The Ultimate Guide: Exterior House Painting on the South Shore

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Ultimate Guide To Painting Your South Shore Home’s Exterior

There are many reasons to hire an Exterior Painter for your Boston and South Shore home. This guide will help you understand the process and help you more easily narrow down your choice of painting contractors.

Plus while these secrets are very specific to our New England climate, you don’t have to live on the South Shore of Massachusetts to benefit from these tips.

Let’s jump right in.

To read our online reviews, Google: “South Shore CertaPro Painters’ reviews.”

Chapter 1:  Deciding to paint your South Shore home’s exterior

In this chapter, we’ll explore the following topics:

How do you know if you need to paint your home’s exterior?

The benefits of painting your home’s exterior.

How our harsh New England Climate affects painting outdoors on the South Shore and in the Boston-area.

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white fence and blue and white painted home

Chapter 2:  How to choose a South Shore exterior painting company:

You’ll learn how to best find a Residential Exterior Painter from the following places:

  • Online reviews – how to easily sort through all the review sites.
  • Getting quotes – what to look for in this process (hint: The behavior of the painter at this stage often foreshadows the rest of the project).
  • Details of the quote – What should be included in a good exterior painting quote?
  • Read Chapter 2 Back
Beige tudor home with green shutters

Chapter 3. How often do I have to paint my South Shore Home’s Exterior?

This chapter will cover:

  • How often to paint your South Shore Exterior – with recommendations for coastal and inland homes.
  • Defining the scope of the exterior painting job so that all exterior painting companies are bidding on the same project (we call this “apples-to-apples bidding”).
  • Which services does a typical South Shore and Boston-area house need, and how often?
  • Secret (free) services New England painters may offer if you know to ask.
  • Setting your exterior painting budget

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sanding a home to prep for painting project

Chapter 4: Getting inspired to paint your South Shore home (the fun part!)

In this chapter you’ll learn:

  • Working with a designer or color consultant to get the colors just right.
  • Subtle paint touches that’ll make your home stand out from your neighbor’s.
  • Where to find a designer on the South Shore or in the Boston-area if your painter doesn’t offer one.
Beige shingled home with white trim and red door Read Chapter 4 Back

Chapter 5: The final decision – choosing your exterior painter to hire

If you’ve never hired an exterior painter in the South Shore and Boston are before, you might need to understand the following:

  • How the quoting process foreshadows what’s to come when you hire a painting company.
  • Why to almost never accept a “time and materials” bid.
  • Why wallpaper removal CAN and might be quoted as “time and materials.”
people Read Chapter 5 Back

Chapter 6: The Exterior Painting Process for your home

  • Communication with your painter is key.
  • The details and stages of the painting process from power washing to the final clean up.
  • Changing your mind (it happens!)
  • Change orders or add-ons to the initial project

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yellow paint roller painting a wall

Chapter 7: Licenses, certifications, insurance and safety protocols an exterior painter needs to work on the South Shore and in Massachusetts.

  • Because you want the painters and your family to be safe, you’ll need to make sure your Boston area Commercial Painter has the correct licenses and insurance to work in Massachusetts, including:

An RRP or EPA lead certification if your home was built before 1978 or is known to contain lead.

An insurance policy that is in force (hint: some smaller exterior painting companies don’t pay their insurance bill, so while they may have a Certificate of Insurance to hand to you from a previous month, they may have no actual insurance!)

An umbrella insurance policy – a good sign!

A Massachusetts General Contractor’s license if they are doing work for you other than just painting (like carpentry or building a deck).

Checking any safety violations with OSHA.

A written and consistently used safety program

License Read Chapter 7 Back

Chapter 8: Ready, Set, Get Started with your first Exterior Painting Quote

Now that you’ve built your foundation of knowledge of exterior house painting in the Boston region, you can:

Print off a handy PDF of this whole guide so you can refer to our checklist and tips throughout the process of hiring a house painter in New England.

Contact your first South Shore House Painting Contractor for your first quote.

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