House Painters in Glen Ridge, NJ

Glen Ridge broke away from Bloomfield in 1895 and is only about a square and a quarter miles, but it has kept the look of an early railroad suburb to a remarkable degree. The borough still lights its streets with gas lamps, more than six hundred of them, and the Glen Ridge Historic District, listed on the National Register in 1982 and enlarged twice since, takes in most of the town. The houses span the styles of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: Carpenter Gothic, Queen Anne, Shingle Style, Georgian and Colonial Revival, Tudor and a few Prairie-style homes, many within walking distance of the Glen Ridge and Benson Street stations on the Montclair-Boonton line. Painting in a town like this is mostly about protecting what is already there.

Interior painters in Glen Ridge spend much of their time looking at plaster. Century-old plaster walls have hairline cracks, old patches and the occasional section pulling away from its lath, and paint will not hide any of it, so what the walls actually need is settled before the estimate is written rather than after the first coat. Every repair is spot-primed so the patches do not flash through the finish coat. Original woodwork such as staircases, built-ins, window casings and paneled doors usually carries old oil-based paint or varnish. It needs cleaning, a light scuff and a bonding primer before a waterborne finish will stick, and we take the time to keep crisp profiles rather than burying them under heavy coats.

The Census Bureau's American Community Survey for 2020 to 2024 counts about 2,600 homes in Glen Ridge and dates 81 percent to 1939 or earlier and 92 percent to before 1980, and generations of paint on a carved profile have to come back by hand rather than by machine if the profile is going to survive it. Floors and furniture are protected and cleaned down each day, which matters most in a house people are living in. Federal law applies as well: the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule requires a certified firm for paid work disturbing more than six square feet of paint in a room or twenty outside on pre-1978 housing. NJ Painting Co. is not EPA Lead-Safe Certified, so we say at the estimate when part of a job needs a contractor who is. Outside, the same patience applies to clapboard, shingles and porch trim, and on houses with stucco and half-timbering we use breathable masonry coatings on the stucco so moisture in the wall can escape.

Most of the borough sits inside its historic district and Glen Ridge has its own Historic Preservation Commission, so if a project goes beyond paint, such as replacing trim, windows or porch parts, it is worth checking with the borough first. The commission's Historic Design Guidelines list painting wall siding, trim or a door among work it does not review, but painting previously unpainted masonry does need review, and they say historically unpainted shingles should not be painted. For straightforward painting, our free in-home color consultation can help you choose a scheme that suits the age and style of the house. We also refinish kitchen cabinets, staircases and banisters. NJ Painting Co. is a family-owned company based in Morganville, Monmouth County, and we travel up to Essex County for this work. We are licensed and fully insured, use premium Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams paints, and give every job a two-year workmanship warranty.