Exterior Painting serving Natick and Metro West MA.

The state's MACRIS inventory lists 487 historic resources in this town, and about 70% of them are houses. About 70% of the dated buildings come from the 1800s, 6% from the 1700s, and 24% from the 1900s, with the newest from 1954. Around them sit large postwar neighborhoods and a smaller group of newer homes. An exterior repaint on a Federal-era house in South Natick and one on a 1950s ranch share a ladder and a brush, but little else.

This page covers what changes from one type of house to the next, how the local historic district process works for painting, and how weather and site conditions here affect the job.

What the historic district commission reviews

Three local historic districts are regulated by the town's Historic District Commission: John Eliot in South Natick, Henry Wilson on West Central Street toward Fiske Pond, and the Natick Center district along North Main Street. Exterior work visible from a public way needs a certificate, but the commission's own guidance says paint color is exempt, along with storm doors, storm windows and screens.

In practice, a straight repaint, even in a new color, does not need a certificate. Changes to materials or details do. If rotted clapboards, corner boards or a window casing will be replaced with a different profile or a synthetic material, the application has to describe trim, gutters, windows, doors and material types. The filing fee is $25 for a single-family home, hearings need at least 21 days' notice, and the commission has 60 days to decide. Carpentry that might need approval should be identified during the estimate so the schedule allows for it.

Reading the house by its era

Greek Revival and side-hall houses along West Central, Pleasant and Union Streets tend to have wide flat trim, corner pilasters and clapboards that have been painted many times. Paint failure there is often adhesion between old layers, so scraping goes back to a sound edge rather than just knocking off loose flakes.

Italianate brackets, Second Empire cornices and the Queen Anne and Colonial Revival houses of Walnut Hill add carved and turned trim, shingle bands and multiple trim colors. Detail work is slow, and on those houses most of the hours go into prep and cutting in.

The 1940s and 1950s Capes, Sherwood Colonials and slab ranches of West and East Natick are simpler boxes. Whatever the siding is now, the places that fail first are the same: window sills, door trim, the bottom courses near the ground, and fascia under gutters that overflow.

Scraping pre-1978 paint outdoors

With about 61% of local housing built in 1979 or earlier, many exteriors carry lead paint in their lower layers. Scraping and sanding put chips and dust into the soil next to the foundation, where kids and pets dig. Lead-safe exterior prep uses ground sheeting extending out from the wall, wet scraping, HEPA-equipped sanders and daily cleanup of debris. EPA rules require certified firms for this work on pre-1978 homes; our lead-safe page has the details.

Exposure and the painting season

This is an inland town, so salt air is not a factor. The bigger issue is moisture. The master plan's open-space map includes Lake Cochituate, the Charles River, Fiske Pond and Hunnewell Town Forest, and roughly 23% of the land is open space. North walls and siding shaded by trees dry slowly after rain and dew, which is where mildew and peeling usually start. Those surfaces get washed and treated before priming.

Exterior paint needs dry wood and air and surface temperatures above the product's minimum through the drying period. In eastern Massachusetts that usually means late spring through early fall, with short days and heavy dew limiting work at both ends. Our post on the best time of year to paint goes further.

What the estimate covers

The free on-site visit ends with a written estimate that separates carpentry and rot repair from prep and painting, so you can see what is maintenance and what is restoration. AJ Painting is licensed and insured, and holds a 5.0 Google rating across 35 reviews.

For the rest of the house, see interior painting and deck staining, or read about houses in South Natick and East Natick.