Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Estimates are free with no obligation and no sales pitch. We come out, walk the job with you, and leave you with a written scope — which rooms and surfaces, how many coats, what prep is included, which products, and a working-day range.

It depends on the season. Exterior work books out furthest in spring and early autumn; interior work generally has shorter lead times, especially in winter when exterior demand stops. Call and we'll tell you honestly where we are in the schedule.

Orange County, New York and the surrounding Hudson Valley. We're based in Highland Mills and work regularly across seventeen towns — see all service areas. If your town isn't listed, ask; it isn't a hard boundary.

Yes — general liability and workers' compensation. Ask and we'll have a certificate of insurance sent to you directly by our insurer. This is a question worth asking every contractor you talk to.

The rooms buyers see first — the entry and stairwell, the main living spaces, kitchen walls and any room in a strong or very personal color — plus repairs to cracks, nail pops and ceiling stains, which fresh paint makes more visible. Tell us your listing date at the estimate and we'll separate what is worth doing from what can be left alone. See painting before you sell.

It depends far more on ceiling height, how much trim there is and how much prep the surfaces need than on square footage. Our interior cost guide and exterior cost guide give real ranges for Orange County.

Almost always because the scope is different — one coat instead of two, prep removed, trim excluded, the two-story foyer quietly left out, cheaper product, or no insurance. Ask every contractor for a written scope and compare like with like. See 12 questions to ask.

Because reaching it changes the method, not just the price. A two-story foyer is built out from staging and worked in sections, the platform has to be levelled and moved between them, and the job usually needs two people where a bedroom needs one. Quoting it as its own line is how you can compare it honestly against another contractor's — more in our guide to two-story foyers and stairwells.

A reasonable deposit on larger jobs is normal, with the balance due on completion after a walkthrough. We will never ask for payment in full up front, and neither should anyone else.

Yes — we stand behind our workmanship. Ask at the estimate and we'll put the terms in writing, including what it covers and what would void it.

A single bedroom is usually one day. An average three-bedroom home with walls, ceilings and trim runs about four to seven working days depending on prep. We give a working-day range in writing.

No. The large majority of our interior customers stay in the house. We work in sections, keep a clear path through the home, and use low-VOC products so rooms are usable the same evening.

We do. Tell us at the estimate about anything unusually heavy or fragile — a piano, a safe, antiques — so we can plan for it.

Two full coats on walls as standard. Deep colors, dramatic color changes and bare or patched drywall may need a primer coat plus two finish coats.

Much less than it used to. We use low-VOC and zero-VOC products in occupied interiors by default. Mention any respiratory sensitivities at the estimate and we'll spec accordingly.

Yes, and it's worth doing properly. Paint makes an existing crack more visible, not less, and a crack that was only filled will reopen through the new coating at the next seasonal change. The repair that holds is cutting the crack out, taping it and feathering it wide. See what to fix before you paint.

Yes, and we set up for them properly. High spaces are worked from staging with adjustable stair legs rather than a ladder footed on the treads, which is safer and produces a much better line at the top of a wall. Tell us at the estimate if you have a two-story entry, an open stairwell or a cathedral ceiling so we can plan the access and the sequence — see what high-access painting involves.

Knock on the wall and pull an outlet cover off. Drywall sounds hollow between the studs and shows a white gypsum core about half an inch thick; plaster sounds dense, is usually thicker, and won't take a thumbtack. Homes here built before roughly 1950 are typically plaster over wood lath, which cracks and delaminates differently — more in our guide to cracked walls and old plaster.

Roughly late April through late October, with the best windows in late May–June and September. The overnight low, not the daytime high, decides whether a coat cures properly. See the best time to paint here.

Every time, at low pressure. Washing removes the chalking layer that new paint cannot bond through. High-pressure blasting is faster and worse — it drives water into siding and raises the grain.

8–12 years on wood siding when it's properly prepped, longer on fiber cement, with trim needing attention sooner. See how long exterior paint lasts here.

We flag it at the estimate and quote the repair as a separate line so you can see what it costs. Coating over rot hides it for one season.

Yes, with vinyl-safe heat-reflective products. Going darker than the original color can cause panels to absorb heat and warp, so we'll tell you which colors are safe for your siding.

No — they're opposite approaches. Soft washing applies a cleaning solution at low pressure and lets it do the work; pressure washing relies on force. The green-black film on a shaded wall is living growth, so chemistry removes it properly while pressure only takes off the visible layer and leaves it to regrow. Higher pressure still belongs on concrete and pavers, not on siding. See what your siding can safely take.

One to three days, depending on the siding type, the weather and how much sun the elevation gets. Water forced up behind siding has to work its way back out before a coating seals it in, or the film blisters from underneath months later. Washing and coating on the same day is a warning sign in any exterior schedule — more in our guide to soft washing vs. pressure washing.

Almost always water or poor adhesion, and where it peels tells you which. A patch outside a bathroom or kitchen points to interior moisture moving out through the wall, a band under the eaves to a gutter or roof leak, and sills and bottom boards to water held on horizontal surfaces and end grain. If newer paint is lifting off older paint, the new coat never bonded. See why exterior paint peels and how to read the pattern.

Not over the peeling parts. Loose paint is scraped back to a sound edge and feathered, bare wood is primed, and any soft wood is repaired first. If water behind the film caused the peeling, we'll point out the source at the estimate — painting without fixing it brings the peeling back within a season or two.

Yes, and it takes paint well once it's properly prepared. Old aluminum siding almost always chalks, and paint bonds to that chalk rather than the metal unless it's washed and scrubbed off completely. We wash until a dark cloth wiped across the surface comes away clean, let it dry, and put a bonding primer on any bare metal before two finish coats. Dents won't disappear under paint. See painting vinyl and aluminum siding.

Paint it if the panels are sound, flat and firmly in place and you just want a fresher or different color — but check the warranty first, since painting can void it, and remember painted vinyl then needs repainting every eight to twelve years. Replace it if the vinyl is cracked, brittle, loose or already warped; paint can't fix any of those. More in our guide to painting vinyl and aluminum siding.

Usually, yes — if the boxes are sound and the doors close square. Refinishing typically costs a fraction of replacement and takes under a week. See cabinet painting vs. replacing.

Spray. Doors and drawer fronts flat on both sides, boxes and face frames in place within containment. Spraying is what produces the factory-smooth finish people actually want.

Most kitchens take three to five working days, and you keep your sink, counters and appliances throughout; living without cabinet doors for most of that week is the main inconvenience. The paint is dry within hours but keeps hardening for weeks, so the first two to three weeks call for a gentle hand. More on the day-by-day process in our cabinet painting guide for Orange County.

Paint if you like your door style and just want a different color. Reface if the shape of the doors is what feels dated, since refacing puts on new doors and drawer fronts while painting keeps the ones you have. Neither changes the layout, and both need sound cabinet boxes. See painting vs. refacing vs. replacing.

Deck floors typically every two to three years here; railings and vertical surfaces last considerably longer. See our deck staining guide.

Normal patching — nail pops, small holes, minor cracks — is part of a standard interior scope. Larger repairs, water damage and skim coating are quoted separately so you can see the cost.

Occasionally, if it's smooth, fully adhered and not in a humid room. Even then seams usually show through, and removing painted-over wallpaper later is much harder. See what wallpaper removal really takes.

Yes — nights, weekends and holiday closures are how most of our commercial work gets done. We agree the phasing in writing before starting. See minimizing downtime.

Yes — unit turnovers, common areas, building exteriors, documented per-property specs and consolidated invoicing. See property management painting.

Yes. Work that disturbs painted surfaces in pre-1978 homes falls under the EPA's lead-safe requirements, which changes containment, work practices and cleanup. Raise it at the estimate — see lead paint safety.

It can. On a home built before 1978, an FHA appraiser has to note chipping, flaking or peeling paint inside and out — including porches, fences and sheds — and make the appraisal conditional on repairing it. Because disturbing that paint is lead-regulated work, it is easier to deal with before listing than during a contract. More in painting before you sell.

Yes, and we assess them on their own terms rather than treating them as drywall. Plaster cracks in long lines and delaminates from lath, and neither is fixed by filling from the face.

Only if your house is inside a local district and you're changing how it looks. In the City of Newburgh, a new body, trim or door color needs a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Architectural Review Commission, while repainting in the same colors counts as maintenance. Warwick and Goshen have their own village review rules. See painting a house in a historic district.

Start in the off-season. Newburgh's commission meets once a month, and an application has to be in by the third Tuesday to make the next meeting, so a decision can take three to eight weeks. Settle colors over the winter, apply early in the year, and order paint only after approval.