Painters for Olde Town Arvada.

Old houses, old paint, real preparation

Olde Town is the part of Arvada that existed before the suburbs arrived. The homes on the blocks around Grandview Avenue carry a century of accumulated coatings, original wood windows, and porch detail that a production crew will either rush or refuse.

Three things change on a house like this.

Lead is a legal requirement, not a preference

Homes built before 1978 may contain lead-based paint, which covers most of this neighborhood. Under the federal EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting rule, disturbing those painted surfaces requires certified firms and lead-safe work practices, including containment and verified cleanup. A bidder who does not raise this on a 1920s house either does not know the rule or intends to skip it.

The hours go into the detail

• Original double-hung sash, where glazing putty and paint have to seal the joint without sealing the window shut.
• Porch columns, balustrades and tongue-and-groove ceilings, each with different exposure and different wear.
• Layered coatings that have to be scraped to a sound edge and feathered so the old line does not telegraph through.
• Rot found behind trim, which is common and which we price in writing before proceeding rather than absorbing silently or ignoring.

Containment on a tight lot

Olde Town lots are narrow and the sidewalk is close. Masking, drop protection and chip containment are a bigger part of the job here than on a half-acre lot in Candelas, and they are part of the scope rather than an afterthought.

Finding the original color

If you want to bring a house back to something period-appropriate, the evidence usually still exists on the building. Protected spots under a downspout or inside a porch cavity often hold the original color unfaded. We will take a sample and match from it rather than guessing at a historical palette.