Exterior Painting across Hingham, Massachusetts.

Hingham has 21 miles of shoreline, borders the Atlantic and Hull to the north, and wraps around Hingham Harbor. Two-thirds of its housing units (66.8%) are detached single-family houses, where the siding and trim are the owner's to maintain rather than an association's. For houses in certain parts of town, that decision also involves local review.

Hingham voted its first local historic district into being in 1966 and adopted the state's Chapter 40C historic district law in 1987. The town now counts six districts, most of them strung along Main Street, among them Lincoln, Glad Tidings, Hingham Centre, Bachelor's Row–Pear Tree Hill, Liberty Plain and Tower–Wilder.

Filing with the Historic Districts Commission

Inside a local district, paint color counts as an exterior architectural feature whenever it can be seen from a public street, way, place or body of water. Repainting needs no building permit, but it does fall under the commission's review. The practical route is to file with the HDC first. Repainting in the existing color, or switching to a color on the approved roster, is handled through a Certificate of Non-Applicability, which is simpler than a full certificate review.

Town guidance places responsibility for certification on the owner, not the contractor, so settle the paperwork before the job goes on the calendar.

What the district guidelines say about paint

The commission's written guidelines go beyond color. They are worth reading even if your house sits outside a district, because they describe sound practice for old wood:

• Colors come from the palette developed by Historic New England; you may keep your current color or choose a new one from it
• Previously painted surfaces are to be painted, and elements that were never painted stay unpainted
• Oil or latex may go over oil paint, but oil may not go over latex
• Loose paint must be removed before repainting; sandblasting is discouraged
• Downspouts and vents are painted to match the surface behind them
• Clean with mild soap and water, using diluted bleach first where there is mildew
• Aluminum, vinyl and concrete siding will not be approved

Scraping old clapboards safely

Of Hingham's housing units, 54.6% were built before 1980, and 19.5% date to 1939 or earlier. Exterior paint on houses that old may include lead in its lower layers, and the scraping and sanding that a proper repaint requires is exactly the kind of work the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule regulates for pre-1978 homes. Outdoors, that means ground sheeting to catch chips, misting to keep dust down, limits on open power sanding, and careful cleanup of the beds and lawn. Our lead-safe painting page lays out the requirements.

Exposure, wear and timing

Paint does not wear evenly around a house. The sides that take full afternoon sun or wind-driven rain can fail years ahead of a sheltered wall, and on a lot open to the harbor that contrast can be sharper. Inspecting each elevation separately, rather than assuming one condition for the whole house, keeps the scope honest. Our post on common exterior paint failures shows what peeling, alligatoring and mildew tell you.

Exterior coatings need surface and air temperatures inside the range printed on the label, plus dry days for the paint to set. Late in the year, short afternoons and cold nights narrow that window; see whether a house can be painted in November. Related services for the same property: Hingham deck staining and Hingham interior painting.