Exterior · Interior · Stucco & EIFS coatings
Exterior & interior painting plus stucco coatings
Prep-first exterior painting, careful interiors, and the masonry coatings many painters steer clear of: breathable and elastomeric systems for stucco, and system-compatible re-coats for EIFS. Help choosing the colors comes with the job.
Fast turnaround: usually within 48 hours with drawings.
Fastest with drawings. No drawings? We visit first. Free either way.
- Sheet
- A-160
- Specialty
- Stucco & EIFS coatings
- Color
- Large samples on your walls
- Estimate
- Free, fast turnaround
- Coverage
- All of MA & NH
Contents12 sections on this sheet
- A-160.1Most of a good paint job happens before the paint
- A-160.2Our exterior painting process
- A-160.3Painting season in Massachusetts and New Hampshire
- A-160.4Coatings for stucco and EIFS
- A-160.5Lead paint rules for homes built before 1978
- A-160.6Interior painting
- A-160.7Help choosing colors
- A-160.8Commercial and multifamily repaints
- A-160.9What sets the price of a paint job
- A-160.10Where we do this work
- A-160.11Related services
- A-160.12Questions
01General notesA-160.1
Most of a good paint job happens before the paint
A finish coat lasts as long as the surface under it. Peeling, flaking and early fading usually trace back to prep: dirt or chalk left on the wall, loose paint painted over, bare wood left unprimed, a gap filled with the wrong product, or paint put on in the wrong weather. That’s where we spend the time, because that’s where the date of your next repaint is decided.
We paint houses, commercial buildings and interiors, and our specialty is the surfaces that fall between trades. Stucco and EIFS need different coatings and different prep from clapboard, and painting them as if they were clapboard can do real harm to the wall. Because we also repair stucco and install and re-coat EIFS, the coating, the crack repair and the sealant joints are handled together, by people who know how the wall behind the paint is built.
02SequenceA-160.2
Our exterior painting process
The same sequence on a clapboard colonial or a stucco estate, adjusted to the surface in front of us.
Protect
Plantings, walkways, roofs, windows and fixtures are covered or masked before any washing or scraping starts.
Wash
Walls and trim are washed to remove dirt, chalk and mildew, at a pressure suited to the material, then left to dry fully before anything else happens.
Scrape and sand
Loose and failing paint comes off, and the edges of sound paint are feathered so they don’t show through the new coats.
Repair
Rotted wood is replaced or consolidated, stucco cracks are repaired properly rather than filled with caulk, and holes and gaps are filled.
Prime
Bare wood, repairs, stains and fresh masonry patches get the primer that suits the material, including alkali-resistant primer on new cement.
Caulk
Joints that should be sealed are sealed with a paintable sealant. Joints that have to stay open to drain, like the bottom edges of clapboards, are left open.
Two finish coats
Applied by brush, roller or sprayer and back-rolled where the surface calls for it, at the film thickness the product’s data sheet specifies.
Walkthrough
Cleanup and touch-ups, and we can walk around the house with you at the end so you see the finished work.
03DetailA-160.3
Painting season in Massachusetts and New Hampshire
Every exterior paint has a minimum temperature for the air and the surface, and it has to stay above that minimum while the paint dries, overnight included. Many current acrylic house paints can go on at 35°F; others need 50°F. The surface also has to be at least 5°F above the dew point, or moisture condenses under the fresh film. The product’s data sheet sets the limits, and we work to them.
In practice that makes late spring through early fall the main exterior season, with a shorter window in northern New Hampshire and the hill towns. Days are planned around the weather: walls go on after the morning dew has burned off, sunny south and west walls are painted once they’re out of the hottest sun, and no coat goes on when rain is due before it can dry. In October, cold nights end the painting day earlier than the afternoon thermometer suggests.
Key points05
- Air and surface above the product’s minimum, day and night, until it dries
- Surface at least 5°F above the dew point
- No rain or heavy dew before the film has dried
- No dark colors in direct midday sun on hot days
- Stucco and EIFS coatings follow their maker’s limits, often 40°F and up
04ScheduleA-160.4
Coatings for stucco and EIFS
Masonry and foam walls each have their own coating rules. Here’s what goes where; the stucco page compares breathable and elastomeric coatings side by side.
01Stucco
Breathable acrylic
A 100% acrylic masonry coating that lets water vapor out of the wall. The default for most stucco, including walls that need to keep drying.
02Stucco
Elastomeric
A thick, flexible film that bridges hairline cracks. Right for sound, dry walls with fine cracking and hard weather exposure; wrong for a wall that’s taking on water.
03Historic
Mineral and lime finishes
Silicate and lime-based coatings for older, lime-rich stucco that has to stay highly vapor-open. They soak in and weather gently rather than forming a film.
04EIFS
System re-coats
Finishes and coatings the EIFS manufacturer lists for its own system, so the new coat bonds to the old finish and moves with the base coat beneath it.
05Prep
Alkali-resistant primers
Fresh cement patches are too alkaline for ordinary paint. They’re given time to cure, or primed with a product made for new masonry.
06Joints
Sealant renewal
Every re-coat includes cutting out failed sealant at windows, doors and penetrations and replacing it over backer rod, before the finish coats go on.
05DetailA-160.5
Lead paint rules for homes built before 1978
Homes built before 1978 may have lead paint; federal EPA RRP rules, and Massachusetts’ own lead-safe renovation rules, apply to paid work that disturbs it. Scraping, sanding or cutting old paint makes dust that is dangerous, above all to young children and pregnant women, which is why the rules exist.
The EPA’s Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule covers pre-1978 homes and child-occupied facilities such as daycares and preschools, and New Hampshire follows it directly. Massachusetts runs its own program instead, through the Department of Labor Standards and its lead-safe renovation regulations. Tell us the year your house was built so the estimate accounts for it.
Key points05
- Covers paid work that disturbs paint in homes built before 1978
- Also covers child-occupied facilities, such as daycares and preschools
- New Hampshire: the EPA’s RRP rule
- Massachusetts: the Department of Labor Standards’ lead-safe renovation program
- Applies to interior and exterior work alike
06DetailA-160.6
Interior painting
Inside, the job is protection and lines. Floors and furniture are covered, switch plates and hardware come off, and the rooms you’re living in stay usable. Walls are patched, sanded and spot-primed; trim is caulked where it meets the wall. Ceilings go first, then walls, then trim and doors, so each coat cuts cleanly into the last.
Finishes are chosen for the room: flat on most ceilings, a washable matte or eggshell on walls, and a harder satin or semi-gloss on trim, doors and bathrooms. Low-odor, low-VOC paints are the standard for occupied homes. Interiors can be booked on their own or alongside exterior work, and they’re a good use of the cold months once the exterior season has closed.
Key points05
- Furniture moved and covered, floors protected
- Patching, sanding and spot-priming before paint
- Ceilings, walls, trim and doors
- Low-VOC products for rooms in use
- Clean lines at ceilings, trim and color changes
07DetailA-160.7
Help choosing colors
Color is the hardest part of a paint job to get right from a fan deck, so color consultation is part of our painting work. We put large samples on the actual walls, look at them in morning and afternoon light, and judge them from the street as well as up close.
A good exterior scheme usually has three parts, each with a job: a body color, a trim color, and an accent for the front door or shutters. North walls read cooler and darker than the chip; south walls wash out. The roof, any stone or brick, and the neighborhood all narrow the choice, and so does a historic district, where the commission may need to approve the palette.
If you’d like to see the whole house before you commit, we can produce a 3D rendering of your home in the scheme you’re considering, so the decision is made on a picture of your house rather than a two-inch chip.
08General notesA-160.8
Commercial and multifamily repaints
For property managers and building owners, a repaint is a logistics job as much as a painting job. We can phase the elevations so entrances and parking stay open, give residents and tenants notice before work near their windows and balconies, and bring in lifts or staging as the building requires. Stucco and EIFS buildings get the right masonry or system coatings, with sealant joints renewed in the same pass, and foam cornices and architectural trim are cleaned, repaired and coated with the walls.
We take on painting across Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The free estimate works for repaints too: send elevations or plans with dimensions, plus a few photos, and we price the job from them.
09ScopeA-160.9
What sets the price of a paint job
Two houses the same size can be priced very differently. The difference is usually in this list.
- Condition: how much scraping, sanding and repair the surfaces need
- Surface type: clapboard, shingles, trim-heavy facades, stucco or EIFS
- The number of colors and how much trim and detail there is
- The coating system: exterior acrylic, elastomeric, mineral, or a manufacturer’s EIFS coating
- The year the house was built: lead paint rules apply to homes built before 1978
- Height and access: ladders, staging or lifts
- Wood or stucco repairs found during prep
- For interiors: room count, ceiling height, wall repairs and furniture to move
10Service areaA-160.10
Where we do this work
From our Waltham office we work across all of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Because we price from your drawings, your town doesn’t change how we estimate.
- MA14 counties · 351 cities and townsMassachusettsService area
- NH10 counties · 234 cities and townsNew HampshireService area
Regions
12QuestionsA-160.12
Questions about painting
01How often should a house be repainted in New England?
It depends on the surface, the exposure and how well it was prepared last time. Wood siding and trim facing south and west weather fastest; shaded sides and well-protected trim last longer. Stucco and EIFS coatings follow their own schedule, usually set by fading and hairline cracking. Rather than going by the calendar, watch for chalking, fading, cracking or peeling paint and caulk that has split. Repainting before the wood goes bare costs far less than repainting after it needs repairs.
02What is the best time of year to paint a house exterior in Massachusetts or New Hampshire?
Late spring through early fall, when days are mild and nights stay above the paint’s minimum temperature. Many current acrylics can be applied at 35°F while others need 50°F, and the surface must be at least 5°F above the dew point, which rules out cold mornings and damp evenings. Late summer and early fall are often ideal, with drier air and steadier temperatures. Northern New Hampshire has a shorter season. We schedule around the forecast and the product’s data sheet, not a fixed date.
03What paint should be used on stucco or EIFS?
On most stucco, a breathable 100% acrylic masonry coating; elastomeric only on sound, dry walls where bridging hairline cracks matters; mineral or lime finishes on old lime-based stucco. On EIFS, use a coating or finish that the system’s manufacturer lists as compatible, so it bonds to the existing finish and moves with it. In every case, cracks and failed sealant joints are fixed before coating, and fresh cement patches are given time to cure or primed with an alkali-resistant primer.
04What about lead paint on an older home?
Homes built before 1978 may have lead paint; federal EPA RRP rules, and Massachusetts’ own lead-safe renovation rules, apply to paid work that disturbs it. Massachusetts runs its program through the Department of Labor Standards, and New Hampshire follows the EPA rule. Tell us the year your house was built so the estimate accounts for it.
05How much does exterior house painting cost?
It depends on the condition of the house more than its size. Prep, the surface type, the number of colors, the amount of trim, height and access, any wood or stucco repairs, and the age of the house (lead paint rules apply before 1978) all move the number. Send elevations or plans with dimensions, plus a few photos, and we’ll send a free written price, usually within 48 hours. No drawings? It’s still free: we visit, measure and send the price after the visit.
06Do you help choose colors?
Yes, color consultation is part of our painting work. We put large samples on the actual walls, look at them in different light, and plan the body, trim and accent colors together with your roof, stone and neighborhood in mind. If the house is in a historic district, we plan around what the commission will approve. For a bigger change, we can make a 3D rendering of your house in the new scheme so you can see it before the first coat goes on.
07Do you also paint interiors?
Yes. Interior painting covers ceilings, walls, trim and doors, with floors and furniture protected, walls patched and spot-primed, and low-VOC paints for rooms you’re living in. Interiors can be booked on their own or scheduled alongside exterior work, and they fit well into the colder months once the exterior season has ended. In homes built before 1978, the same lead paint rules apply indoors, so tell us the year the house was built.
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