“Our color change needed a form. They filled in everything but my signature, and the shutters went back up on their old hinges.”
Ernest W.Homeowner, Ansonborough
Historic exterior painting · Charleston, South Carolina
Old houses, painted to the district's rules
We repair and paint the outsides of Charleston's old houses. Before the first coat, we look under the old paint, choose the colors with you and prepare what your review board asks to see.
The approval path
From first look to first coat, in the order a review expects
Rules differ by district and by the change. Painting in the same colors may need nothing, and a new color may need a form, photographs and a decision. We check what applies to your house first. The decision is the board's, never ours.
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Step 1: Read your district's rules
We look up what review asks of exterior paint on your street, then tell you in writing whether your project needs approval at all.
We read the published guidelines and the application form
You get a written answer before any research is scheduled
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Step 2: Look under the paint
Small samples from hidden spots, read under a loupe and photographed in cross-section, show the colors the house has worn.
Samples come from under a shutter, behind a downspout or inside a porch ceiling
Each spot is patched and primed after
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Step 3: Draft the color schedule
Body, trim, shutters, door and porch ceiling, each with a color name, a sheen and a place, painted on boards you can hold against the house.
Two or three schedules, so the board sees a choice
Boards are viewed in morning and afternoon light
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Step 4: Assemble the packet
Photographs of every elevation, the schedule, the layer findings and a plain description of the repairs, in the format your district asks for.
You are the applicant and you sign
We submit it with you, or you submit it
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Step 5: Paint once the answer is in
Nothing is painted until the decision is in hand. If the board asks for a change, we revise the schedule and carry on.
Scaffold and crew are booked after the decision
A copy of the approval goes in the job file
Color research
Find out what the house wore before
Old houses often carry many coats, and the first ones are rarely the color people remember.
We read the layers, so the schedule you propose rests on the house itself and not on a guess.
Samples from hidden spots, and the house patched after
Layers photographed and set beside your district's guidelines
Candidate schedules painted on boards, viewed on the house
A written note for your file on what we found and what we can't know
Reading a house
What a review looks at, one detail at a time
We photograph and note each of these before a color is chosen.
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Doors
The existing color and sheen are recorded before anything is scraped.
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Shutters
Fixed or operable, each is checked for rot and loose hardware before it is painted.
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Window trim
Sills and casings take the weather first. We list each soft spot by location.
- 4
Fanlights and ornament
Carved and cast details are cleaned, not stripped, unless the paint is failing.
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Masonry
Unpainted brick stays unpainted. Painted masonry has its paint history read first.
Credentials
The paperwork, in one place
What the district, your insurer or your lender may ask to see. Numbers are in the footer and in each proposal.
Business license
Business license
SC Registration 000000 · City of Charleston
Issued by the city to businesses that work in it
EPA certification
EPA Lead-Safe Certified Firm (Renovation, Repair and Painting rule)
Firm number added by the owner
Insurance
Certificate of insurance
Sent with every proposal
First-visit notes
What a first visit looks for
Soft wood, failing paint and old layers are what we mark on the first walk around the house.
Sample photos.
From old-house owners
What owners say after the scaffold comes down
“I never knew what color the house began with. Seeing the layers under the porch rail made the choice easy.”
Maggie L.Homeowner, Wagener Terrace
“Every nail head was set and every seam caulked before any paint went on. The azaleas were covered and the yard was swept each evening.”
Sierra B.Homeowner, Harleston Village
Sample reviews.
The crew
Who will be on your scaffold
Five people, with the same crew from the first walk-around to the last coat.
Virgil Hemphill
Owner and estimator
Walks every house first, writes every proposal and goes over every color schedule with the owner before it is submitted.
Danita Kemp
Crew lead, wood and trim
Leads the scraping, wood repair and priming, and is on the scaffold every day of a job.
Hernan Guillen
Carpenter, windows and sills
Repairs sills, casings and clapboard before anything is primed, and matches profiles when a board can't be saved.
Alexa Dearborn
Color research and approvals
Takes the paint samples, reads the layers and puts together the packet your district asks for.
Davion Finch
Painter, shutters and doors
Brushes the trim, shutters and doors, and keeps the old hardware with the house it came from.
Around Charleston
Charleston's streets, islands and villages
We work on the peninsula and in the villages around it. If your street isn't listed, send the address and we'll say whether we can get there.
- Charleston peninsula: South of Broad, Harleston Village, Ansonborough, Radcliffeborough, Cannonborough-Elliotborough, Mazyck-Wraggborough, Hampton Park Terrace, Wagener Terrace · Most of our work: old wood houses, brick rowhouses and their porches.
- Charleston County: Wadmalaw Island, Edisto Island, McClellanville, Awendaw · Sea-island and village houses, where salt and shade wear paint faster.
- Berkeley County: Cainhoy, Huger, Pinopolis · Plantation-era and farmhouse exteriors.
- Georgetown County: Georgetown · The historic district and the streets around it.
We don't take work in Beaufort County, or north of Georgetown.
Questions old-house owners ask
Do I need approval to repaint my house?
It depends on your district and on the change. Repainting in the colors already on the house is often treated differently from a new scheme, and some districts review only what is visible from the street. We look up the rule for your address and tell you in writing. The decision is the district's, not ours.
Is my house a pre-1978 house, and does that change how you work?
Houses built before 1978 may have lead in the old layers of paint. The EPA's renovation rule covers paid work that disturbs paint in these houses and in child-occupied buildings built before 1978. On those jobs we give you the EPA pamphlet before work starts, set up plastic containment and signs, scrape wet or with a HEPA vacuum, never dry-sand or burn, and clean up with a HEPA vacuum. Our EPA firm number is listed under Credentials.
Can you find the original color?
We can show you the layers the house has worn and what each looked like. Paint fades, yellows and weathers, so we describe what we found and don't promise an exact original.
What do you do about rotted wood?
We mark every soft spot at the visit. Sound wood is repaired and kept, and wood past saving is replaced with a matching profile. Each spot is listed in your written estimate.
Do you strip the paint?
Only where the paint is failing. We scrape and sand by hand with a HEPA vacuum. We don't use open flame or heat guns on old houses.
Who submits the packet?
You are the applicant. We prepare the packet and can submit it with you.
Site visit
Tell us about the house
Send what you know: the street, what needs paint and whether the house sits in a historic district. We reply with a day for a site visit.
Phone(843) 555-0103
Hours
- Monday – FridayToday
- 7 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
- Saturday – SundayToday
- Closed