Condo Painting throughout Reading, MA.

Most housing in town is single-family, but not all of it. The census places 18.7% of the 9,951 local housing units in buildings with five or more units, including 1,132 units in buildings of twenty or more and 514 in buildings of fifty or more. Another 7.0% sit in two- to four-unit buildings, and 3.1% are single-family attached homes such as townhouses.

Those figures don't separate condominiums from rental apartments, so they describe building sizes, not ownership. They do show the spread an association can face, from a two-unit house that shares one porch to a building of fifty or more units with long corridors and elevators.

Painting inside your own unit

Inside your walls, the color is usually yours, but the master deed and bylaws define where your unit stops and the common elements begin. The corridor side of your entry door, a balcony railing or a shared porch can belong to the association. Checking with the manager before choosing a color for those parts saves repainting later.

Typical unit work includes walls, ceilings, trim and doors, a pre-sale neutral repaint, or kitchen and bath cabinets; for those, see cabinet painting in Reading. Elevator reservations, parking for a work van and permitted work hours are building rules worth confirming before a start date.

Common areas for boards and managers

Hallways, stairwells and lobbies have to stay usable while they are painted. Splitting the work by floor or by stair keeps a clear path for residents, posted notices give them warning, and low-odor, scrubbable finishes suit walls that take carts, strollers and moving day.

A board voting on a budget needs a scope it can read. An estimate that breaks out corridors, stairwells, entries, doors and exterior elevations separately lets the association approve one phase now and schedule the rest for a later year.

• Corridor walls, ceilings and unit entry doors
• Stair towers, handrails and fire doors (painted without blocking closers or labels)
• Lobbies, mailrooms and trash rooms
• Exterior siding, trim, railings and balconies

Certificates of insurance

If your manager needs a certificate of insurance before work begins in common areas, the master policy or management agreement may name the required wording. AJ Painting is licensed and insured. Sending the certificate-holder name and any additional-insured language at the estimate stage keeps paperwork from delaying the start.

Older buildings, rentals and lead

Of occupied homes in town, 17.6% are rented, and federal lead rules treat a rented condo the same as an owner-occupied one. Census estimates date 74.7% of local housing units to before 1980; any building in that group finished before 1978 falls under the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule, which applies to pre-1978 housing when paid work disturbs paint. Shared halls in an older converted house can spread dust between units, so containment matters more there. See our lead-safe page.

A building inside the West Street local historic district can repaint its exterior in a new color without Historic District Commission review, but replacing siding or trim with a different material is reviewed. For the outside work itself, see our exterior painting page; for buildings near the Common and Main Street, see downtown Reading.