We are based in Duncan, a short drive from Spartanburg, so the city is part of our regular area. And Spartanburg has a lot of the kind of house that separates a careful painter from a fast one: big old frame houses, Craftsman bungalows, and mid-century ranches that have been painted over many times.
Hampton Heights and Converse Heights
Two of the city’s best known neighborhoods are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Hampton Heights grew up between about 1890 and 1930. The oldest houses are large two and two-and-a-half story frame houses along West Hampton Avenue, with bungalows on the side streets. It is also a local historic district with design guidelines, and exterior changes there can need a Certificate of Appropriateness from the city. If you live there, ask the city about your project before work starts.
Converse Heights, across East Main Street from Converse, was built mostly between 1906 and 1950, with Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and Craftsman houses. The Happy Hollow playground sits in the middle of it, and Cleveland Park is close by.
Houses this age share a few traits that change how we paint:
- Lots of layers. A century of paint, often oil underneath and latex on top. We test adhesion, scuff glossy surfaces, and prime where the old coat needs it.
- Wood siding and detailed trim. Porches, brackets, window casings and railings take hand work. See wood siding.
- Plaster walls inside. Cracks get opened, filled and smoothed, then primed. That is part of drywall repair.
- High ceilings and tall windows. More ladder work and more cutting-in, which shows up in the price.
Mid-century ranches like Fernwood
Fernwood, one of Spartanburg’s early suburbs near the Cottonwood Trail, is a good example of the next era: brick ranches from the 1950s and 1960s with mature trees. Those houses mostly need trim, doors and interiors rather than full exteriors. Inside, there are usually years of nail holes and earlier color choices to cover.
Interiors in older homes
For walls in an older house, we often suggest our Performance level, Sherwin-Williams Duration Home, or for a living room or dining room you want to look its best, our Showcase level, Sherwin-Williams Emerald, which has the smoothest finish and best color depth. Our guide to paint sheen room by room helps with trim and walls in rooms where every flaw catches the light. More on how we work is on the interior painting page.
Pricing
Older houses take more prep, and we put that in writing at the estimate. The price also depends on the size of the room, extras like crown molding, and the paint level you pick. How we price explains the rest, and our labor carries a 12-month workmanship warranty.
We also cover Boiling Springs, Roebuck and Wellford.