Painter — Somerville, MA

Painting Services in Somerville, MA

Most of what we paint in Somerville is three-deckers packed shoulder to shoulder. Three-deckers and two-families from the 1890s through the 1920s, packed tight with minimal side yards, plus Victorian single-families on Spring Hill and Prospect Hill. Somerville buildings sit within a few feet of each other. Ladder and staging placement on a three-storey exterior is planned, not assumed, and often negotiated with a neighbour.

Services

Painting Services in Somerville

Interior Painting in Somerville

Walls, ceilings, trim and doors — Prep is most of it — wash, patch, sand, prime, then two finish coats. We move and cover furniture and clean up at the end of every day.. If you want the detail, here's how we handle interior painting in Somerville.

Exterior Painting in Somerville

Siding, trim, porches and doors — Full pressure wash, scrape back anything loose, feather the edges, replace rotted wood, caulk every gap, prime bare surfaces, then two coats.. If you want the detail, here's how we handle exterior painting in Somerville.

Cabinet Painting in Somerville

Kitchen and bath cabinetry — Doors come off and get sprayed with cabinet-grade enamel for a factory-smooth finish. Degreasing and bonding primer are what make it last.. If you want the detail, here's how we handle cabinet painting in Somerville.

House Painting in Somerville

Whole-home interior or exterior — One crew, one schedule, one point of contact for the entire house rather than piecing it out.. If you want the detail, here's how we handle house painting in Somerville.

Trim Painting in Somerville

Baseboards, casings, crown and doors — Brushwork with clean cut lines where trim meets wall. Semi-gloss enamel so it wipes down and holds up.. If you want the detail, here's how we handle trim painting in Somerville.

Ceiling Painting in Somerville

Flat, textured and detailed ceilings — Stain-blocking primer where there's water staining, then even coats that don't flash or lap.. If you want the detail, here's how we handle ceiling painting in Somerville.

Other services we run in Somerville: Start from the Somerville overview.

More on this trade generally: Painting Services across our service area.

Why Aura

Allston-Based and Properly Covered

We run out of Allston and work across Greater Boston. Massachusetts HIC #193121, full liability, workers' compensation, and a two-year warranty on our workmanship.

Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams products
Two-year workmanship warranty

Estimates in Somerville

Tell us the scope and we will price it properly.

(617) 777-7700 Call Now Request Online
On the Ground in Somerville

What Painting Work Here Actually Involves

Three-deckers and two-families from the 1890s through the 1920s, packed tight with minimal side yards, plus Victorian single-families on Spring Hill and Prospect Hill.

Most of our painting work here is for owner-occupants living in one unit of a three-family, plus landlords running the other two.

Extremely tight lot lines

Somerville buildings sit within a few feet of each other. Ladder and staging placement on a three-storey exterior is planned, not assumed, and often negotiated with a neighbour.

Stacked porches on every block

Front and rear porches carry three households and take the full weather load. Rails, decking and post bases rot first and painting over soft wood buys one winter.

Rental turnover

Much of Somerville turns over on the September lease cycle, and units have to be patched, primed and painted in days.

How Painting Work Is Priced

What Actually Drives a Painting Quote

What drives the price

Square footage is the smallest part of it. What moves a painting number is condition and access. A tight, previously well-maintained elevation is a wash and two coats. The same house with failed caulk, bare wood at the sills and mildew holding on the north side can double the labour before a finish coat goes on. Height is the other multiplier — past a two-storey ladder you are into staging, and staging is time before it is anything else. In Somerville specifically, the work is mostly three-deckers packed shoulder to shoulder, and almost no room to stage shapes how we schedule and stage it.

How the work is sequenced

Interiors run top down: ceilings, then walls, then trim, so drips land on surfaces not yet finished. Exteriors run the opposite way in sequence but the same way in principle — wash, dry, scrape, feather, repair, prime, caulk, then finish. Caulk goes on after primer rather than before, so it bonds to a sealed surface instead of raw grain and does not split at the first freeze.

Where it usually goes wrong

Almost every failed paint job we are called in to correct failed for the same reason, and it is never the paint. Coating over a damp or chalky surface traps moisture and the film lets go in sheets inside two years. Skipping the feather sand leaves a ridge at every scrape edge that telegraphs through the finish. Patching without priming leaves flashing — dull patches showing through the sheen wherever compound absorbed differently.

How long it takes

A room is one to two days. A full interior is four to eight. A single-family exterior is five to nine working days weather permitting, and the first two of those are wash and dry-out where nothing visible happens. We give a window at the estimate and hold to it.

Our Work

Recent Work

Shingle side elevation of a three-decker after full repaint
Three-family exterior mid-repaint with ladders staged
Three-decker exterior repainted by Aura Painting Inc, Greater Boston
Our Work

Before & After

Drag the handle to compare

Three-family exterior restoration — before Three-family exterior restoration — after Before After

Three-family exterior restorationCornice and bay-window brackets had failed with rusted flashing behind them. Carpentry repaired first, then the full envelope prepped and refinished.

Common Questions

Questions We Get Asked

What does painting cost in Somerville?

Surface area, condition and access drive it. A three-storey elevation with staging costs more than a single-storey with ladder access, and heavily detailed trim adds brush hours. We measure on site and itemise it.

How many coats do you apply?

Two finish coats over primer where primer is needed. One coat over a colour change is how you end up with a patchy wall the first time low sun hits it.

Will you work around us being home?

Yes. Interiors get done room by room with low-odour product so you keep the rest of the house. Exteriors barely affect you at all.
Get Started

Ready for Your Painting Services Estimate in Somerville?

We walk the property, measure it, and send a written itemised quote — normally inside 24 hours. No pressure, no obligation.

Call (617) 777-7700 Send a Message

Licensed #193121  ·  Fully insured  ·  2-year workmanship warranty

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