Interior Painting serving Randolph and Metro West MA.

Census estimates put the median construction year of Randolph housing at 1966. The two biggest decades in the table are the 1950s and 1960s, which together account for 4,749 units, or 36.3% of the housing stock. The town's 2013 preservation plan describes that period as one of subdivisions built mostly of modest ranches and Capes on former farmland, with as many as 500 houses a year going up through the 1950s.

For interior work, that age matters more than the floor plan. A house from those years may carry sixty-plus years of repainting, patching and remodeling, and each layer affects how well the next coat bonds. Before a room is painted, the questions worth answering are what the walls are made of, what kind of paint is already on the trim, and whether any of the old coatings contain lead.

Lead paint and the 1978 line

The census counts 9,099 Randolph units, 69.6% of the total, as built before 1980. The census groups 1970 to 1979 as one decade, so some of those units date from 1978 or 1979, after the cutoff, but the figure shows how much of the town falls under the federal lead rule. Under the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule, paid work that disturbs paint in housing built before 1978 has to be done by a certified firm using lead-safe practices.

Indoors, the surfaces that usually get disturbed are window sashes and stools, door edges, baseboards and stair parts, where sanding or scraping can make fine dust. Containment means plastic sheeting, covered vents, HEPA vacuuming and a cleaning check before the room goes back into use. If anyone in the house is pregnant or under six, mention it at the estimate. Our lead-safe painting page explains the steps in detail.

Plaster, drywall and older trim

Randolph also has an older layer of housing. The census counts 1,864 units, 14.3%, built in 1939 or earlier, and the preservation plan traces surviving Capes to the late 1700s, along with Greek Revival, Italianate and Queen Anne houses from the boot-industry decades and interwar bungalows and Four Squares in North Randolph. Rooms in houses like these can have plaster walls, plaster patched with drywall, or a mix of both.

Plaster that has cracked along a ceiling or pulled away from the lath needs repair before paint, not just a skim of filler. Glossy oil-based enamel on old trim can be another issue, since latex paint can peel off it unless the surface is deglossed and primed with a bonding primer. A quick test with a rubbing-alcohol swab shows whether the existing coat is latex or oil.

• Crack and hole repair in plaster and drywall
• Bonding primer over old oil-based trim enamel
• Ceiling stains sealed with a stain-blocking primer before the finish coat
• Doors, window casings, baseboards and stair rails

Ceilings, sheen and the order of work

In a ranch or Cape with low ceilings, a flat ceiling paint hides roller marks and small surface flaws better than anything shinier. Walls in hallways, kitchens and kids' rooms hold up better in eggshell or satin, which can be wiped clean. Trim and doors usually get semi-gloss.

The standard order is ceilings first, then walls, then trim, so drips land on surfaces that haven't been painted yet. Furniture gets moved to the center of the room and covered, and floors are protected with drop cloths. If you plan to repaint the outside as well, the exterior painting page for Randolph covers that side of the house.

Rooms that get the most attention

Kitchens and bathrooms need paint that stands up to moisture and cleaning. A bath without a working exhaust fan is hard on any finish, so a mildew-resistant bath paint makes sense there. If the kitchen cabinets are part of the plan, that job has its own prep, covered on our cabinet painting page. For details about specific parts of town, see North Randolph and South Randolph.