Ceiling Painting in Somerville, MA

What this looks like in Somerville

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.

Our process

Stain-blocking primer where there's water staining, then even coats that don't flash or lap.

Water staining gets a shellac-based stain blocker, not another coat of ceiling white. Latex over a tannin or water stain lets it bleed straight back through, sometimes within days.

Common failure we see

Flat ceiling paint applied in strips that dry before they're joined leaves lap marks that only show when the afternoon light rakes across them. Ceilings have to be cut and rolled wet-edge in one pass.

What the quote covers

• Line-by-line scope — prep, materials and labour costed separately
• A real start date and duration, held to
• Licence #193121 and certificate of insurance in writing
• Two-year workmanship warranty

Products are Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams. Worth reading before you hire anyone: EPA guidance on VOCs and indoor air quality