Painting and wallpaper in Barrington, IL

Barrington and the surrounding Barrington Hills area hold a lot of older, larger homes, including estate properties on multi-acre lots. That means cedar siding, wood trim, wood soffits and fascia, and genuine wood windows with glazing putty rather than vinyl replacements.

Wood fails differently than vinyl. It cups, it splits at the end grain, the paint fails first on the south and west elevations, and the failure usually starts at a joint or a nail head. So a Barrington exterior is scrape, sand, spot prime, caulk, re-glaze where needed, sometimes replace a section of trim, and then paint. The painting is the last and shortest part.

Any home built before 1978 can have lead-based paint under the newer coats, and that changes how the work is done: containment, controlled sanding, cleanup that is verified rather than assumed. We follow lead-safe practice on those homes and we tell you when we are doing it and why.

Interior expectations here run higher than average. Detailed millwork, tall trim, coffered and tray ceilings, stained woodwork that some owners want kept and others want painted. Those are two very different jobs and the estimate should say plainly which one you are buying.