Mountainside is a borough of about four square miles, incorporated in 1895 from part of Westfield Township, with roughly seven thousand residents at the 2020 census. It sits on the slope of First Watchung Mountain, between Summit, Springfield, Westfield, Berkeley Heights and Scotch Plains, and Route 22 and Interstate 78 both cross it. Part of the Watchung Reservation lies within the borough, and the Trailside Nature and Science Center sits on Coles Avenue at the Reservation's southern edge. The town grew mainly after the Second World War. More than nine in ten homes are single-family detached houses, and about half of the housing was built before 1960, much of it as ranches and split-levels with some colonials among them.
In houses of that age, kitchen cabinets are often the best-built thing in the room, and spraying them is usually a better use of money than replacing them. We take the doors and drawer fronts off, label each one, and spray them away from the house so the finish cures without dust. In the kitchen, the boxes are cleaned and degreased, scuffed, masked and primed with a bonding primer, then finished with a hard cabinet-grade enamel from Benjamin Moore or Sherwin-Williams. Oak gets grain filler first if you want a smooth modern finish, because otherwise the grain shows through the paint. Doors go back on, hinges are adjusted, and the kitchen is in use again within days rather than weeks.
Interior painting in a mid-century Mountainside house has its own patterns. Split-levels have short stair runs and lots of corners, ranches often have original wood trim with older oil paint on it, and anything painted before 1978 gets lead-safe prep as standard. We repaint walls, ceilings and trim with crisp lines, use scrubbable finishes in hallways and family rooms, and refinish hardwood floors that have spent decades under wall-to-wall carpet.
Outside, the trees and the slope do most of the damage. Houses near the Reservation and on the hillside streets sit under heavy canopy, so walls facing uphill or into the woods stay damp after rain and grow mildew. We wash and treat mildew before priming, replace soft wood at sills and fascia ends instead of caulking over it, and use mildew-resistant finishes on the shaded faces. NJ Painting Co. is family-owned, licensed and fully insured, with more than twenty years in the trade. We are based in Morganville and travel north to Mountainside for work, and every estimate is free, comes with a color consultation, and is backed by a two-year workmanship warranty.
