Interior & Exterior Painting in PA & NJ

Paint is the finish everyone sees, and the difference between a professional job and a weekend one is almost entirely prep. Underhill Lions LLC, a licensed painting and remodeling contractor based in Northeast Philadelphia (PA HIC #PA203239), paints interiors and exteriors across Philadelphia, Bucks and Montgomery Counties and South Jersey, as a standalone job or as the last step of a renovation we built.

Interior painting starts with the walls, not the paint

Before the first finish coat goes on, we move and cover the furniture, protect the floors and seal off the room. Then the real work: nail pops, cracks, anchor holes and old patches are filled and sanded, trim joints are caulked, and stains, bare drywall and repairs get a KILZ primer so they do not show through. Where old plaster or a heavy texture makes a wall look tired no matter the color, we skim coat it smooth.

We paint walls, ceilings, trim, doors, closets and built-ins, and pick the sheen for each surface: flat on ceilings to hide imperfections, eggshell or satin on walls so they can be wiped, semi-gloss on trim and doors where hands and shoes hit. In a lived-in house we work room by room and put each room back before we leave.

Cabinets and built-ins

Painted cabinets are a good-value refresh when the boxes are solid and the layout works. They are cleaned, de-glossed, primed and finished with a cabinet enamel that holds up to daily use. If the layout is the real problem, that is a different conversation, and we also handle whole-home renovations.

Exterior house painting for the homes in this region

The housing stock here is mixed: brick rowhomes with painted fronts, stucco twins, older homes with wood trim and porches, and newer siding. Each surface needs its own approach. Exteriors are washed, scraped, sanded and primed. Stucco and masonry get a masonry primer and an elastomeric or acrylic finish, and we use Sherwin-Williams exterior lines rated for freeze and thaw, because winter is what peels paint around here.

Rotted trim is repaired by our carpentry crew, not painted over. Paint on top of soft wood looks fine for a season and then fails, taking the new coat with it. Fixing the wood first is the only way the finish lasts.

Timing an exterior job

Exterior paint needs dry surfaces and mild weather, so we schedule exteriors from spring through fall. Rain moves dates, and we would rather wait a day than put paint on a damp wall. Interiors can be done any time of year.

What drives the cost to paint a house

Two jobs with the same square footage can price very differently. The main factors:

• Surface condition. Walls that need patching, skim coating or stain blocking take more time than sound walls that only need a fresh color.
• Color changes. Going from a dark color to a light one, or covering a strong accent wall, takes more primer and paint.
• Height and access. Tall ceilings, stairwells, and exterior walls that need ladders or staging add labor.
• Trim, doors and cabinets. Detailed woodwork is slower than open wall, and cabinets involve more steps than any other surface.
• Repairs. Larger drywall repairs and carpentry on exterior trim are itemized on the estimate, so you can see what is paint and what is repair.
• Furnished or empty. Occupied rooms need more moving and protection than an empty house.

How long it takes

Walls in one or two rooms usually take a day. A whole-home interior takes about a week. Exteriors depend on the size of the house, the amount of scraping and repair, and the weather.

Painting as part of a bigger project

Paint is usually the last trade in a renovation, and it goes better when the same contractor manages the work before it. If new floors are part of the plan, we sequence painting ahead of flooring installation so there are no drips on a new floor, and we can handle both on one schedule.

See finished work on our projects page.

Tell us the rooms or send a photo of the house, and request a free estimate for interior or exterior painting.