Along the Navesink and the Shrewsbury, in Red Bank, Fair Haven, Rumson, Little Silver and Oceanport, the problem is damp as much as salt. Shaded walls near the water grow mildew, so those faces get washed down and a mildew-resistant finish rather than a coat straight over a dirty surface. Many of these boroughs also have a lot of housing from before 1978, where the old trim paint is brittle and layered and the scraping and sanding take far longer than a newer house. The bayshore towns of Keyport, Hazlet, Matawan and the Middletown sections on Sandy Hook Bay get open-water wind from the north and east, which makes those faces of the house wear faster.
Inland, in Marlboro, Manalapan, Freehold, Holmdel, Colts Neck, Wall and Howell, most houses were built from the 1960s onward and the jobs are different. Typical requests are vinyl or aluminum siding that has chalked and needs washing and an adhesion test, builder-grade trim coming due for its first real repaint, two-story foyers nobody has touched since closing, and oak kitchen cabinets ready for refinishing. Larger lots also mean detached garages, barns and outbuildings, and we include those in the same estimate so nothing is found halfway through the job.
