Interior Painting throughout Shrewsbury, MA.

Shrewsbury's housing does not belong to one era. The Census puts the town's median year built at 1979, and the stock splits almost evenly around it: 51.0% of the 15,393 housing units predate 1980 and 49.0% came later. Inside a house, that date decides a lot: what the walls are made of, what the trim looks like, and whether lead may sit under the old coats.

The biggest decade in the Census year-built table is the 1990s, with 3,294 units. The 1950s come second with 2,351. A room from each of those decades can look similar once furniture is in place, yet the prep behind a good repaint is quite different, and an estimate should be written for the one you actually own.

Plaster in the older houses

About 11.4% of local units were built in 1939 or earlier, before drywall became the standard wall surface. Plaster over lath takes paint well when it is sound. The trouble spots are hairline cracks, bulges where the plaster has pulled away from the lath, and earlier patches that read as flat islands under a fresh sheen. Those need to be stabilized, filled and primed first, or they show through within a season.

Mid-century construction can go either way. A house from the 1950s may have traditional plaster, gypsum board, or a plaster skim over gypsum lath. Removing a switch plate or looking at the edge of an attic hatch is usually enough to tell which you have, and it changes how cracks and dents get repaired.

Drywall in the newer houses

Walls in houses from the 1980s onward are far more likely to be drywall, and its problems are different: nail pops, tape seams that show under low afternoon light, and corner bead dented by years of vacuum cleaners. If the walls still carry a flat original finish, they probably scuff whenever someone wipes them. A repaint is a good moment to switch to eggshell or satin in hallways, kitchens and kids' rooms. Our comparison of premium and builder-grade paint explains what that upgrade gets you.

Tall spaces deserve their own line on an estimate. A cathedral ceiling, a two-story entry or an open stairwell needs staging or long-reach equipment, which takes setup time that a simple room count would hide.

Lead dust on pre-1978 trim

In a home built before 1978, the paint most likely to contain lead is on surfaces that have been recoated many times: window sashes and stools, door jambs, baseboards and stair parts. Sanding or scraping those releases fine dust that settles on floors and windowsills. Testing the existing paint before prep starts settles the question.

Under the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule, paid work that disturbs more than 6 square feet of painted surface per room in a pre-1978 home must be done by a certified firm using lead-safe practices. Our lead-safe painting page explains what containment and cleanup involve, room by room.

What an interior job can include

Scope is easiest to compare between estimates when it is written out item by item. Before the crew arrives, the checklist in how to prepare your home for interior painting helps you clear rooms, and the guide to painting with kids and pets at home covers keeping the household running during the work. If the kitchen cabinets are on your list too, see our cabinet painting page for Shrewsbury.

• Walls and ceilings, including tall foyers and stairwells
• Baseboards, casings, crown molding and window trim
• Interior doors, frames and closet interiors
• Stair balusters, newel posts and handrails
• Plaster crack repair, drywall patching and spot priming