City we serve
Bungalow painting in Decatur, with lead-safe prep on old wood trim (30030)
Decatur's older streets are lined with craftsman bungalows and cottages built between the 1910s and 1940s. The wood on these houses is often old-growth and worth saving, but it carries a century of paint, and some of it is lead. ZIP 30030.
- Area
- Decatur
- ZIP code
- 30030
- County
- DeKalb County
- Nearest office
- Atlanta office, Peachtree St NE
- Phones
- Answered 24/7
- Estimates
- Free walkthrough
Painting a Decatur bungalow usually means lead testing, wet scraping, repairs to porch parts and window sills, oil or bonding primer on bare wood, then two topcoats. Exteriors typically take six to ten working days because the prep is slow. Interiors run three to six. We start with a free on-site walkthrough. Call (470) 458-0461 any hour.
Neighborhoods like Oakhurst, Winnona Park, MAK and the streets around the old courthouse square hold some of the oldest houses we paint. Deep front porches, tapered columns on brick piers, exposed rafter tails and wide window casings are everywhere. Plenty of them have been carefully renovated, and plenty still have original wood windows and siding.
That age is the whole story for paint. These houses were built long before 1978, so lead paint is almost always in the stack somewhere, usually on trim, sashes and porch floors. The work is slower and tidier than a typical suburban repaint, and the price reflects the prep. In return, old-growth heart pine and cypress hold paint for a long time once they're stabilized.
Homes here
What a century of paint on Decatur bungalows means for the next coat
A typical Decatur bungalow has wood lap or drop siding, sometimes wood shingles in the gables, and trim boards much wider than anything built today. Underneath the current color we often find eight or more layers, the lower ones oil and lead-based. Where those layers are thick, they crack across the grain and lift in chips called alligatoring. Sanding that dry would spread lead dust across your yard and your neighbor's, so we contain the work area and scrape wet before an exterior repaint goes on.
Inside, most homes still have plaster walls on wood lath, often with hairline cracks and some loose keys near door frames. Original trim, built-ins and mantels were usually stained once and painted later. We repair plaster with setting compounds rather than plain joint compound, prime old oil enamel before latex, and keep dust down with plastic and HEPA vacuums. A few owners want trim stripped back to wood, which we quote separately.
Most requested
Common painting jobs on Decatur's older homes
Lead-safe exterior repaint on a bungalow
Containment, wet scraping, spot repairs and full priming before two finish coats. A 1,500 square foot one-story bungalow usually runs about $7,860 to $13,240, depending on how much bare wood and repair work there is.
Lead-Safe PaintingPorch floors, columns and railings
Porch decking and column bases take the most water. We replace rotted boards, prime all six sides of new stock and use a porch enamel built for foot traffic.
Porch & Column PaintingOriginal wood window sashes
We scrape and reglaze where needed, prime bare wood and paint sashes so they still open. It's slow work, but old windows often outlast replacements when kept painted.
Historic Home PaintingPlaster wall repair and interior repaints
Cracked plaster gets cut out, bonded and patched with setting compound before priming. Walls, picture rails and tall baseboards are then brushed and rolled in the colors you choose.
Drywall Repair & PatchingPicking period colors for a craftsman
Body, trim and accent colors that suit the era and the street. We bring large samples and look at them on your siding at different times of day.
Color ConsultationLocal conditions
What makes Decatur houses harder on paint
Lead in the old layers
Nearly every pre-1940 house here tests positive somewhere. EPA lead-safe rules decide how we set up, scrape and clean, and that adds time compared with newer homes.
Old-growth wood that moves
Heart pine and cypress are durable but expand and shrink with Georgia humidity. Brittle old coatings crack along joints, so we prime with products that stay flexible.
Tight lots and close neighbors
Side yards can be just a few feet wide. Containment and ladder placement need planning, and we talk with you about notifying neighbors before scraping starts.
Historic district review
Parts of Decatur sit in historic districts, where exterior changes may need review before work begins. We give you color and material details to bring to that process.
Timing
Planning a Decatur bungalow repaint around the calendar
Because lead-safe scraping happens outdoors with plastic on the ground, steady wind and pop-up storms slow it down more than they would a simple repaint. Late spring after pollen settles and early fall are the most productive windows. Many Decatur owners also need time for any historic review or HOA approval, so starting the conversation six to eight weeks before you want work to begin is sensible. Interior plaster repair and painting can be done any time of year, and winter often has shorter waits.
Questions
Painting questions from Decatur
Does my Decatur bungalow really have lead paint?
If it was built before 1978, assume yes until a test says otherwise. For houses from the 1910s to 1940s, a positive result on trim or windows is almost certain. We test the surfaces we plan to disturb and then follow lead-safe practices on anything that comes back positive. That protects your family, your soil and the people doing the work.
Should old siding be stripped to bare wood before painting?
Usually not the whole house. We remove loose and alligatored paint until we reach a sound edge, then prime. Full stripping is only worth it where layers are so thick that new paint keeps cracking. On those walls we quote it separately so you can decide wall by wall.
Why does lead-safe work cost more here than in newer suburbs?
The extra cost is containment, wet scraping instead of fast power sanding, careful daily cleanup and disposal. It often adds 15 to 30 percent compared with a house of similar size built later. You get a repaint that lasts longer because the prep was thorough, and a yard that isn't dusted with old paint chips.
Can you repaint my porch floor without slippery results?
Yes. We use a porch and floor enamel and can mix in a fine anti-slip additive on the steps and the main walkway. Old gray porch paint is often oil, so we scuff and prime it first or the new coat lifts within a season. Painting the ceiling a pale blue at the same time is a popular finishing touch on bungalow porches.
Painting in Decatur? Call us first
Tell us the house, the surfaces and the timing. We will book a free walkthrough and send a written scope.