Condo Painting throughout Framingham, MA.

Close to a third of the housing units in this city sit in buildings with five or more units, and more than one in ten are in complexes of fifty units or larger. Add the two-family houses, three- and four-unit buildings and attached townhouses, and a large share of the city's homes share a wall with a neighbor. Painting in that setting has its own rules, and most of them are written in the condo documents rather than on the paint can.

We split condo work into two kinds of jobs: what an owner does inside a unit, and what an association does to the common areas and building envelope. The paperwork, the scheduling and the person who signs the contract are different for each.

Inside your unit

In many condominiums, the owner controls the interior surfaces of the unit, while exterior walls and hallways are common area, but the exact line is set by each master deed. Read your master deed and rules before planning, because some associations limit work hours, require notice to the management company, or set rules for elevator use and hallway protection.

For a unit in a mid-rise or garden-style building, we plan around shared parking, the loading route and neighbors. Floors from the entry to the work area get covered, debris leaves the same day, and noisy prep is kept within the hours the association allows.

• Walls, ceilings, trim and doors in the unit
• Kitchen and bath cabinets inside the unit (see our cabinet painting page)
• Pre-listing refreshes in neutral colors when you are selling
• Touch-up and patching after a tenant moves out

Common areas and exteriors for associations

Lobbies, corridors and stairwells take heavy traffic and are rarely empty. We schedule them in sections so a stairwell or entry is never fully closed, post notices in advance, and use low-odor, scrubbable finishes that stand up to moving furniture and wet boots.

Exterior repainting for an association is usually a budgeted capital project. Boards often want the scope broken down by building, elevation or phase so it can line up with reserve planning. Our written estimate can be organized that way.

Insurance, certificates and access

Management companies commonly require a certificate of insurance naming the association before work starts. AJ Painting is licensed and insured, and a certificate can be requested before the start date. We also coordinate key access, parking for the work vehicle and any rules about using the building's water or power.

If a project involves exterior walls, siding or windows, check who is responsible under your documents before calling a painter. Owners who repaint shared elements without approval can end up redoing the work at their own cost.

Older converted buildings

Shared-wall housing here is not all modern. The city's 2016 preservation plan documents 19th-century worker duplexes and row housing in Saxonville, and two- to four-unit buildings hold 11.4% of units citywide. When an older building like that is run as a condominium, its common stairs and hallways carry the same history as the units. With 72.6% of the city's housing built before 1980, many common hallways and unit interiors may have lead paint in their older layers. Associations planning to scrape or sand those areas should follow lead-safe practices, outlined on our lead-safe painting page.

Whether the building is near the Centre, in Nobscot or in Coburnville, the steps are the same: confirm what the documents allow, get the certificate in place, and agree on a schedule the neighbors can live with.