A painting contractor in Orchard Mesa works mostly on established homes south of the Colorado River, and the age of that housing changes what the job involves.
We have worked here since 2011, and there is no pressure to book after your free estimate.
Pre-1978 homes and why certification matters
Orchard Mesa has a lot of mid-century housing. On any home built before 1978, the paint underneath later coats may be lead-based.
Disturbing that paint, by sanding or scraping, requires an EPA Lead-Safe certified firm working to containment practices. We are certified, and on older Orchard Mesa homes we work to those practices as standard. The EPA Lead-Safe programme sets out what is required.
In practice, on your property, that looks like this:
- Plastic sheeting laid out and taped down below the work area, extending out from the wall, so chippings land on something we can collect
- Wet scraping and wet sanding wherever the surface allows it, to keep dust out of the air
- HEPA vacuuming of the work area and the sheeting rather than sweeping
- Windows and doors closed off on the elevation being worked, and planting covered
- Waste bagged and removed, and a visual clean-down check before the crew leaves each evening
None of that changes the finish. It changes how the dust is handled while we get there.
Stucco is common here
A high proportion of Orchard Mesa exteriors are stucco, much of it original.
Older render is softer, the mixes were not consistent, and most of it has been patched at least once by someone matching the texture approximately. Recoating it needs a breathable masonry coating rather than a standard exterior paint, because sealing older stucco with a non-breathable film traps moisture and pushes the coating off in sheets.
So on Orchard Mesa stucco we specify a breathable masonry coating with a perm rating that lets the wall keep releasing moisture, and we deal with the cracks before coating rather than bridging them. Hairline crazing gets a filler coat worked in. Anything wider than a hairline gets opened out, filled with a flexible patching compound, textured to match and left to cure before any coating goes over it.
What a painting contractor in Orchard Mesa sees inside
Interior walls in older Orchard Mesa homes have had fifty or sixty years to move.
Fifty and sixty year old drywall
That shows up as settlement cracking at window and door corners, nail pops across ceilings, and previous repairs that were filled but never properly texture-matched. Frequently there are several generations of patching on the same wall, each slightly different. Fresh paint makes all of that more visible, not less, because it removes the colour variation that was hiding the texture differences. So on these homes the drywall work is usually the larger part of the job and the painting is the finish on top of it.
Talk to Us About Your Painting Project
Work we do most often in Orchard Mesa
Stucco repair and recoating. Exterior repaints with lead-safe practices where required. Interior repaints with substantial drywall and texture work first. Cabinet refinishing. Deck and fence staining.
Working on a home you are living in
Most Orchard Mesa jobs are occupied family homes, and older homes tend to have smaller rooms and less space to stage work in.
So we work room by room rather than opening up the whole house at once, keep one route through the property clear at all times, and clean down at the end of every day. Furniture is moved to the centre of the room and covered, not pushed into another room you still need to use. Switch plates, outlet covers and door hardware come off and go back on.
Practical points worth knowing. A single room is usually one to three days including repair and dry time. Modern low-VOC acrylics are mild, and with the windows open most rooms are comfortable to use the same evening. You do not need to be home while we work, and you get an update at the end of each day. Nothing is due until the final walkthrough.
Getting the texture right on older walls
Most Orchard Mesa interiors carry a sprayed texture applied when the house was built, and matching it is the difference between a repair you cannot find and one you notice every day.
Matching means matching three things: the size of the spatter, the height of the knockdown, and how densely it covers. Get any one wrong and the patch reads as a different surface even after painting, particularly under side light from a window.
We test the match on a board before touching your wall, adjust the tip and the pressure until it reads the same, and only then work on the repair itself. Once it is painted the aim is that you cannot find where it was. The order on these homes is always repair first, paint second. Settlement cracks get taped rather than just filled, because filler alone in a moving crack reopens in a season. Nail pops get the fastener reset and then filled. Water stains get a stain-blocking primer, since those bleed through finish coats however many go over them.
Common questions from Orchard Mesa customers
My house is from the 1960s. Is that a problem?
No, it just needs the right practices. We are certified for exactly this.
Do the wall cracks need fixing first?
Yes. Painting over them means seeing them again within a year.
Can you match my stucco texture?
Yes, and we will tell you honestly if a patch is going to show.
Is old stucco worth recoating?
Usually yes, with a breathable coating. We will assess it rather than assume.
Nearby Areas
Planning a repaint in Orchard Mesa this season? Get a free quote, or call (970) 201-3798. No deposit, and nothing is due until you have walked the finished work with us. See every town we cover on our service areas page.
