The finish line
Interior painting
Finish carpentry, prep and coats, as the last structural act.
What this work really involves
Painting is the trade everyone thinks they understand and the one that most visibly reveals what happened underneath. A wall that was not skim coated, a corner bead that was not set, a nail pop that was not fixed, all of it shows up in the second coat under raking light.
Our painters come after the drywall is finished to a defined level, the trim is installed and caulked, and the site has been vacuumed. On any house built before 1978 we work under lead-safe renovation practices, including containment and HEPA cleanup.
Permit path
No permit; lead-safe practices required by federal rule on houses built before 1978
What is included
- 01
Surface preparation
Nail pops set and patched, seams checked under raking light, corner beads verified, sanding between coats.
- 02
Trim and caulk
Every inside corner and trim-to-wall joint caulked, nail holes filled and sanded before priming.
- 03
Priming
Full prime on new drywall and on any patched surface, with a stain-blocking primer where tannin or smoke is present.
- 04
Sheen schedule
A documented sheen per surface: ceilings, walls, trim, doors, and wet rooms, so touch-ups match years later.
- 05
Lead-safe practice
On pre-1978 houses, containment, wet methods, HEPA vacuums and a cleaning verification at the end of each work area.
- 06
Leave-behind record
Colour, product, sheen and room list handed over at closeout, with labelled touch-up cans.
How the stages run
- 01
Colour review
Large samples painted on site and looked at in morning and evening light, not chosen from a chip.
- 02
Prep
Three to six days. Protection, patching, sanding, caulking.
- 03
Prime
One to two days.
- 04
Trim and doors
Three to six days, usually sprayed and back-rolled or brushed depending on the profile.
- 05
Walls and ceilings
Four to eight days for two coats on a whole level.
- 06
Touch-up
Ongoing through the punch list and after floor protection comes up.
What moves the price
- Wall condition
- A skim coat on a textured wall you want flat is a separate and significant line item.
- Trim quantity
- Doors, casing, base, crown and built-ins are priced by count and profile, not by floor area.
- Ceiling height
- Anything over nine feet adds staging time.
- Colour change
- A deep colour over white, or white over a deep colour, often needs a third coat.
- Occupied work
- Containment, daily cleanup and shorter working windows add labour.
Two things we will always tell you
Paint late. A room painted before floors, fixtures and glass go in will be touched up twice, and the second touch-up rarely matches perfectly on a flat sheen.
Keep a labelled touch-up can per room. We hand them over in the closeout binder.
Usually built alongside
Because flattening an existing textured wall is a plastering operation, not a painting one. We price it honestly rather than bury it.
We usually specify a washable matte on walls and a satin or semi-gloss on trim and doors. The full schedule is in the closeout binder.
Yes, with low-VOC products and ventilation. On pre-1978 houses we use lead-safe containment regardless of whether you plan to test.
We can scan a chip, but scanned matches drift. If the original product and code are known, that is always better.
Next step
Start with a walk-through, not a price
Ninety minutes in your house. We look at the crawlspace, the attic and the panel before we look at the kitchen, and you leave with a budget band you can plan around.