Exterior House Painting
Two-families near the beach lose paint fastest on the bay-facing walls, so full repaints come around sooner here than on inland streets.
DetailsTwo-family and Wollaston Hill house painting in Wollaston (02170)
Wollaston houses take weather from two directions: salt wind off Wollaston Beach on the low streets and decades of stacked paint on the big Wollaston Hill houses. We plan each job around which of those problems your house has.
Quincy neighborhood
02170
- Houses
- Up-and-down two-families and Colonial Revival singles
- Built
- 1890s to 1930s, with some postwar infill
- Landmark
- Wollaston Beach and Quincy Shore Drive
- Phone
- (617) 576-8235, any hour
Painting and paperhanging in Wollaston, Quincy
Wollaston runs from the seawall on Quincy Shore Drive up the slope of Wollaston Hill and over to Hancock Street and the Red Line station. The flat blocks between Beale Street and the beach are packed with up-and-down two-families from the early 1900s, most with front porches, double-hung windows and clapboard that has been painted a dozen times. Up the hill the lots get larger and the houses get fancier: Colonial Revival singles, Shingle Style touches and a few Victorians with bracketed eaves and deep wraparound porches.
Our painters work in Wollaston every week, and the neighborhood splits into two very different kinds of exterior. Close to the water, the east and south faces chalk and dry out fast, and wind-driven rain gets behind loose clapboard. On the hill, the problem is buildup: oil paint under latex, cracking in a grid pattern across window casings and corner boards. Inside, the same houses have horsehair plaster, original radiators and stairways with painted balusters, so a Wollaston job is rarely just a few walls.
Housing era1890s to 1930s, with some postwar infill
Common housesUp-and-down two-families and Colonial Revival singles
LandmarkWollaston Beach and Quincy Shore Drive
What fails firstAlligatored oil trim and peeling clapboard on beach-facing walls
Access and stagingResident permit parking near Wollaston station and summer beach traffic on Quincy Shore Drive
What do Wollaston two-families and hill houses need from a paint job?
On a two-family near Beale Street, the work usually starts at the porch. Porch ceilings, floor boards, columns and stair stringers on both levels take the most weather, and the second-floor porch often has soft spots in the rail cap or at the base of the posts. We cut out rot, scrape and sand the clapboard to a sound edge, spot-prime bare wood with an oil or bonding primer, caulk the joints that need it and finish with two coats of exterior acrylic. On the beach-side streets we choose satin finishes that shed salt film when rain hits them.
The larger houses on Wollaston Hill need patience on the trim. Many still have original window sash, crown details and corbels carrying eighty years of oil coats. Pre-1978 houses are presumed to contain lead paint, so we lay ground sheeting, mist before scraping, HEPA-vacuum and check the cleanup before we pack up. That approach also keeps chips out of the neighbor's garden on the tight side yards common here.
Can old wallpaper and plaster in Wollaston be saved before painting?
Usually, yes. Wollaston interiors from the 1910s and 1920s were plastered over wood lath, then papered, then painted over the paper sometime in the 1960s. When we strip those layers, we score and steam, scrape the paste residue and wash the walls until the rinse water stays clean. Hairline cracks get taped and filled with setting compound, and bulging plaster gets reattached with plaster washers before anything else happens.
Once the plaster is sound, owners choose between a fresh paint finish and new wallcovering. Front parlors and dining rooms in the hill houses suit a traditional pattern or a textured paper, and our paperhangers hang a liner first when the plaster is wavy. In two-family units, landlords usually want washable eggshell walls and semi-gloss trim that can be touched up between tenants.
How do we schedule painting around Wollaston Beach traffic and permit parking?
Summer weekends on Quincy Shore Drive are slow going, and side streets near Wollaston station fill with resident permit parking by mid-morning. We arrive early, ask owners about driveway space ahead of time and keep ladders and staging off the sidewalk whenever the lot allows it. On a narrow driveway shared by two households, we work out the plan with both families before the first day.
Beach-facing exteriors get scheduled for late spring or early fall when we can, because midsummer sun bakes fresh paint on south walls and fog off the bay keeps morning surfaces damp. We wait for dew to burn off before priming, and we stop early enough that the last coat skins over before evening moisture rolls in. Interiors and wallpaper fill the cooler months.
The work we are called for most in Wollaston, Quincy
Porch Painting
Stacked front porches on Wollaston two-families carry the most foot traffic and weather, and soft rail caps are a common find.
DetailsPlaster Wall Repair
Horsehair plaster in Wollaston Hill houses cracks over doorways and across ceilings and needs reattaching before any finish goes on.
DetailsWallpaper Removal
Many Wollaston rooms hide two or three layers of old paper under paint, and it has to come off cleanly for a lasting finish.
DetailsLead-Safe Painting
Nearly every Wollaston house predates 1978, so containment, misting and HEPA cleanup are part of our normal exterior prep.
DetailsExterior Trim & Window Painting
Original sash and casings on the hill houses show grid cracking from decades of oil coats and need careful scraping and priming.
DetailsNeed something else? We do all 40 painting and wallpaper services here.
Questions from Wollaston homeowners
How often does a Wollaston house near the beach need exterior painting?
On streets close to Wollaston Beach, the bay-facing walls usually need attention every 6 to 8 years, sooner on south faces with full sun. Walls farther up toward Hancock Street often go 9 to 11 years. At the walk-through we look at chalking, caulk failure and bare wood, then tell you which sides can wait a season.
What does it typically cost to paint the outside of a Wollaston two-family?
For a full exterior on a typical Wollaston up-and-down two-family with two porches, a planning range is $14,850 to $27,400. The spread comes from porch condition, rot repair, trim detail and how much lead-safe scraping the siding needs. The walk-through and written estimate set the real number for your house.
Can you paint a Wollaston rental unit while tenants live upstairs?
Yes. We plan exterior work so both entrances stay usable, and we schedule interior units between leases or room by room with the tenant's agreement. Owners of pre-1978 rentals should check their lead obligations with the state. We follow lead-safe practices on every older house either way.
Do you hang wallpaper in Wollaston Hill dining rooms with uneven plaster?
We do. When the plaster is wavy, we repair cracks, skim the worst spots and hang a liner paper before the decorative paper goes up. That gives the pattern a flat base, so seams close tight and the paper doesn't show every bump in the old wall.
Nearby places we also cover
Painting or wallpaper in Wollaston?
Call (617) 576-8235. The line is answered 24/7 and we schedule walk-throughs across Wollaston with a written estimate after every visit.