Historic homes, and the review process that comes with them.

The review comes first

If your property is landmarked or contributes to one of Boulder's historic districts, exterior color and material changes typically require review before any work begins. This is not a formality you can paint through and apologize for later. Confirm your property's status with the City of Boulder, and plan for the review timeline in your schedule rather than at the end of it.

We help assemble what gets submitted: the proposed palette, where each color lands on the building, product information, and photographs of the existing condition. Boards approve specifics, not intentions.

Lead is a legal question, not a preference

Homes built before 1978 may contain lead-based paint, which covers essentially all of Mapleton Hill and Whittier. Under the federal EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting rule, work that disturbs those painted surfaces must use certified firms and lead-safe practices, including containment, specific work methods and a defined cleanup verification.

That adds real time and real cost. A contractor who does not mention it on a 1902 house is either unaware of the rule or planning to ignore it, and both should worry you.

Where the hours actually go

• Original double-hung sash. Glazing putty, sash cords, and paint that must seal the joint without welding the window shut.
• Porches. Columns, balustrades, tongue-and-groove decking and ceiling boards, each with a different exposure.
• Bracketed eaves and dentil molding. Beautiful, and brutally slow to prepare properly.
• Layered coatings. A century of repaints means scraping to a sound edge, then feathering the transition so the old line does not telegraph through the new finish.
• Carpentry discovered mid-project. Rot behind trim is common. We stop, price it in writing, and proceed when you approve.

Finding the original color

If you want to return a house to a historically accurate scheme, the evidence is usually still on the building. Protected areas under a downspout, inside a porch cavity, or beneath a later addition often hold the original color unfaded. We take a sample from there and match from it, rather than guessing at what a period palette should look like.