Emmaus, Lehigh County
Exterior painting in Emmaus, PA.
Postwar streets, twins and rows, and a few early landmarks beside South Mountain. On exteriors repainted for seventy years, what lies under the top coat decides how the next one goes on.
Exterior painting for Emmaus homes
More than half of the borough's houses were built before 1960, and the 1950s alone account for about one in five, the decade the population of Emmaus climbed past 10,000. By the 1960s houses had reached the borough line on every side, so the typical exterior here has seen six or seven decades of weather and repainting.
That makes preparation the larger half of the job. Old coats are read before anything is scraped, joints that have opened over the decades are found, and soft wood at sills and porch posts is repaired. Whether the house changes color is the easy decision; whether the new paint will bond to what is already there is the important one.
Emmaus
Seventy-year-old exteriors against South Mountain
The borough borders South Mountain, and much of Upper Milford Township next door sits on its slope. January here averages about 29°F, and freeze and thaw find every open joint: water that gets in at a sill, a porch rail or the foot of a post freezes, expands and lifts the paint a little further each winter. On houses of this age those are the places looked at first and repaired first.
Just under half of the borough's homes are detached, and about a quarter are twins or rows, so many exteriors here share at least one wall with a neighbor. The oldest buildings, the log Shelter House of about 1734 and the fieldstone 1803 House, are individually on the National Register, which on its own places no limits on private owners; for anything beyond paint, the borough is the place to ask.
Worth knowing
Splash-back at the base
Where a downspout empties beside the wall, rain splashing back soaks the lowest boards and the paint there fails first. Turning that water away from the house is part of a repaint that lasts.
A small test first
Where old oil paint may lie under newer coats, a small test area shows whether new paint will bond before the whole house is committed to it.
The townships next door
The same reading of old coats applies in Salisbury Township, where more than half the homes date from 1950 to 1979. Upper Milford's, nearly half from 1970 to 1999, usually carry fewer layers.
The work
How an exterior goes
The same care on every job, in every town. The full guide to exterior painting.
Every side, walked
Randy walks every side of the house with you, because the south wall and the north wall rarely need the same work. Both the walkthrough and the written estimate are complimentary.
Causes first
Where paint is peeling to bare wood, the source of the water is found and dealt with. Soft, rotted wood is repaired or replaced, because no paint holds on wet or decayed wood.
Washing
Dirt, mildew and chalk are washed off at a pressure that cleans without gouging the grain. The siding then dries completely before any primer or paint goes on.
Scraping and priming
Loose and flaking paint is scraped back to a firm edge. Bare wood is primed promptly, before the sun has time to weaken its surface.
Caulk where water gets in
Open joints where trim meets siding and around windows are caulked, and holes are filled. The bottom edges of lap siding are left open on purpose, so water can drain out and the boards can dry.
Paint in the right conditions
Finish coats go on when the temperature will hold for the paint, away from walls baking in full sun, and early enough to set before the evening dew. On most days that means following the shade around the house.
Questions
Exterior painting, Emmaus.
We repainted our 1950s house a few years ago and it is already peeling. Why?
On houses of that age, a common cause is chalky old oil paint underneath. Latex applied over it without a thorough cleaning and a primer bonds to the chalk rather than the house, and it lifts in sheets. The cure is to remove what has failed, clean and prime, and then repaint.
We own half of a twin. What should we agree on with our neighbors before painting?
Where the paint line falls on the front and along the eave, whether the trim colors will match, and when the work happens, since ladders and staging may need to stand on both sides. Painting both halves in the same season also keeps them weathering at the same pace.
Our older house has a fieldstone foundation. Should it be painted with the rest?
Leave it bare if it has never been painted. A foundation wall draws moisture up from the ground, and a coating would hold that moisture in the stone and mortar, where freezing works on it. If it was painted long ago, the old paint is maintained rather than stripped.
More in Emmaus
Other services here.
- Level 5 drywall finishA skim coat over the entire surface, for walls that hold up under raking light and dark paint.
- Skim coatingRough, patched or uneven walls resurfaced smooth, often after wallpaper comes down.
- Plaster repairCracked, loose and failing plaster in older homes, repaired and made sound.
- Interior paintingWalls, ceilings, trim, doors and millwork, prepared properly and finished clean.
- Drywall installation & repairNew drywall hung, taped and finished; cracks, holes and water damage repaired invisibly.
- Drywall texture matching & removalTexture matched so repairs disappear, applied where you want it, or taken off for a smooth wall.
- Popcorn ceiling removalOld acoustic texture taken down and the ceiling finished smooth.
- Wallpaper removalOld wallpaper and wall linings stripped without tearing up the wall beneath.
- Wood stainingDecks, porch floors, doors and trim, inside and out, stained by hand.
Consultation
Request a private consultation.
Private walkthrough & written estimate, complimentary. Tell us a little about the house and the rooms, and Randy will be in touch to arrange a time.
- Hours
- Monday – Friday8:30 AM – 5:30 PMSaturday10 AM – 3 PMSundayClosed
- Service area
- Easton, Bethlehem, Allentown and the greater Lehigh Valley; Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Fully insured — proof on request. Residential and commercial.