Exterior painting in the Bronx is often about what surrounds the brick: cornices, window trim, doors, stoop railings and garage doors. Frame houses in Throgs Neck, Woodlawn, Riverdale and on City Island need full repaints, and salt air shortens the life of paint near the shore. We wash, scrape, prime bare spots and caulk before the finish coats.
Brick is the main outside wall material in the Bronx, and sound unpainted brick is usually best left alone. The paint work on a brick rowhouse or two family home is the rest of it: wood or metal cornices, window frames and sills, entry doors, garage doors, porch ceilings and the iron at the stoop. Full siding repaints are for the frame houses of Throgs Neck, Woodlawn, City Island and parts of Riverdale, where clapboard, cedar shingle, aluminum and vinyl are all found.
Outside paint fails here for known reasons. Water gets behind it at open joints, freezes in winter and pushes the film off. Summer sun bakes south and west walls. On City Island and along the Sound in Throgs Neck and Pelham Bay, salt settles on the surface. So we wash first, let the wall dry, scrape to a firm edge, sand, prime all bare wood and metal, and seal joints with a paintable caulk. Two finish coats go on only in dry weather.
The painting season in the Bronx runs from about May into October. We watch the forecast and the overnight low, because paint needs hours above the temperature printed on its label to cure. Houses built before 1978 are treated as possible lead paint jobs, with ground covers and no open dry scraping into the yard next door. If your house is a city landmark or stands in a historic district, a color change needs Landmarks Preservation Commission approval before we start.
Exterior painting in Bronx: common questions
My brick was painted years ago and is peeling. What can be done?
Painted brick has to be kept up. We remove what is loose, check for damp coming through the wall, repair open mortar joints and use a masonry primer and a breathable masonry paint. Trapped moisture is the usual cause, so that is checked first.
Can you paint a three story house on a narrow Bronx lot?
Yes, in most cases. Tight side alleys and shared driveways decide whether ladders, a lift or scaffold is needed. We look at access during the estimate and may ask you to speak with the neighbor about the alley.
Will you paint just the cornice and windows, not the whole front?
Yes. Trim only jobs are common on Bronx brick houses. The cornice, the window frames and the front door take the weather first and often need paint long before anything else does.
How it works
- Free estimate: Call, text or book online. We walk the job and measure.
- Written quote: Prep, paint and price in writing.
- Prep & protect: We cover floors and furniture, repair and prime surfaces.
- Paint & walk-through: Two coats, clean lines, full clean-up and a final walk-through.