by Nigel Costolloe | Feb 9, 2017 | Historic Restoration
The antique and venerable homes of historic New England are beautiful to look at and the innumerable picture postcard images of the classic clapboard homes are unmistakably of a style and vernacular unique to our region. Those of us who live in these homes are all...
by Nigel Costolloe | Nov 9, 2015 | Blog, Historic Restoration, Newton, Professional Painting Company, Wood Restoration
Just about every company in the trades touts their warranty. Let’s put aside the question of how many companies actually honor their warranties, because we hear our share of horror stories about unethical contractors. Instead let’s look at who benefits from a ‘real’...
by Nigel Costolloe | Sep 28, 2015 | Back Bay, Blog, Exterior Painting, Historic Restoration
Walking through my Brookline neighborhood with Huey the rescue-but-what-have-you-done-for-me-lately dog this weekend, I stopped to admire the rehabilitation of a historic mansion that had been neglected for many years. The developer seems to have done a decent job, at...
by Nigel Costolloe | Jun 12, 2015 | Blog, Exterior Painting, Historic Restoration, Interior Painting
A homeowner Mike in the Chicago area found us via this blog and after checking us out on Angie’s List called to pick my brain about primers. His predicament reminded me of the confusion that surrounds the use and purpose of primers before painting. He had been given...
by Nigel Costolloe | Dec 14, 2013 | EPA-RPP, Exterior Painting, Historic Restoration, History, Lead-Safe Certified, Wood Restoration
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...
by Nigel Costolloe | Jul 10, 2012 | Brookline, Exterior Painting, Historic Restoration
One of the earliest lessons I learned in painting was not to rush to apply the 2nd coat. Oil-primed exterior walls on a Brookline Victorian were taking forever to dry; the paint can label suggested 48 hours before recoating – I waited a full week then applied a...
