Catchlight Painting Blog
Confined Space and Painting Kitchen Cabinets in Boston’s Back Bay
Recently we were asked to paint kitchen cabinets in a Back Bay home on Marlborough street; the original finish had been sprayed on the doors but the boxes were brushed and showed minute contamination - rubbing the finish revealed a slight texture consistent with dust...
How a Lead Paint Contractor Handles Lead in a Brookline Colonial Interior
The EPA rolled out new regulations in 2010 designed to protect the occupants of homes where lead paint is being disturbed. Referred to as the RRP rule, or Renovate, Repair and Painting rule, these regulations affect any work performed in a house built before 1978 -...
One of Catchlight’s Greatest Assets …
There are many small pleasures that make my job a delight - the wonder of email, texting and voicemail that makes communication so easy and immediate, the character and kindness of our typical customers, the aesthetic of New England's homes, both inside and out - eye...
Can You Trust a “Lifetime” Exterior Paint for Your Old New England Home?
Old New England homes, peeling paint and a permanent, lifetime paint coating? I don’t think so. This summer we embarked upon the restoration of a 200 year old farmhouse in Stow. Initially we had assumed our city pricing would be a deterrent but further conversation...
When Is It Too Cold to Paint in Greater Boston?
There are a multitude of variables that affect paint drying – humidity, temperature, wind, direct sunshine, surface temperature, even paint color. These variables allow some relaxing of the hard and fast rule of not painting when air temperatures fall below 35 degrees...
Introduction to Exterior Painting 101
A prospective customer called, referred by a business acquaintance, and asked us to estimate the repainting of his trim. "The house is new" he said, "it should be a simple job". Alas, a quick review shows a panoply of problems, a multitude of mistakes, a slew of...
Spring Is Springing!
As I sat in my kitchen this morning, I was thinking how wonderful it was looking out the windows and actually seeing things: the tree in my back yard, the birds in search of breakfast and our neighbor's house even though there were no lights shining from the windows....
Help Is on the Way! Careless Painting in Boston’s Back Bay
Often, in recent blogs and on our website we discuss the importance of painting preparation and proper applications to surfaces before any painting begins. The pictures below are of a recent project in Boston’s Back Bay. The repair and preparation work that is shown...
Helping Hands: We Did It for the Monkeys!
A call from Helping Hands Monkey Helpers to a member company of the New England Council PDCA for an interior painting service estimate instead lead to a community service project that provided Helping Hands $20,000 in labor and materials free of charge. Established in...
A Common Question
A common question … We often hear the following question from people who find us on the web or see our vans around Boston ... why is your price higher than the other painter(s)? There are a number of variables that influence pricing, and these are presented in no...
