Trenton, NJ

Mill Hill and Berkeley Square carry housing old enough that a repaint is closer to conservation than decoration.

A building of that age may hold a dozen coatings applied across two centuries, with oil-based enamel under the current finish and lead-era paint under that. The work is a series of judgment calls, elevation by elevation, about where sound material ends and failing material begins. Strip everything and the job triples. Strip nothing and the new finish releases with the old.

If a property sits in a historic district, exterior changes including color may be subject to review. Confirm that with the city before work begins rather than after. We paint what is approved.

Outside the historic districts, most of the older housing is rows and twins, and shared walls behave here exactly as they do in Philadelphia and Camden. Slow drying, damp retention, and plaster that fails on that wall before any other in the room.

It is a repair problem. Cutting back to sound plaster, taping and bridging with setting compound, then skimming the wall flat is what fixes it. A fresh coat over soft plaster buys a season.

Trenton has substantial rental stock, and New Jersey's lead inspection law applies to any pre-1978 rental dwelling.

Under the law effective July 22, 2022, those units must be inspected for lead-based paint, with the first inspection due by July 22, 2024 or on tenant turnover, then every three years or on turnover thereafter. A lead-safe certificate is valid for two years. Where a hazard is found, the owner must remediate.

Deteriorated paint is the recurring problem, and it is the part a painter can solve in advance. We are not lead evaluation contractors and do not issue certificates. We get the condition right ahead of the cycle rather than after a failure.

Being the capital means office space, institutional buildings, and commercial property in older masonry structures, and that work is a normal part of our business here.

The constraints are consistent: access windows outside operating hours, phased work so the building keeps functioning, low-odor products in occupied space, exits kept clear, and materials secured overnight rather than left out.

Trim on nineteenth century Trenton housing carries multiple layers of oil-based enamel, and it is the detail that decides whether an interior reads as finished or as painted over.

It needs cleaning, sanding, deglossing, and a bonding primer before any waterborne finish will hold. Skip that and the new coat stays soft enough to dent, or peels off in strips when tape comes up. It is slow work and it is the difference. See interior painting.