Exterior Painting for Dedham, MA homeowners.

Dedham is mostly a town of houses. Census estimates count 65.3% of housing units as single-family detached, and 73.4% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, so the exterior repaint is a decision a lot of households here face on their own schedule. The stock also skews older: 29.7% of units date from 1939 or earlier, and the median year built is 1956.

Age is the biggest driver of exterior prep. A wood-sided house that has been repainted every decade or so for a century or more can carry a thick, brittle paint film that cracks along the clapboard laps. Getting a new coat to last on that kind of surface depends far more on scraping, sanding and priming than on the brand of topcoat.

Clapboard and trim in the village center

The National Register nomination for the Dedham Village Historic District, about 55 acres along High Street and Court Street, says Federal and Greek Revival styles predominate and that the 2- to 2½-story gabled house with clapboard siding is the most common building type. Around Franklin Square, Church Street and School Street, it describes six early Federal houses, built from 1798 to about 1819, with five-bay facades, louvered shutters, narrow clapboards and thin corner boards, on small lots set close to the street.

Narrow clapboard means more lap edges per wall, and every edge is a place where paint fails first. Shutters should come down to be painted on all faces and rehung, rather than painted in place. Houses tight to the sidewalk also need a plan for staging and debris that keeps the walk usable.

Historic district approval comes first

Dedham's Historic Districts Commission reviews exterior changes in the town's local historic districts under Town Bylaw Chapter 168 and M.G.L. Chapter 40C, through an application for a Certificate of Appropriateness. The town's instructions for homeowners in those districts say approval is needed before exterior work begins, and they list paint color chips among the materials to submit when a house is being repainted in a color different from the existing one. Work done without approval can lead to enforcement and fines.

If you live in or near Dedham Village, confirm with the Commission whether your address is in a local district and what it needs from you before booking a start date. A same-color repaint may be handled differently from a new scheme, but get that answer from the town rather than assuming it.

Scraping old paint safely

With 75.7% of Dedham's housing units built before 1980, exterior scraping on many houses here means disturbing paint that may contain lead. Lead-safe practice outdoors includes ground sheeting, limits on dry power sanding, misting, and daily cleanup so chips don't end up in garden beds or a neighbor's yard. Read our lead-safe painting page for the rules that apply.

• Clapboard and shingle siding
• Corner boards, fascia, soffits and rakes
• Wood windows, storm sash and doors
• Shutters removed, painted and rehung
• Rot repair of trim before priming

Timing the job

Exterior paint needs dry wood and temperatures within the product's range during application and cure, which limits the Massachusetts season. Walls in shade or near wet ground should be checked with a moisture meter rather than judged by eye. Our article on the best time of year to paint in Massachusetts covers the season, and common exterior paint failures explains what goes wrong when moisture is ignored.