We are a referral service, not a painting company. Tell us what needs painting and we pass it to independent local painters whose NJ registration and insurance we check first, then you take estimates directly from them.
Takes about a minute, and it is free. Would rather talk? Call (201) 555-1234.
We pass this to local contractors who cover your town. No cost, no obligation.
Walls, ceilings, trim, doors and stairwells, including the tall entry halls and back stairs common in older Bergen colonials. Painters in the network use washable acrylics in living space and a scrubbable satin or semi-gloss in kitchens, baths and mudrooms.
Wood clapboard, cedar shake, aluminum and vinyl siding, stucco and brick, plus the trim, sills and soffits that usually go first. Scope generally covers washing, scraping, spot priming bare wood, caulking joints and two finish coats, with the heaviest scraping on the south and west walls that take the sun.
Degreasing, deglossing or sanding, a bonding primer and a hard topcoat sprayed for a smooth finish. Doors and drawer fronts usually come off and get sprayed in a shop or a controlled space while boxes are done on site over two to five days.
Patching nail pops, cracked corners, water stains and the settlement cracks that open over doorways in houses that have been moving for eighty years. Skim coating levels old plaster and knocked-down texture so the new finish reads flat instead of highlighting every ripple.
Steaming, or scoring and stripping, then washing off the old adhesive so new paint will bond. Removal in older homes tends to tear the drywall face or the plaster skim, so most rooms need a skim coat and a primer before finish paint.
Low pressure soft washing for siding and painted surfaces, and higher pressure for concrete walks and patios. Decks and fences get cleaned, brightened and sealed with a penetrating stain, which is a two to four year cycle in this climate.
Painting prices in Bergen County move on three things: how much prep the surface needs, how hard it is to reach, and what product goes on. A 1930s Teaneck colonial with peeling paint and a third story costs far more than a 1990s house with sound siding at the same square footage.
| Job | Typical range | What moves the number |
|---|---|---|
| Interior room, walls only | Typical range: $500 - $1,200 | What moves the number: Ceilings, trim and doors add to this. Heavy patching or a skim coat pushes it higher. |
| Whole interior, 3 bedroom colonial | Typical range: $7,000 - $15,000 | What moves the number: Driven by ceiling height, stairwells, trim detail and how many colors. |
| Exterior, two story house | Typical range: $8,000 - $20,000 | What moves the number: Lead-safe containment on a pre-1978 home, heavy scraping, or a lot of trim raises this. |
| Kitchen cabinet refinishing | Typical range: $4,000 - $9,000 | What moves the number: Door and drawer count drives it. Sprayed off-site finishes cost more than brushed on-site. |
| Drywall repair and skim coating, per room | Typical range: $600 - $2,500 | What moves the number: A few patches is the low end. Full skim over old plaster or stripped wallpaper is the high end. |
Want a real number for your job rather than a range?
Get a free estimateThe things that matter most on this kind of job.
Ask the painter for their EPA Lead-Safe Certified Firm number and check it at epa.gov/lead. A certified firm puts the number on its paperwork, and the estimate should list containment and cleanup as line items. If a painter tells you the rule does not apply to exteriors or to a little sanding, keep looking.
Paint failure is almost always a prep failure. A real estimate names the steps: wash, scrape, sand, spot prime, caulk, fill, and how many coats of which product. If the estimate says only "paint exterior, two coats," you cannot compare it to another bid or hold anyone to it later.
New Jersey requires home improvement contractors to register with the Division of Consumer Affairs, and the registration number belongs on the contract and the estimate. Ask for a certificate of insurance sent directly from the agent rather than a photocopy, and confirm it covers general liability and workers compensation. Ladder and staging work on a two or three story house is where an uninsured crew becomes your problem.
Interior jobs go sideways when nobody agreed on furniture, art, window treatments, and where the crew sets up. Ask whether moving and re-hanging is in the price, how floors get protected, and whether they mask wall to wall or use drop cloths. Settle where they wash brushes and store materials too, which matters in a Fort Lee or Cliffside Park condo with shared hallways and elevator hours.
Always verify before you pay a deposit. In New Jersey, home improvement contractors must be registered with the Division of Consumer Affairs and carry at least $500,000 in commercial general liability insurance. Ask for the HIC registration number and a certificate of insurance, and check the registration at njconsumeraffairs.gov. Any job over $500 must be in a written, signed contract.
Three steps, no cost to you, and no obligation to hire anyone.
Fill in the form or call. We ask what the work is, which town you are in, and roughly when you want it done.
We pass your details to contractors in our network who cover your town and do that specific type of work.
They contact you directly, walk the job and price it themselves. Compare the quotes and hire whoever you want, or nobody at all.
Yes, if the work disturbs painted surfaces. The EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting rule covers pre-1978 housing and requires the firm doing the work to be EPA Lead-Safe Certified with a certified renovator on site. That includes sanding, scraping and window work, inside and out. For pre-1978 homes we ask a painter for the firm certification number before we refer, and it should appear on the estimate you get.
Roughly mid-April through late October, with the steadiest stretches in May, June, September and early October. Most exterior latex needs surface and air temperature above 50 degrees, and some low-temp products are rated to 35. The bigger problem in a Bergen County summer is dew point, since a coat that has not set before evening moisture lands on it can blush or stay soft. Good crews watch the dew point, not just the forecast high.
Take it off in almost every case. Paint over paper traps moisture, and the seams and bubbles telegraph through the finish. In older Bergen houses the trouble is underneath, since paper was often hung on unprimed plaster or unsized drywall, and stripping tears the face. Budget for a skim coat after removal, because most rooms need one to look right.
If the boxes are solid and the layout works, refinishing usually runs a quarter to a third of what new cabinets cost. It makes sense for solid wood or good plywood boxes. It makes less sense for particleboard with delaminating edges, or for a layout you already dislike. The finish depends on degreasing, deglossing, a bonding primer and a hard topcoat such as a waterborne alkyd or a catalyzed product, not on the color.
Interior walls in a normal household hold up eight to twelve years, and kitchens, baths and hallways less. Exterior on wood siding in Bergen County typically runs six to ten years, and fiber cement or a previously well-prepped surface can go longer. Deck stain is a shorter cycle, usually two to four years on a horizontal surface taking sun and snow. Anything failing in under three years points to prep or a moisture source, not to the paint.
Straight painting does not require a permit in New Jersey. What can trigger one is the work attached to it, such as replacing rotted trim or siding, structural repair found during scraping, or exterior work in a historic district where towns like Ridgewood or Englewood may have design review. If your painter finds rot behind the paint, ask whether the repair crosses into permit territory before it gets covered up.
Tell us about the job and we will put you in front of local contractors who do this work. Free, and there is no obligation to hire.
