About Artintheamericas

Repair First, Colour Last

Artintheamericas paints houses in Pasadena, and on most of them the painting is the short part. We work on wood sided and shingled homes, the Craftsman bungalows and the period houses around them, where the siding is old growth redwood or cedar and the trim details carry the whole elevation. Our shop address is on Arroyo Pkwy in the 91107 ZIP.

We got into the repair side because we kept losing arguments with the wall. You can prep a board carefully, prime it, put two good coats over it, and eighteen months later the finish is lifting off the bottom inch again. The coating was never the problem. Water had already been sitting in that end grain for years, and paint is not a structural repair.

What We Actually Do on a Bungalow

The walk round comes first, with a screwdriver, because a soft board and a badly weathered board look identical from the street. We check the butt line of every shingle course we can reach, the bottom lip of lap siding, the exposed rafter tails under the overhangs, the sill and lower rail of every window sash, and the bottom of every door casing. Those are the places that fail. The field of the wall almost never is.

Then we price it in two halves. The coating half is predictable and we can quote it off measurements. The repair half depends on what the scraper finds, so you get a board count and a scope in writing rather than a padded allowance.

The Pasadena Part

Three local conditions drive most of what we see. The summers are hot and dry with hard UV, which chalks a film on the south and west elevations years before the north side shows anything. The Santa Ana winds drive grit into any joint that has already opened. And the deep Craftsman overhang that keeps rain off the wall does nothing at all for the rafter tails hanging out beyond it, which is why those go first on house after house.

Most of this housing stock predates 1978, so the older coats contain lead and the prep has to be done lead safe. Containment, wet methods, no open flame, and a clean up at the end of each day rather than the end of the job. On an occupied house that is not negotiable.

What We Will Talk You Out Of

Full strips that nobody needs. Elastomeric on a wall that has a moisture source behind it. One coat over a colour change. A fifteen year durability promise on a west facing Pasadena elevation, which nobody can honestly make.

Call (626) 243-2387 for a walk round at 6997 Arroyo Pkwy, Pasadena, CA 91107, or anywhere in the city.