Randy’s Painting & Drywall

Doylestown, Bucks County

Wood staining in Doylestown, PA.

In the borough, front porches and wood fences on Victorian frame streets; in the township, decks on houses built from 1960 to 1999. Bucks County winters work on all of them.

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A cedar-sided A-frame house with a wooden deck in autumn leaves, a painter working from a ladder at the gable.
A cedar A-frame and its deck, in autumn.

Wood staining for Doylestown homes

Frame came into favor for the borough's larger houses after the Civil War, and the nomination for its historic district describes East Oakland Avenue, Maple Avenue and several other neighborhoods of 1870 to 1900 as predominantly frame, often with front porches. It also counts wood fencing among the district's distinctive features. Porch floors, steps and fences are the wood that weathers first, because they lie flat to the rain or stand close to the ground.

The township next door is younger, with roughly 80 percent of its houses built between 1960 and 1999. A deck on one of those houses has been through decades of winters whose January days average a low near 21°F and a high above freezing, so the water in every open check and joint freezes and thaws over and over.

Doylestown

Frame porches, wood fences and what the board reviews

What the borough's review board covers is exterior change visible from a public street, fences included; repainting and paint color it leaves alone, provided no other construction is planned. Refinishing existing wood is, in effect, repainting; rebuilding a porch, replacing rails or putting up new fencing is construction, and that goes to the board first. Ask the borough if a job falls between the two.

A wood fence works harder than it looks. Its posts stand in damp soil, the tops of pickets and rails catch rain on their end grain, and both faces take the weather. A penetrating stain suits a fence because it can be renewed with a cleaning and a fresh coat, while a painted fence has to be scraped wherever the paint lets go, picket by picket.

A Victorian front porch with white rails, painted posts, a green front door with an oval glass panel, and hanging baskets.
A Victorian porch: painted rails and posts.

Worth knowing

  1. Keep the ground clear

    Soil, mulch and leaves heaped against fence posts and porch lattice keep them from drying between rains. No stain can protect wood that stays buried and wet.

  2. Township decks of the 1970s and 1990s

    Those were the township's two biggest building decades, and a deck from either may have been rebuilt once already. The boards' condition, not the house's age, sets the job.

  3. Old finish, new door

    Where a stained door or casing in an older borough house has been replaced, the new wood is stained on samples beside the old work. Old finishes darken with age, and the match is judged in the room's own light.

The work

How the work goes

The same care on every job, in every town. The full guide to wood staining.

A wide Victorian porch with white rails, painted posts and dark wooden steps leading up to the front door.
Porch, rails and steps.

  1. The walkthrough

    Randy looks at the wood with you: what finish is on it now, how it has weathered, which boards take the full sun. The walkthrough is complimentary, and so is the written estimate.

  2. Cleaning

    Dirt, mildew and loose gray fibers come off with a cleaner and gentle washing; too much pressure furs and gouges the soft grain. On cedar, redwood and oak, no steel wool or steel brushes, which leave dark iron stains in the wood.

  3. Old film removed

    Where solid stain or paint has peeled on a deck, the loose film is stripped or sanded away. A penetrating stain cannot soak through an old film, and a new film over a failing one peels with it.

  4. Drying

    The wood dries fully before any stain goes on, usually a couple of dry days after washing, longer in shade. Stain on damp wood soaks in unevenly and fails sooner.

  5. Brushed in by hand

    Penetrating stain goes on by brush, a few boards at a time with a wet edge to avoid lap marks, out of hot sun where possible. The wood gets only what it will absorb, and any excess left on the surface is wiped off.

  6. Recoating

    A penetrating finish is renewed with a cleaning and a fresh coat, no stripping. Shaded parts of a deck can go longer between coats than the boards in full sun.

Questions

Wood staining, Doylestown.

Do we need the review board's approval to restain our porch in the historic district?

Probably not for refinishing alone, since the borough says its board leaves repainting and color to owners when nothing else is being built. Replacing the floor, rails or steps is construction and goes to the board, so call the borough before any of it is rebuilt.

Our township deck is from the 1980s and the boards are cracked. Can stain still help?

It can slow the damage. Cracks let water deep into the boards, where winter freezing and summer drying keep working them open; a penetrating stain, kept up, reduces how much water gets in. Boards that are split through or soft are better replaced first.

Is a fence better stained or painted?

Stained, in most yards. A fence has more edges and end grain than almost anything else outside, and a penetrating stain soaks into all of it and wears away gradually, while paint forms a skin that water gets behind at every joint. Inside the historic district, a new fence goes to the review board; staining an existing one is upkeep.

More in Doylestown

Other services here.

  1. Level 5 drywall finishA skim coat over the entire surface, for walls that hold up under raking light and dark paint.
  2. Skim coatingRough, patched or uneven walls resurfaced smooth, often after wallpaper comes down.
  3. Plaster repairCracked, loose and failing plaster in older homes, repaired and made sound.
  4. Interior paintingWalls, ceilings, trim, doors and millwork, prepared properly and finished clean.
  5. Exterior paintingSiding, trim, porches, stucco and brick, prepared to stand up to Pennsylvania weather.
  6. Drywall installation & repairNew drywall hung, taped and finished; cracks, holes and water damage repaired invisibly.
  7. Drywall texture matching & removalTexture matched so repairs disappear, applied where you want it, or taken off for a smooth wall.
  8. Popcorn ceiling removalOld acoustic texture taken down and the ceiling finished smooth.
  9. Wallpaper removalOld wallpaper and wall linings stripped without tearing up the wall beneath.

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.

Randy’sPainting & DrywallReply card
The project
Preferred contact

Walkthrough & written estimate, complimentary.