Many St. Louis homes have plaster walls, tall ceilings and wide old trim that has been painted many times. Good interior work here starts with crack repair, sanding and the right primer over old oil paint. We cover floors and furniture, fix the surfaces and then paint.
Inside a St. Louis house the walls decide the job. Homes built before the 1950s in Tower Grove, Shaw, Dutchtown and the Central West End mostly have plaster on lath, with ceilings of nine or ten feet and wide casings around every door. Newer houses in the county have drywall and lower ceilings. Plaster takes paint beautifully, but only after its cracks are opened and filled and the loose spots are fixed. We look at every room before we quote, so the repair is in the price.
The work follows the same order in each room. Furniture moves to the middle and is covered, floors get drop cloths, and switch plates come off. We fill holes, sand the patches and spot prime them. Old trim here often carries oil paint under newer coats, so we test it and use a bonding primer where it is needed. Ceilings are painted first, then walls, then trim and doors. Two finish coats is our normal standard for a color change.
St. Louis summers are humid, and that slows drying indoors. With the air conditioning running, a room is usually dry to the touch the same day, and we tell you when it is safe to push furniture back. In a house built before 1978, old layers may hold lead, so sanding and scraping are done with care and the dust is contained. At the end we walk each room with you in daylight and touch up what you point out.
Interior painting in St. Louis: common questions
Can you paint over the cracked plaster in my south city flat?
Yes, after repair. Hairline cracks are opened, taped or filled, sanded and primed. Plaster that has come loose from the lath is fixed back or cut out and patched first. Paint alone will not hide a crack for long.
Do I have to leave the house while you paint inside?
No. Most customers stay home. We work room by room, keep a path clear and use low odor paints. In St. Louis summers we ask that the air conditioning stays on so the paint dries properly.
My trim has many old layers of paint. Do you strip it?
Usually not. We sand it smooth, feather the chipped edges and prime. Full stripping is slow and only makes sense where the detail has been lost under the paint. We will show you both options.
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.