Nazareth, Northampton County
Interior painting in Nazareth, PA.
Half of the historic district stood by 1899 and a third more went up by 1938, right across the years when plaster changed from lime to gypsum. A house's date says a good deal about what lies under its paint.
Interior painting for Nazareth homes
Around 1900, plaster changed from lime to gypsum, and the borough's historic district straddles that line almost exactly: just over half of its buildings stood by 1899, and another third went up between 1900 and 1938, many of them for workers at the cement plants. More than half of all the borough's homes are older than 1940.
Both kinds make good walls, and both will carry any color once they are sound, but they age differently and are not prepared the same way. A house's date is a fair guide to which one is under the paint; a look at the wall, and sometimes a small test, settles the rest.
Nazareth
Lime plaster, gypsum plaster and the 1899 line
The older half of the district sits mostly on lime plaster. Lime is softer than what followed, and under a century of coats its surface can turn chalky or dusty; new paint laid over a weak layer fails along with it. On these walls the loose layers are taken back, the surface cleaned, and a primer that binds the old plaster goes on before any finish.
Houses of the cement years, 1900 to 1938, are more often gypsum plaster, harder and quicker to set. Their cracks tend to run diagonally from the corners of doors and windows, where the framing has moved, and they are bridged and feathered before paint rather than simply filled. About one borough home in five is in a two-unit building, and work along a shared wall is planned with the household on the other side in mind.
Worth knowing
The damp-cloth test
Wipe an old painted wall with a damp cloth. If the cloth comes away white, the surface is chalky and needs binding before any new paint will hold.
Stone walls
In the stone buildings from before 1858, plaster sits directly on masonry. The finish over it should let moisture pass rather than seal damp into the wall, or it blisters.
High-style rooms
The district holds central Northampton County's largest collection of high-style houses from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s. Houses built to that standard tend to carry more woodwork than their size suggests, all of it cut in by hand.
The work
How the work goes
The same care on every job, in every town. The full guide to interior painting.
The walkthrough
Randy walks the rooms with you and looks at the walls in the light they actually get. He tells you plainly what they need, then puts it in writing. The walkthrough and the written estimate are complimentary.
Repairs first
Cracks, holes, nail pops and failing plaster are dealt with before anything else, and every patch is sanded flat. Paint doesn’t hide a poor patch; it shows it.
Primer where it’s needed
Patches, bare drywall and stains are primed. Joint compound takes up paint differently from a painted wall, and an unprimed patch can flash through the finish as a dull spot.
Finish coats
Ceilings, walls and trim are cut in and rolled or brushed, each in the sheen chosen for it. A big change of color takes more coats than a refresh, and the number is set by the wall, not the calendar.
Seen in the room’s own light
Before the drop cloths come up, the walls are looked at in the light the room really has, from its windows and its lamps. Low sun and lamplight show what an overhead work light hides.
Questions
Interior painting, Nazareth.
How can we tell whether our Nazareth house has lime or gypsum plaster?
The date is the best first clue: before about 1900, lime; after, gypsum, with some overlap around the change. Lime plaster tends to be softer, and its surface may scratch or powder where gypsum would not. Randy can tell you more once he has seen the walls in person.
Why did the paint on our old plaster wall lift off with the painter's tape?
Usually because the layers beneath it were already weak or chalky, and the newer coat had bonded only to the top of them. On old lime plaster the layers are tested before repainting and the weak ones taken back, or the next coat will lift in the same way.
Do you also paint newer houses in Upper Nazareth and Bushkill Township?
Yes. Most homes in the townships around the borough date from 1980 on, many of them from the 2000s, and painting them is a different job: drywall, open rooms and tall walls, where the finish has to hold up under big windows rather than over old plaster.
More in Nazareth
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.
- Exterior paintingSiding, trim, porches, stucco and brick, prepared to stand up to Pennsylvania weather.
- 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.