Residential Painting & Carpentry Articles
For our customers and DIYers.
Residential Articles
First things first:
Click here for our current wait times to start your project
Click here to schedule a quote using our online calendar – we likely have appointments available within one business day!
Calcimine paint – the likely reason your plaster ceiling keeps peeling
Carpentry:
- Woodpecker holes – how to prevent them and fix them
- Repair of wood rot on your exterior
Cedar Shingles:
- Tips to keep cedar shingles looking great.
- Weathering your shingles to that wonderful “oceanside gray” color
Color help:
- Computer paint renderings – see what your home will look like before we ever pick up a brush.
- Free Color Consulting – work with our designer in your home to choose interior & exterior colors that are “you.”
- Help! I hate my new paint color – it happens…here’s how to minimize the cost
- Historic colors of Plymouth
- How colors make you feel – the most important consideration when choosing a color.
- Paint colors that increase your home’s value
- Paint colors that make your home look cleaner (yes, really!)
- Popular colors of the South Shore
- Roof color – the importance of choosing exterior colors that work well with your roof
- Sampling interior paint colors – learn how to sample paint the right way.
- Subtle touches – 9 things you can do to make your home different (but not “too different”)
- Universally appealing paint colors – stop going crazy and start with these colors that look great in lots of situations
- Weathering cedar shingles to a gray color – How to get this classic South Shore look on your shingles.
Deck maintenance:
- Mahogany decks – care and maintenance tips
- Washing mold and algae off your deck
Do-it-yourself (DIY) resources:
- Cleaning your walls – you may not even need to paint.
- Fixing a hole in drywall – step-by-step instructions.
- Hiring CertaPro to finish up a DIY project that you don’t have time to finish.
- Interior painting – step-by-step instructions for painting a room yourself.
- Kitchen cabinets – DIY instructions.
- Priming the surface – when it’s necessary and when you can skip it.
- Washing and caring for your paint brushes – how to keep your paint brushes in great shape.
Exterior painting:
- Bulkheads – Tips on painting this common eyesore
- Day-by-day timeline of and exterior painting project – One of our customers took photos and journaled about the multi-day painting project
- Hardie Plank – Tips for painting Fiber Cement Boarded homes.
- How often should I paint my Massachusetts-area home?
- How to tell if your exterior needs painting
- Our painting quiz – 20 seconds to see if your exterior needs to be painted
- Paint vs. Stain – when to use each.
- Pinehills in Plymouth – Exterior painting considerations for the Pinehills Community.
- Rolling vs. spraying paint on your home’s exterior
- The ultimate guide to exterior painting in Massachusetts – an ebook we wrote!
- Weathering your cedar shingles to gray – the classic color of South Shore shingles
- Winter exterior painting – not ideal, but it can be done
Financing your painting project – we offer 0% financing
First appointment with CertaPro – what to expect when you meet us for a quote.
Frequently asked questions our customers ask.
Home styles:
- Painting your brick home
- Painting your cape-style home
- Painting your colonial-style home
- Painting your cupolas, pergolas, trellises & outdoor showers – tips on keeping these South Shore features well maintained.
- Ranch-style homes – color inspiration
Interior Painting:
- Crown molding – painting and installation tips
- Decorating in the correct order: Furniture, lighting & drapery before paint.
- Horsehair plaster walls – tips on repairing and maintaining your plaster walls.
- Kitchen cabinet painting – a step-by-step overview – we had our client take photos of her kitchen cabinet project as we completed it.
- Kitchen cabinet painting – FAQs – painting your cabinets is about 75+% less expensive than installing new cabinets – learn more.
- Kitchen walls – how often should you paint them?
- Mold issues to consider before painting: Tips on removing, preventing, and painting it once it’s gone
- Nursery painting: Tips you haven’t heard anywhere else, including DIY instructions for young parents.
- Painting over stained woodwork – a way to lighten up your interior.
- Pinehills interior painting – Interior painting considerations for the Pinehills community, including open-floor plan color considerations.
- Plaster walls – when is it a good time to repair them versus replacing them with drywall?
- Popcorn ceiling removal
- Ten questions to ask your interior painter
Insurance:
- How to be sure a painting contractor is insured.
- Our insurance certificates, licenses, and certifications
Local painters: Our CertaPro office is in Rockland, Massachusetts, and gives back to communities from Dartmouth to Boston
Paint brands: What’s the difference, and which paint is best?
Prices and costs of painting
- Average costs for common interior and exterior projects in Massachusetts
- Why is the pricing from different contractors so different?
- Pay your deposit or final bill online.
- Financing your painting project – 0% financing – Great for selling your home and using the sale proceeds to pay for the painting.
- Tax advantages of painting – not as good as you’d hope.
Recommended South Shore contractors – our annual list of contractors who provide the same level of service we do.
Remote painting quotes: Get a quote without meeting us in person.
Seasonal maintenance:
- Fall maintenance checklist – a complete checklist of tasks to do each fall.
- How late in the Fall can you paint outside?
- How early in the Spring can you paint outside?
- Winter home maintenance – things you can do to maintain your home during the winter.
Second home painting – we can help you paint your second home, even if you live out of state.
Selling your home:
Sustainable painting practices – how we do our best to paint in the most climate-friendly ways
Tax implications of painting your home
