Condo Painting for Hudson, MA homeowners.

Multi-unit housing is a real part of the local mix. Census figures show 21.6% of housing units in buildings with five or more units, including 727 units in buildings of fifty or more, plus another 14.0% in two- to four-unit buildings and 7.1% in attached townhouse-style units. The Census does not separate condominiums from rental apartments, so those numbers describe building types, not ownership, but they show how much of the town's housing shares walls, roofs and stairways.

When a building is a condominium, painting splits into two jobs with different decision-makers: the owner's own unit, and everything the association controls.

Your unit: what you can decide

Your master deed draws the line between the unit and the common elements. Interior walls, ceilings and trim are often on the owner's side of it, but confirm that, and read the association's rules before booking: some limit working hours, require a contractor to check in with the property manager, or reserve an elevator and protect hallway floors on move days.

Unit interiors in older buildings deserve the same care as an older house. Sixty percent of local housing units were built before 1980, so original layers in a converted older building may contain lead. Paid work disturbing more than six square feet of that paint per room falls under the EPA's lead rule; our lead-safe painting page explains what that requires. For room-by-room detail, see the interior painting page.

• Walls, ceilings, doors and trim inside the unit
• Kitchen and bath cabinets (see cabinet painting)
• Neutral repaints before listing a unit or after a tenant leaves
• Patching nail holes, scuffs and water stains from a leak upstairs once the source is fixed

Common areas: what the board decides

Lobbies, corridors, stair towers and mailbox areas are generally common elements maintained by the association, and owners should not repaint them individually. These spaces never fully empty, so a plan for them should cover work in sections, notices posted ahead of time, a route that keeps every unit reachable, and low-odor, washable finishes that stand up to deliveries and wet boots.

Exterior siding, trim, balconies and railings are often common elements too, depending on the deed. A board planning a repaint may want the scope split by building or phase so it can be matched to the reserve budget. The exterior painting page covers prep for siding and trim.

Downtown buildings and the historic district

If an association's building stands inside the Silas Felton Historic District downtown, the exterior is subject to the same rules as any other property there. Changing paint colors on surfaces visible from a public street requires a Certificate of Appropriateness, and the application calls for color samples; repainting in the existing colors as maintenance is exempt. Unit interiors and hallways not visible to the public are outside the commission's review. More on the district is on our downtown Hudson page.

Insurance and paperwork

When a management company asks a contractor for a certificate of insurance naming the association, the board wants proof that the contractor carries its own coverage, separate from the association's master policy. AJ Painting is licensed and insured, so request the certificate along with the estimate and send it to your manager early. Owners doing interior work should also confirm whether the association needs to be notified even when no approval is required.