Inside the house
Interior painting
Walls, ceilings, trim, doors — whichever of them you are hiring for. Two full coats on what your written scope lists.
Interior painting looks like the easy end of the trade and it is not. There is no weather to blame, the light is good, and you live with the result at arm’s length every day. Every wobble in a cut line and every thin patch on a wall is visible from the sofa for the next decade.
Most of what separates a good interior from an average one happens before any color goes on the wall.
What gets painted is your call. Some people want the whole house. Some want the walls and nothing else, or the trim and nothing else, or the ceilings on their own. The walkthrough is where that gets settled, and the written scope is where it gets recorded.
Free estimate
Ask about interior painting
Nate reads these himself. He comes out, looks at the actual surfaces, and tells you honestly whether this is the right job for your house.
Step by step
How a interior painting job runs
- 01
Protect the house
Furniture moved to the middle and covered, floors protected, fixtures and hardware removed rather than cut around. Doors get taken off where they need finishing properly.
- 02
Repair the surface
Nail pops set and filled, holes filled, cracked drywall seams treated rather than skimmed, and old plaster cracks opened out and filled properly so they do not reopen through the new paint.
- 03
Caulk and sand
Every joint where trim meets wall gets caulked, because that shadow line is what makes trim look sharp or look tired. Then everything gets sanded so the filler and the surrounding surface are one plane.
- 04
Prime what needs it
Bare filler, patched drywall, water stains, bold colors being covered and glossy surfaces all get primed. Priming selectively is not a shortcut; priming nothing is.
- 05
Two full coats
Cut in by hand at the ceiling line, the trim and the corners, then the field. Then all of it again, on everything your written scope lists. Two coats is the standard we quote against and the reason for the name; if you have hired us for something narrower, the scope says so before anyone opens a can.
- 06
Walk it with a light
Room by room, with you. Anything you point at gets fixed before the crew loads the truck.
Where one coat gives itself away
On a color change, on any deep or saturated color, on builder-grade flat that has never been recoated, and on any long uninterrupted wall. Open floor plans and two-story foyers are the worst case, because there is nothing to break up the plane and any variation in coverage reads as a stripe from across the room.
It also gives itself away on white trim over older, yellowed white. One coat goes on looking thin and it stays looking thin.
Worth knowing about ceilings before you decide
Ceilings are yours to include or leave out, and plenty of jobs leave them out. What is worth knowing first is that a freshly painted wall makes an untouched ceiling read gray, so a room with new walls and an old ceiling can look unfinished even though nothing was done badly. Some people mind that and some do not.
The other thing is stains. Ceilings are where smoke, cooking residue and water marks collect, and a stain needs a blocking primer or it telegraphs straight back through. If your ceilings are in the scope, that is a step; if they are not, it is a reason to look up before you decide.
Popcorn ceilings are common in Hampton Roads houses from the sixties through the eighties. Taking one down is a real job with real dust control, and afterwards the ceiling has to be skim coated and primed before it will take a finish.
What you can add to an interior job
None of these are bundled in. They are quoted separately and they go in the scope only if you ask for them. They are on this list because they are easier and cost less to do while everything is already covered and the crew is already in the house, so they are worth deciding on at the walkthrough rather than a year later.
- Drywall repair and skim coating
- Popcorn ceiling removal
- Wallpaper removal
- Trim, doors and closet interiors
- Cabinet refinishing in the same visit
“Nate and his crew did a great job! They are thorough and professional. I highly recommend them for any painting project you have.”
“5 thumbs up! Very impressed with the superior quality of work!”
Interior Painting questions
Interior Painting, answered
Do I need to move out while you paint the inside?
No. Work happens room by room so you keep the use of the house. Bedrooms are usually scheduled so you are not sleeping in a room that was painted that day.
Can I have just the walls done, or just the trim?
Yes. Walls only, trim only, ceilings only, or any combination you want. You decide what is in the job and the written scope records it before work starts. Nothing is bundled in that you did not ask for.
Do you paint ceilings as well as walls?
If you want them, yes. Ceilings are not automatically included and plenty of jobs leave them out. Worth knowing before you decide: a fresh wall makes an untouched ceiling read gray, so a room with new walls and an old ceiling can look unfinished.
Is it always two coats?
Two full coats is the standard, and it is what the name and the quote are built on. It is not unconditional. If you have specifically hired us for a one-coat repaint or another limited scope, your written scope says so and the signed contract governs the job.
Can you remove wallpaper before painting?
Yes. Wallpaper removal is regular work. What matters afterwards is treating the wall properly, because adhesive residue left behind will show through a finish coat.
How long before I can put furniture back against the wall?
Dry to the touch is not cured. Give a wall a couple of days before anything is pushed hard against it, or the paint will print.
Ask Nate about interior painting
Pick a time that suits you, or tell him about the project and he will call you back. Either way he comes out, looks at what is actually there, writes down what he would do, and gives you a number.