Newtown, Bucks County
Level 5 drywall finish in Newtown, PA.
About six in ten Newtown Township homes were built in the 1980s and 1990s. Where one has a stair climbing a two-story hall, that wall is lit from above, seen from below and passed at arm's length.
Level 5 drywall finish for Newtown homes
A stair wall is seen three ways. From the entry below you look up it at a steep angle; from the stair you pass it close enough to touch; from the upper hall you look across it, often toward the window that lights it. Each view meets the light differently, and a seam that hides from one shows from another.
Light makes it harder. A high window over the door or at a landing sends daylight down the wall at a shallow angle for much of the day, the textbook case for Level 5. The township's population roughly quadrupled between 1980 and 2000, and where its houses of those years have two-story halls, the stair wall is often the first surface owners notice when they repaint.
Newtown
Newtown Township's stair halls, and the borough's plaster
The 1980s alone account for about 36 percent of Newtown Township's homes and the 1990s for about a quarter, and those houses are drywall throughout. A two-story stair wall is often wider than a single board is long, so it carries end joints, where boards meet without the tapered edge that lets compound sit flush. Built up in a wide, shallow arc and then skimmed along with the rest of the wall, those joints stop casting a line.
Turn to the borough and the numbers flip. About 58 percent of its homes predate 1940: frame Queen Anne and Gothic Revival houses with plaster on wood lath, and stone houses, most from before 1850, with plaster on masonry. A borough stair hall in sound plaster gets repair and a skim coat rather than new board, with the same care about light. Level 5 proper belongs to the township's drywall and to any borough room that has been re-boarded.
Worth knowing
Fixtures in the stair hall
A pendant hung in a two-story hall, or sconces along the stair, light the wall from close range and rake it much as a low sun does.
Say which Newtown
The borough is mostly prewar plaster; the township is mostly drywall from 1980 on. The first usually calls for a skim coat, the second for Level 5.
Interiors are the owner's call
The borough's review board does not review interior changes, so finishing walls inside a house in the historic district is your decision alone.
The work
How the work goes
The same care on every job, in every town. The full guide to level 5 drywall finish.
A walkthrough in the room’s light
Randy walks the rooms with you and says which walls need Level 5 and which don’t. It helps to look at the hour the light is hardest. The walkthrough and written estimate are complimentary.
Joints finished to Level 4
Tape is bedded in compound at every joint; flat joints get two more coats, inside corners one, screw heads three. Each coat dries hard before the next, with the house kept warm and steady.
A skim coat, edge to edge
Compound is spread over the entire surface and wiped back tight with a wide knife or trowel, leaving a thin film over paper and joints alike. Where one pass doesn’t cover, a second follows.
Sanded, then primed
The dry surface is sanded smooth without scuffing the paper beneath. Primer goes on before any color, so the finish coats absorb evenly across the whole wall.
Judged in its own light
Finish coats go on last. The standard’s test is the one that counts: the wall seen from five feet back, under the light the room will actually have.
Questions
Level 5 drywall finish, Newtown.
Our 1980s house in Newtown Township has a two-story stair hall. Which walls need the finish?
Usually the tall wall the stair climbs, and any wall a high window lights from the side. The wall around the front door and the upper hall walls often matter less. Look at the hall from the entry floor and from halfway up the stair, at the time of day the sun comes in lowest.
Our borough house has plaster walls in the stair hall. Do they need Level 5?
No. Level 5 is a drywall standard, and a plaster stair hall has its own route to the same smoothness: cracks and loose areas repaired, then a skim over the whole wall. The original trim stays where it is.
Why do the seams on our stair wall show at one time of day and not another?
Because the light changes direction. When sun comes through a high window at a low angle, it skims the wall and throws every joint into relief; at other hours it falls more squarely and flattens them. A Level 5 surface is meant to hold up at the hardest hour, not the kindest.
More in Newtown
Other services here.
- 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.
- 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.
Nearby
Level 5 drywall finish nearby.
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.