Interior painting, and the repair work that comes before it
Walls, ceilings, trim, doors and stairwells. Every piece of millwork prepped to PCA Level 3 or 4, every wall quoted at the level it can genuinely reach, and all of it written down before we start.
Interior Painting
Interior work is judged from two feet away, in daylight, by somebody who lives there. That is a harder test than an exterior ever gets, and it is decided almost entirely by what happened before the first coat went on.
All substrates must be sound before painting, and on an interior that means the order of operations matters more than the paint does. The room gets protected, the substrate gets repaired, the millwork gets read under a raking light three times, and only then does anything get coated.
Step 01
Drywall repair and texture matching first
We do a lot of this work, and it is the part most quotes leave out entirely. Nail pops, settlement cracks, water damage, corner bead that has taken a knock, the hole behind the door that has been there since the last tenant.
Filling it flat is the easy half. Matching the texture around it is what decides whether you can still find the repair in a raking light two years later, so orange peel, knockdown and hand textures all get matched to what is already on the wall.
- Orange peel, knockdown and hand texture matched
- Water damage cut out rather than covered
- Settlement cracks, nail pops and corner bead
- Repairs primed before the finish coat, every time
Step 02
Millwork, doors and trim to Level 3 or Level 4
Trim, casing, baseboard, cabinet doors and door slabs are all millwork, and millwork is where our standard is fixed rather than negotiable. A raking light goes across every piece three separate times. High spots sanded, low spots filled, three rounds of each.
That is the difference between trim that looks painted and trim that looks made. It is also the single biggest reason our interior estimates take longer to write than most.
- Three passes with a light on every piece
- Filled, sanded, then read again under the same light
- Sprayed where the room allows it, brushed where it does not
- Hardware removed and bagged rather than masked around
Step 03
Protection, because your house is not a job site
Furniture moved and covered, floors run wall to wall, fixtures and switch plates off, and plastic floor to ceiling wherever anything is being sprayed. It looks like an unreasonably slow start to the first day. It is the reason nothing needs apologizing for on the last one.
Then the house gets handed back at the end of every day rather than at the end of the job.
- Furniture moved, covered and put back
- Floor to ceiling masking anywhere we spray
- Switch plates, vents and fixtures removed, not taped around
- Cleaned up daily, not just at the end
Before you sign
What your written scope covers
Same document on every job. A very clear scope of work ensures you know exactly what you are getting, and there is more on how we put one together over on our standard.
Get it in writing- Every room and surface listed, and what is excluded
- Preparation level identified per surface type
- Drywall repair and texture work priced separately
- Products, primer and number of finish coats
- Colors and sheens confirmed in writing before we open a can
Often booked together
While we are already at the house
Drywall Repair & Texture Matching
A patch that is flat and a patch you cannot find are two different jobs. We do a lot of the second kind, and it is priced as its own line rather than buried in a paint number.
Read more →Cabinet Refinishing
A fraction of the cost of new cabinets. Doors and drawers come off and get sprayed flat, boxes are masked in place, and every face gets the three-pass millwork standard.
Read more →Exterior Painting
Built on preparation, integrity and long-term protection. Our exterior process goes far beyond adding a fresh coat of color. It is about preserving the structure of your home and delivering a finish that truly lasts.
Read more →
Get a written estimate for interior painting
Free, and no pressure. Serving Everett, Marysville, Arlington, Lake Stevens, Snohomish and the rest of Snohomish County, plus North King County.