Totowa is a borough of about four square miles in Passaic County, formed in 1898 from parts of Wayne and the old Manchester Township. The name is usually traced to a Lenape word for the falling water of the Passaic's Great Falls just downriver in Paterson. The Passaic runs along much of the borough's edge on its way to the falls, and Interstate 80 and Route 46 cross it. About 6,000 people lived here in 1950 and nearly 11,000 by 1960, and the borough has stayed around that size since. That decade of growth produced most of the houses: capes, ranches and split-levels on modest lots, with some larger colonials on later streets.
For a house painting contractor in Totowa, that means a lot of honest maintenance work. Wood trim and fascia from the fifties and sixties are often on their third or fourth coat, and the lower edges of trim and siding are where peeling and soft wood begin. Aluminum siding chalks and can be cleaned and repainted with the right primer. Vinyl can be painted too, in a color the manufacturer allows. We scrape back to sound paint, replace rotted boards, prime bare wood, re-caulk the joints that move, and finish with premium Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams exterior paints. Most of these houses predate 1978, so we follow lead-safe practice on older paint: containment, wet scraping and HEPA cleanup.
The river is the other factor. Low-lying parts of Totowa along the Passaic flood in big storms, and Hurricane Irene in 2011 damaged homes badly enough that a neighborhood of 1930s vacation bungalows on Norwood Terrace was later demolished. In a house that has had water in the basement or lower level, paint over damp masonry or drywall will blister and peel. We check moisture first, use stain-blocking and masonry primers where they are needed, and recommend an epoxy or other suitable coating for basement and garage floors that see damp.
Inside, most requests are straightforward: a fresh coat for every room before a sale, a kitchen where the cabinets are solid but tired, or oak floors under the carpet that are worth refinishing. We give one written price that separates prep from painting, so you can compare it fairly with other quotes. NJ Painting Co. is a family-owned company based in Morganville in Monmouth County, and we travel to Passaic County for jobs. We are licensed and fully insured. Every Totowa estimate is free, includes a color consultation, and the work carries a two-year workmanship warranty.
