Peeling on the sunny side
Strips or flakes on the south and west walls usually appear first and mean the film there has lost its bond to the wood underneath.
Exterior Painting in Quincy
Exterior house painting for Quincy wood-frame homes, prep first
Peeling clapboard, chalky trim and bare gray wood on the weather side of a Quincy house mean the old paint film has stopped protecting the siding, and every winter off the bay lets more water in.
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- Walk-throughs across Norfolk County
- Exterior Painting
$7,680 to $17,350Typical per house in Quincy. The walk-through sets your number.
Brands we work with: Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams, California Paints, Farrow & Ball, PPG, Fine Paints of Europe, Cabot, Zinsser, York Wallcoverings, Thibaut, Schumacher, Phillip Jeffries, Graham & Brown, Roman.
Quick answer
Exterior house painting in Quincy involves washing off salt film and mildew, lead-safe scraping, sanding edges, repairing or replacing rotted boards, priming bare wood, caulking open joints and applying two coats of exterior acrylic. Typical ranges for a two-story single-family house run $7,680 to $17,350, set by size, height, paint condition and trim detail. Work runs May to October, and a walk-through sets the real number.
What exterior house painting covers with us
A good exterior paint job is mostly prep. On a hundred-year-old Quincy house that means dealing with layers of oil paint that have cracked and lifted, wood that has gone gray where it was bare, joints that have opened and caulk that has dried out in the salt wind. Paint applied over those problems peels again within two or three seasons, usually starting on the south and east walls that face the sun and the water.
We price and plan the prep before we talk about color. Our painters work from the top down, scraping, feathering edges, priming every bare spot and caulking the gaps before a single finish coat goes on. The topcoat is a quality exterior acrylic chosen for the surface, and we schedule each side of the house around sun, dew, sea breeze and rain so the coating cures properly.
Scraping and priming old oil layers so new paint stays put
Many houses on Wollaston Hill and around Merrymount carry fifty or more years of oil paint under recent latex. Those old layers get brittle and crack into an alligator pattern, and new paint over them only adds weight. We scrape every loose area with carbide blades, sand the edges so the repair doesn't telegraph through, and spot-prime bare wood with a slow-drying oil or alkyd primer that soaks into weathered fibers.
Where alligatoring covers a whole wall, spot scraping is not enough. We'll discuss heavier removal on that elevation, using lead-safe wet methods or a low-heat infrared paint remover, so the new system sits on a stable base. That costs more, and we explain where it is needed and where it isn't, wall by wall, in the written estimate.
- Soft wash or low-pressure rinse to remove dirt, salt film and mildew
- Wet scraping of all loose paint, feathered with sanding
- Oil-based spot primer on bare and weathered wood
- Exterior acrylic caulk at open seams, never at the drip edges of clapboard laps
Choosing exterior paint for salt air off Quincy Bay, sun and freeze-thaw
We use 100 percent acrylic exterior paints because they stay flexible as wood swells in July humidity and shrinks in a January cold snap. Satin or low-luster is our usual sheen for siding, since it sheds dirt better than flat and hides minor surface waves on old clapboard. Trim, doors and sashes get a semi-gloss or gloss for wear resistance.
Within a few blocks of Wollaston Beach, Quincy Shore Drive or Marina Bay, salt film and wind-driven rain wear coatings faster. We rinse the salt off before priming, prime more thoroughly on the water side and suggest a recoat cycle a little shorter than on houses near the Blue Hills. Dark colors on south walls run hotter and move more, which matters on wood that has already cupped.
Protecting landscaping, windows and neighbors during an exterior repaint
Lead-safe exterior work starts with plastic ground sheeting that extends out from the foundation, weighted at the edges, to catch scraped chips. Windows and doors near the work area are closed, and shrubs are tied back or covered loosely so they can breathe. On Quincy streets where two-families sit a driveway apart, we coordinate with the neighbor so their side yard and car are protected too.
Debris is collected every afternoon, not at the end of the job, and the sheeting is misted on windy days, which near the bay is most days. Ladders and staging go up where they won't crush beds, and we walk the yard with you before the last painter leaves.
How rot repair and carpentry fit into the paint schedule
Once the scraping is done, soft wood shows up: window sills, the bottoms of corner boards, the lowest course of clapboard above the granite foundation and the drip cap over doors. We probe suspect spots and mark them with you. Small areas get an epoxy consolidant and filler, and boards that have lost their shape get replaced with primed stock before painting continues, so the schedule doesn't stall waiting on a separate trade.
How an exterior repaint runs, side by side
Walk-through and written estimate
We walk all four sides, note paint condition, rot, height and access, and give you a written estimate that spells out the prep level for each elevation.
Wash and dry
The house is soft washed or low-pressure rinsed to remove dirt, salt film and mildew, then left to dry for at least a full day before scraping.
Contain and scrape
Ground plastic goes down, and our painters wet scrape, sand and clean each side, collecting chips daily and HEPA vacuuming sills and porch floors.
Repair, prime and caulk
Rotted spots are consolidated or replaced, bare wood gets oil primer, and open joints are caulked so the siding is sealed before finish coats.
Two finish coats
Siding gets two coats of exterior acrylic, trim and doors get enamel, timed around morning dew and afternoon sun so each coat goes on dry wood.
Final walk and touch-up
We walk the house with you, mark any misses, touch them up, remove the containment and leave a labeled can of each color.
What an exterior paint job costs in Quincy
Typical range in Quincy$7,680 to $17,350per house
The range reflects a typical two-story wood-frame single-family house with full scraping, spot priming and two topcoats. Small capes in South Quincy fall below it, while large Wollaston Hill Victorians, two-families and triple-deckers run higher. A walk-through sets the real number.
What moves the number
- Height and whether the job needs ladders only or pump jacks and staging
- Extent of failing paint and whether any wall needs full removal
- Amount of decorative trim, brackets, shingles and the window count
- Wood rot repair at sills, corner boards and lower clapboard courses
- Lead-safe containment on tight lots close to neighboring houses
- Number of colors in the scheme and accent details
Compare every service side by side in our painting and wallpaper cost guide, or call (617) 576-8235 to set a walk-through.
How can you tell your Quincy house exterior is due for paint?
Chalk on your hand
Run a palm across the siding. A heavy white powder means the binder has broken down and the paint is no longer shedding water well.
Gray, bare wood showing
Wood that has weathered gray has lost surface fibers to sun and salt, and it needs sanding and primer before paint will grip again.
Open joints and cracked caulk
Gaps at butt joints, corner boards and window casings let water behind the siding, which shows up later as blistering and rot.
Mildew streaks under eaves
Dark staining on shaded walls or under porch roofs means moisture lingers there, and mildew left in place will grow through new paint.
Alligatored trim
A cracked, scaly pattern on old oil-painted trim cannot be fixed with another coat and needs heavier removal first.
Why Quincy exteriors fail where they do
Quincy is a city of wood. Colonial Revivals and Foursquares on Wollaston Hill, Victorians near Merrymount and Furnace Brook Parkway, two-families in North Quincy and Montclair, and shingled cottages out on Houghs Neck all have clapboard or shingle walls that move with the seasons. Many were painted in oil for decades, then switched to latex, and that mismatch is behind a lot of the peeling we scrape. Houses later sided with vinyl often still have painted wood trim, and that trim gets ignored until it rots.
The painting season here runs roughly May through October. Spring brings cool nights and heavy dew that slow drying, mid-summer brings humid heat, and by late October the nights are too cold for most acrylics to cure. Nor'easters push wind-driven rain off Quincy Bay into every joint, and ice dams wet the cornices each winter, so caulking and priming matter more here than in a dry inland climate.
Where we do exterior house painting
Quincy neighborhoods and nearby towns we cover most often, with ZIP codes:
- Quincy02169
- Wollaston02170
- North Quincy02171
- Squantum02171
- Montclair02171
- Merrymount02169
- Houghs Neck02169
- Adams Shore02169
- West Quincy02169
- South Quincy02169
- Quincy Point02169
- Braintree02184
- Milton02186
- Dedham02026
- Needham02492
- Wellesley02482
- Norwood02062
- Canton02021
- Stoughton02072
- Newton02458
- Natick01760
- Framingham01702
- Waltham02451
- Watertown02472
- Weston02493
Exterior House Painting questions from Quincy homeowners
How long does exterior house painting take on a typical Wollaston single-family?
A two-story single-family house usually takes one to two weeks of working days, depending on prep and weather. Washing and drying come first, then scraping and repairs, then priming, then finish coats. Rain days and heavy dew mornings push the schedule, so we plan with a buffer and keep you posted as the forecast changes.
What is the latest point in the fall for exterior house painting in Quincy?
Most acrylic exterior paints need air and surface temperatures above roughly 35 to 50 degrees, depending on the product, through the drying period. Around Quincy that usually means finishing by late October. Short fall days also leave less dry time between dew burning off and evening dampness, so we start late-season jobs on the coldest sides first.
Do you remove all the old paint before exterior house painting on a Wollaston Hill Victorian?
Not usually. Full removal is expensive and rarely needed. We remove everything loose, sand edges smooth, prime bare wood and paint over sound old coats. Where an entire wall is alligatored or peeling down to wood, we recommend heavier removal on that wall only and explain the cost difference in the estimate.
Is lead paint a concern during exterior house painting on older Quincy homes?
Most Quincy houses were built before 1978, so we presume the old exterior paint contains lead. Our painters use ground containment, wet scraping, no open-flame burning and daily cleanup. We close nearby windows, protect gardens and coordinate with neighbors on tight lots so chips and dust stay on the plastic.
Does salt air near Wollaston Beach shorten the life of exterior house painting?
Somewhat. Salt film left on siding weakens adhesion, and wind-driven spray erodes the topcoat on the water side faster. We rinse salt off before priming, prime bare wood carefully and use a quality acrylic. Houses close to Quincy Shore Drive may need the bay-facing wall recoated a couple of years before the sheltered sides.
Should trim and siding get different sheens in an exterior house painting job on a North Quincy two-family?
Usually, yes. Satin or low-luster on siding hides small waves and sheds dirt, while semi-gloss or gloss on trim, doors and sashes stands up to handling and makes the details read clearly. Two-families with stacked porches look sharper with that contrast, and it makes cleaning the trim easier.
Related work we often pair with it
Clapboard & Siding Painting
Clapboard that has split at the nails, aluminum siding that leaves white chalk on your sleeve and vinyl that has faded unevenly all need a different.
How we do itExterior Trim & Window Painting
Window sills, sashes, corner boards and cornices take the worst of the weather, and on many Quincy houses the trim is peeling and soft long before.
How we do itWood Rot Repair
A screwdriver sinks into your window sill, the corner board crumbles at the bottom, or a porch column has gone soft.
How we do itPressure Washing
Green streaks on the north wall, black mildew on porch ceilings and a gray salt film off Quincy Bay make a house look neglected, and they keep new.
How we do itTalk to us about exterior house painting
Our phone is answered around the clock. Tell us about the rooms or the house and we will set a walk-through and a written estimate.