Painting Services in Philadelphia, PA

Painting in Philadelphia

Philadelphia painting is dominated by two facts: the housing is very old, so lead is a mainstream concern rather than an edge case, and much of it is masonry, which behaves nothing like siding.

Lead Paint

Philadelphia's housing stock is older than that of any other large American city. The practical consequence is that lead paint is the default assumption, not the exception.

The rules that apply:

• EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting rule — any contractor disturbing more than six square feet of painted surface inside, or twenty square feet outside, of a pre-1978 home must be RRP certified and must use containment, HEPA vacuums and wet methods.
• Philadelphia's lead ordinance places certification obligations on rental properties, requiring lead-safe or lead-free certification for units covered by the law.
• Disclosure is required at sale and lease of pre-1978 housing.

What to require of a contractor:

• The EPA RRP certification number, checked rather than taken on trust.
• A written description of containment: plastic, HEPA vacuums, wet scraping, and how debris will be bagged and disposed of.
• No dry sanding, no open-flame burning, no power sanding without HEPA attachment. All three are prohibited practices for a reason.

For exterior work on a rowhome, containment is harder than people expect. Scraping the front of a rowhome without containment deposits lead dust onto the pavement where children walk.

Masonry: Repoint, Do Not Paint

Philadelphia is a brick city, much of it built with soft hand-made brick and lime mortar.

Why painting it is usually wrong:

Historic brick and lime mortar form a breathable assembly. Water enters, and it leaves again by evaporating through the masonry. A paint film slows that evaporation. In Philadelphia's freeze-thaw climate, water trapped behind the film freezes, expands, and spalls the face off the brick. Spalled brick cannot be repaired, only replaced, and matching historic brick is expensive and often impossible.

What the wall usually needs:

• Repointing with a mortar softer than the brick. This matters enormously. Modern hard Portland-based mortar on soft historic brick transfers stress to the brick, and the brick fails instead of the mortar, which is precisely backwards. Lime-based mortar of appropriate strength is the correct specification.
• Gentle cleaning — low-pressure water and appropriate detergents, not high-pressure blasting, which erodes the fired surface of the brick and drives water into the wall.
• A breathable silane or siloxane repellent if water penetration is a concern. It sheds liquid water while allowing vapour out, and it does not change the appearance.

Once brick has been painted, the decision is effectively permanent. Stripping paint from historic brick is expensive, risky, and frequently damages the surface.

Stucco — common on later rowhomes and on parging over rubble — can and should be painted, with a breathable masonry coating rather than a heavy elastomeric that traps moisture.

The Historic Commission

Large portions of Philadelphia are within certified historic districts, and individually designated properties exist throughout the city.

• Painting previously unpainted masonry almost certainly requires Historical Commission review, and is frequently denied.
• Changing the colour of an already-painted designated building may require review depending on the district.
• Repainting in the existing colour is generally not an issue.

Check the property's status before scheduling work. The Commission's process takes time, and unauthorised work on a designated property leads to enforcement.

The Exterior Season

Philadelphia's exterior painting window runs roughly mid-April through October. Most coatings require surface and air temperatures above 50°F, and some require overnight temperatures to stay there during cure. Painting in a warm November afternoon that drops to 35°F overnight produces a film that looks fine and fails in the spring.

Good crews book the season by early spring. Interior work runs year-round and winter is when the better painters have availability.

Costs in Philadelphia

Interior Work in an Old House

• Plaster over lath cracks along predictable lines and reopens through paint unless cut back, bridged and skim coated. Budget prep as a real line item.
• Delaminated plaster sounds hollow. It needs re-keying with plaster washers or replacement, not paint.
• Radiators need a direct-to-metal primer if painted. Wall paint chips off within a season.
• Woodwork with many layers of old paint — original 1890s trim can carry a dozen coats. Stripping is a lead-generating activity and must be done under RRP practices.

Tips for Philadelphia Homeowners

1. Assume lead in any pre-1978 house and get the RRP certification number in writing.
2. Repoint with lime mortar, not Portland, on historic brick. Hard mortar destroys soft brick.
3. Do not paint unpainted historic brick. The decision cannot be undone.
4. Check the property's historic status before any exterior work.
5. Book exterior work by March and interior work for winter, when good crews are free.