed
The house at 58 Mathersfield Dr is a two-storey home in Leaside – one of Toronto’s more established residential neighbourhoods – with a split material exterior. The upper portion is board-and-batten vertical siding. The lower portion is original red brick.
The existing siding colour had aged and the homeowner wanted a strong, modern palette. The brief was clear: go dark and confident on the siding, keep the trim light for contrast, and paint the garage doors to match the body so the front elevation reads as one unified surface rather than three competing elements.
The brick was not in scope. That was a deliberate decision – painting over sound original brick adds long-term maintenance and can trap moisture if not done correctly. Leaving the brick unpainted and letting the dark siding frame it from above was the right call for this house.
What Sherman Did – The Full Process
Surface Assessment and Prep
The board-and-batten siding on the upper portion was the primary surface. Sherman inspected every vertical seam, all four corners, the window surrounds, and the soffit and fascia line where the siding meets the roof overhang.
On older Toronto homes in established neighbourhoods like Leaside, the caulking around window surrounds and trim joints often fails before the paint does. Water gets into those joints, sits behind the siding through winter, and causes paint to lift from the back – not the surface. No amount of fresh paint on top fixes that. Every failed joint gets recaulked before primer goes on.
The garage doors required separate prep: light sanding of the existing surface to break the gloss and give the new paint something to grip, followed by a spot prime on any areas where the previous coat had oxidised or chipped.
Full process: power wash of all painted surfaces, recaulking of all open joints, spot sanding, full primer coat.
The Mixed Material Decision – Siding Painted, Brick Left
This is one of the most common questions on homes with split material exteriors: do you paint the brick or leave it?
At 58 Mathersfield, the brick is in good condition – solid, no spalling, no significant efflorescence. Painting brick that is structurally sound trades a low-maintenance surface for a high-maintenance one. Once painted, brick needs repainting on the same schedule as the siding. If moisture ever gets behind painted brick, it has nowhere to go and the damage compounds.
Sherman’s recommendation was to leave the brick and let the dark navy siding above it do the visual work. The contrast between the painted upper section and the natural brick below creates a base-and-body effect that makes the house look grounded. It is a better result than painting the whole thing one colour – and it is less work to maintain over time.
Colour Strategy – Navy Body, White Trim, Matched Garage Doors
The deep navy chosen for this project is a fuller, more saturated blue than the slate at Citrine St. Where the Citrine St colour reads as a blue-grey depending on light conditions, this navy reads as blue in any light. It is a colour that works well on board-and-batten because the vertical lines of the siding add depth to a flat surface.
The trim – fascia boards, window surrounds, and garage door frames – went white/cream. Navy and white is a high-contrast combination that reads as intentional and clean from the street. It is also forgiving in Toronto’s variable light: the contrast holds whether the sky is overcast or bright.
The garage doors were painted to match the body colour rather than the trim. This is the correct approach for a front-facing double garage on a two-storey house. Garage doors are a large surface area. If they go white or a lighter colour, they become the dominant visual element on the front elevation – which is not where you want the eye to land first. Painting them to match the siding pulls them back into the wall plane and makes the windows and roofline the focal points instead.
Final Walkthrough
Sherman walked every surface with the homeowner after completion – siding, trim, garage doors, window surrounds. Sign-off happens on-site, not over the phone. That is standard on every Shaq’s Painting project.
The Completed Result
The front elevation at 58 Mathersfield reads as a completely deliberate design choice. The deep navy siding, the white trim line at the fascia and windows, and the matched garage doors work as a single composition rather than a collection of separate elements.
The original brick at the base does something important: it anchors the house. The warm orange-red tone of the brick against the cool deep navy above creates a contrast that would not exist if the whole exterior were one material and one colour. That contrast is not accidental – it is why the recommendation to leave the brick was the right one.
The dark shutters on the upper windows sit in the navy without disappearing into it. At this saturation level, a navy body with true black shutters would flatten. The slightly lighter dark tone of the existing shutters gives just enough separation.
Exterior Painting in Leaside and Toronto – What Homeowners Should Know
Leaside and the surrounding Toronto neighbourhoods – Moore Park, Rosedale, Davisville – have a high proportion of older homes where the exterior materials are a mix: brick, wood siding, stucco, or combinations of all three. Each material has different prep and paint requirements, and a painter who treats them all the same will get different results on each.
For exterior painting in Toronto, the key question on any mixed-material home is what gets painted and what gets left. That decision affects the maintenance schedule, the moisture management, and the final visual result. It is worth discussing at the estimate stage – not after the job has started.
Sherman Lionel covers that decision at every estimate visit. The written quote documents exactly what surfaces are in scope and why – so the homeowner knows before any paint comes out of a can.
Project Photos
Before
After
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Frequently Asked Questions – Exterior Painting in Toronto and Leaside
Should you paint brick on a Toronto house?
Painting brick on a Toronto home is a long-term commitment, not a one-time decision. Sound brick in good condition – no spalling, no significant moisture damage – does not need to be painted and is better left unpainted. Once you paint brick, it needs to be repainted on the same schedule as your siding. If moisture gets behind painted brick and has nowhere to escape, it accelerates deterioration. At 58 Mathersfield, the brick was left unpainted specifically because it was in good condition and the visual result was stronger with the contrast between natural brick and painted siding.
How much does exterior painting cost for a Toronto house?
Exterior painting on a detached Toronto home typically runs between $3,500 and $10,000, depending on the size of the painted surface area, the number of storeys, surface condition, and how many separate colours are in scope (Shaq’s Painting Inc. – based on 50+ completed GTA projects, 2024-2026). Homes with board-and-batten siding cost more to prep than smooth-sided homes. Shaq’s Painting provides fixed written quotes – no hourly billing, no change orders.
Should garage doors be painted to match the body or the trim?
On most two-storey homes with a front-facing garage, painting the garage doors to match the body colour is the better choice. Garage doors are a large surface area on the front elevation. If they go trim-coloured or lighter, they pull the eye away from the architectural details above – the windows, roofline, and siding. Matching them to the body colour pulls them back into the wall plane and lets the trim do the defining work. At 58 Mathersfield, the garage doors went deep navy to match the siding, and the white trim frames them cleanly.
What navy blue exterior paint colours work well on board-and-batten siding in Toronto?
Deep, saturated navy tones – in the range of Benjamin Moore Hale Navy HC-154, Sherwin-Williams Naval SW 6244, or similar – work well on board-and-batten because the vertical lines of the siding add depth at close range and the saturated colour reads clearly from the street. Paired with white or cream trim, navy board-and-batten is one of the most consistent performers in Toronto neighbourhoods like Leaside, Rosedale, and Moore Park where traditional architecture benefits from a high-contrast palette.
Does Shaq’s Painting serve Leaside and central Toronto?
Yes. Shaq’s Painting Inc. is Toronto-based and serves all Toronto neighbourhoods including Leaside, Moore Park, Rosedale, Davisville, East York, North York, Etobicoke, and Scarborough, as well as Mississauga, Pickering, Richmond Hill, and all GTA. There is no travel surcharge for any location within the GTA.
How long does exterior paint last on board-and-batten siding in Toronto?
A properly prepped exterior paint job on board-and-batten siding in Toronto lasts 8 to 12 years when premium-grade exterior paint is used with a full primer coat (Sherwin-Williams product documentation, 2025; consistent with Shaq’s Painting field experience across 50+ GTA projects). The most common cause of early failure on board-and-batten is unsealed seams at the vertical joints, which allow moisture in behind the paint film. Correct prep – full caulking of every joint before primer – is what separates a 10-year finish from a 4-year one.
About the Painter
Sherman Lionel is the founder and owner of Shaq’s Painting Inc. He is on every project personally – from the estimate to the final walkthrough. Before starting Shaq’s Painting, Sherman worked in hospitality, where the standard is anticipating what a client needs before they have to ask. He brought that same approach to painting.
Every quote is fixed and written. Every project is owner-led. The 5.0 Google rating across Shaq’s Painting’s verified reviews reflects completed, inspected, approved jobs – not early solicitations.
Shaq’s Painting Inc. – Toronto, ON | +1 (437) 907-6788 | Shaq’s Painting serves Toronto, Mississauga, North York, Etobicoke, West Toronto, Richmond Hill, Ajax and Pickering, and Newmarket – no travel surcharge on any location within the service area.