Interior painting
Rooms, ceilings, trim and stairs
Older Pittsburgh houses have plaster walls, tall ceilings and a lot of wood trim. We fix what the paint would show, then paint.
Most jobs are two or three rooms and a hall. Tell us what bothers you about the house, and the estimate covers it.
Plaster and drywall repairs done before priming
Floors, stairs and furniture covered first
Doors and cabinet fronts sprayed in the shop
Prep
What we do before any color goes on
Walls and ceilings
Fill and sand cracks and nail pops, skim rough plaster, spot-prime patches, caulk the seams.
Trim and doors
Scuff-sand, fill dents, caulk gaps, prime bare wood and any glossy surface.
Stairs and railings
Clean grime off, sand the treads we paint, mask the balusters' edges.
Cabinets
Degrease, remove doors and hardware, label every hinge position, sand and prime.
Floors and furniture
Cover floors with paper and drop cloths, wrap furniture, tape edges and vents.
Closets and small rooms
Empty shelves, move what we can and cover what we can't.
Finishes
Sheens, in plain words
We use a premium line of paint and write the product and sheen into your estimate. Ask for the data sheet any time.
- 01
Flat or matte
Hides wall flaws. Best on ceilings and low-traffic walls. Marks more easily.
- 02
Eggshell or satin
A soft sheen for living rooms, bedrooms and halls. Wipes clean.
- 03
Semi-gloss
A hard, washable finish for trim, doors and kitchens and baths.
- 04
Cabinet enamel
A hard-wearing finish for cabinets, sprayed on in the shop.
A typical job
How a two-room job runs
- Mon
Step 1: Cover and repair
Caulk and fill.
- Tue
Step 2: Sand and prime
Patches flush, bare spots primed.
- Wed
Step 3: First coat
Ceilings, then walls.
- Thu
Step 4: Second coat and trim
Baseboards and casings.
- Fri
Step 5: Doors and walk-through
Touch-ups, then the tape comes off.
Days are examples. Your estimate gives the days for your house.
Questions
Interior painting
Do you paint over wallpaper?
Usually we remove it, repair the wall and prime it. We tell you at the walk-through what we find.
How many coats?
Two coats of color in most rooms, after primer on patches and bare spots. The estimate states the coats for each surface.
Can you match an existing color?
Usually, from a chip or a small cut-out of the wall. Colors read differently by light, so we test a patch first.
What does the warranty cover?
Peeling and blistering from our workmanship. Terms, limits and exclusions are in your written warranty.
Walk the rooms with us.
Lindsay or Ralph measures, asks and writes the estimate.