House Painters in Camden, NJ

If you own pre-1978 rental property in New Jersey, this is the section that matters.

Under New Jersey law effective July 22, 2022, rental dwelling units built before 1978 must be inspected for lead-based paint. The initial inspection was due by July 22, 2024 or upon tenant turnover, whichever came first, and after that inspections run every three years or on turnover, whichever is earlier. A valid lead-safe certificate, which is good for two years, can satisfy the turnover inspection. Where a lead-based paint hazard is found, the owner has to remediate it.

Deteriorated paint is the condition at the center of that. Peeling, chipping, flaking, and chalking paint is exactly what gets flagged, and it is fixable ahead of an inspection rather than after a failure with a lease date coming.

To be clear about the line: we are painters. We do not perform lead inspections or issue certificates, which have to come from a certified lead evaluation contractor or an approved inspector. Confirm your obligations with your municipality. What we do is get the paint condition right and keep it right between tenants.

The older housing here behaves like Philadelphia's, and the same rules apply.

Interiors are plaster over lath, cracked along the ceiling line and over openings, with the party wall failing first because it dries slowly. Exteriors are brick and stone that need to release moisture, so a conventional film-forming exterior seals water in and pushes the coating back off, frequently taking brick face with it.

Breathable masonry coatings, real plaster repair rather than skimming over failure, and full adhesive washdown where wallpaper has to come off. See wallpaper removal and wall restoration.

Camden has something unusual in Fairview, the planned garden village built during the First World War for shipyard workers, laid out around a central square with stucco and masonry homes on curving streets.

Those houses are close to a century old now and their exteriors are stuccoed masonry, which means the breathability rule applies with force. They also carry a consistent set of details across the neighborhood, which makes estimating more accurate here than on a street of one-off houses.

Much of our Camden work is for owners and managers rather than occupants, and it runs on lease dates.

Vacant units go fast because nothing has to be moved or protected. Common areas, hallways, and stairwells get phased so tenants keep access. The repair list on a turnover is always the same and always underestimated: nail and anchor holes by the dozen, damaged corner bead, kicked doors and frames, and bathroom ceilings that need more than a coat.

We price the repair separately from the paint so there is no argument about scope halfway through. See commercial and specialty coatings.