Vernon Hill Painters — Vernon Hill, Worcester

Vernon Hill filled up from the bottom over about forty years. The National Register study of Worcester three-deckers puts the first clusters along Ward Street and on the south slope off Millbury Street by 1890, where Swedish and Irish wire drawers from the Washburn and Moen works rented flats. Between 1901 and 1920, houses climbed from Perry Avenue up to Vernon Street, which runs along the crest, and then spread down the steep western face toward Fifth Avenue. The same study says the city's greatest concentration of 1920s three-decker building happened here.

Several National Register districts show what that late work looks like. They include View Street (1916–1930), Euclid Avenue–Montrose Street (1910–1930), Perry Avenue (1928) and Providence Street (1926–1930). The Massachusetts Historical Commission's View Street form describes modest Colonial Revival and Craftsman three-deckers under gable, gambrel or hip roofs. Several have recessed three-tier porches and 6/1 window sash, and are clad in wood shingle with clapboard on the first- and second-story side walls.

The form also shows how these houses lose their character: two of View Street's eleven three-deckers had lost their historic integrity to modern siding. For an owner who still has wood, a sound paint system is what keeps that wood in service.

Steep lots change the setup

The streets on the western slope run down what the historic surveys call a steep hillside, so the ground often falls away along a house's side walls. Ladder footing, staging and lift access have to be planned for each elevation. That uneven access is often the biggest variable in time on a Vernon Hill job.

Two claddings on one wall

Shingle on the upper stories and clapboard on the lower side walls need different treatment. Shingles soak up primer, show cupping and splits, and take time along the butt edges. Clapboard tends to fail at the laps and around windows. Plan for both surfaces, and for the trim band where they meet.

Recessed porches stay damp

Recessed three-tier porches shelter the entry bay, but their ceilings, floors and column bases dry slowly. On houses from 1916 to 1930, check porch decking and column bases for rot and lead-paint failure before cosmetic painting, and use floor-rated coatings on the decks.

A short exterior season

At Worcester Regional Airport, normal lows fall to about 42°F in October, and the station averages about 130 freezing nights a year. Plan exterior work for late spring through September so coatings cure before cold nights arrive.