Nice, newly painted work space with clean ceiling

Queens Commercial Office Painter

Your normal field of vision is in the neighborhood of 170 degrees. More than half of that is peripheral vision. So while you may be focused on one thing ahead or slightly off to the right or left, your brain is processing lots of information from peripheral vision. If you are working in an office, this could mean you notice not only the walls, but overhead. And if the ceiling looks like what we recently encountered, you could spend more time wondering if a deteriorating acoustic tile or some unwanted leaking liquid might land in your hair than getting your work done.

We painted Gray Owl on the walls in this industrial office, then matched the window trim and baseboard for a cool contrast. The ceiling needed some serious help, so once assured the leaks were no longer active, we replaced acoustic tiles and sprayed the ceiling. Now, everyone here at Hugh O’Kane Electric Company is laser-focused on work, and their peripheral vision delivers only a clean, inviting, freshly painted office space.  

Ceiling updates in process

Not where you want to park your desk underneath

Big wow and round of applause for these walls!

Final paint coat drying

Flushing Plastering Contractors

It’s time for action when the living room walls are cracking, paint is peeling and the aesthetics of the space is simply no longer bearable. While the debris that piled up might not have measured in actual tons, it sure seemed like tons of peeling paint and plaster being removed from these pathetically-worn walls. Once free of splintered paint and plaster, we applied a professional, quick-drying, oil-based, bonding primer. This product assures adherence by the new plaster which then takes on new primer and the final paint coats.

Plastering walls may look easy, but it takes a steady hand and keen eye to apply a smooth coat with nary a ripple or bulge. One of our master plasterer/painters, Luis, is seen here deftly spreading the plaster compound to craft a new, flat, smooth, wall surface. It’s a nice room with a little arch detail in the doorway, and everyone is pleased as punch that it’s once again a comfortable, functional space.  

Watching plaster dry

Expert tradesman hard at work

Making progress

Getting started

In the beginning

 Painting a Multi-Building Co-op in Queens

Fresh coats of paint set the stage for a classy kind of co-op lifestyle in Queens. This largest of the Big Apple boroughs geographically boasts an uber diverse population hovering around 2.4 million. Home to both JFK and LaGuardia airports, the sky space is one of the busiest in the country. Those with a window seat cannot see inside buildings as they ascend or descend in a jet airplane, but if they could, their eyes and smiles would widen gazing at one of Paintworks & Decorating’s recent jobs.

We tackled everything from stairwells, stair spindles and hand rails to doors and door frames in a multi-building co-op property. The advantage of being a shareholder resident is having a say in everything including maintenance, and it was obvious from the get-go that these co-op dwellers take seriously having professionally painted spaces. The buildings in this complex are connected, and our work in the common spaces and lobbies lends continuity to the property. We at Paintworks were especially honored to arrive on site with our paints, rollers, brushes, buckets, ladders and all the stuff that jobs like this requires. In an orderly fashion, we proceeded, giving particular attention to stair spindles and hand rails, keeping paint where paint belongs and then skim coating walls for a smooth finish. And that’s also what we wish for everyone in those airplanes over Queens, a smooth finish as in a safe landing.

After - Skim Coating to near perfect smoothness

Skim Coating Co-op Lobbies In Queens NY

The popcorn ceiling has gone the way of dot matrix printers, landlines and fax machines for no longer being needed or especially appealing. The bright white attraction can easily be satiated with today's wonderfully-formulated ceiling paints, and the sleek look of a smooth surface over your head modernizes the proverbial loft, condo, house, lobby, work place and office space throughout all the boroughs of New York City. Popcorn ceilings are a little infamous for covering poor workmanship or sloppy installation, akin to heavy Hollandaise sauce on eggs Benedict when the yolks have already begun to drool. Additionally, they were touted for acoustical properties, but we can raise the bar on that by completely sealing your popcorn nuggets in plaster and then smoothing everything with a skim coat to a contemporary, lustrous finish.

The job we recently completed in a co-op condo building lobby and hallways involved adding skim coat plastering over the popcorn component. Sometimes when a popcorn ceiling has been painted over many times it is more cost effective and dust/mess reducing to skim coat over the popcorn ceiling. With a steady hand and smooth-sided trowel, the Paintworks & Decorating experts crafted a beautiful, unwrinkled ceiling surface. Not only does this smooth ceiling contribute to property value and interior aesthetics, but also it will be super easy to repair. One major drawback of the ol' popcorn ceiling is that it can never be repaired to look the same as the original. A patch job will always be evident, and water leaks from above as well as unintentional ceiling damage are all possible, even for ceilings on a top floor.  We enjoyed renovating and transforming the ceiling, and the residents now enter and move through a much more contemporary environment.  

Before - Mid Skim coating

Finished Master bedroom

Other side of Master bedroom with bold colored doors

The prep stage - Level 4 plastering on walls and ceilings

Jackson Heights Skim Coating and Interior Painting

Jackson Heights is home to many historic residential buildings that are wonderfully built and preserved details. Unfortunately as time goes on and apartments constantly change hands these once fine and beautiful details become lost. Plaster starts to fail, the walls become warped and wonky. Door frames covered in 10+ coats of paint hide the once detailed frame. Good news is that all of this can be fixed. This new homeowner wanted the apartment returned to its original glory and we were happy to help. As professional plasterers and door frame strippers in Queens we immediately knew how to remedy the situation after walking the space. With our Jackson Heights skim coating team in place we began the 4 day process of giving all walls and ceilings of the apartment a Level 4 treatment. Level 4 is 3-4 layers of compound applied to the surfaces to give a smooth look and feel, replacing any current texture. The bottom picture shows a bedroom during the 2nd day of plastering. While the plaster was drying we began the process of stripping all the door frames. Removing years of paint from door frames is an intensive process that takes expertise and patience. Once the paint was removed from the door frames we re-plastered around the frames to make everything look new again. With the plaster dried we sanded all walls and ceilings with fine sandpaper to ensure proper smoothness. We then primed all surfaces to ready them for the finish coats. Using 2 coats of Benjamin Moore Aura we painted the entire apartment. We loved the accent walls and door colors the client chose. Painting the furnace cover a different color from the wall is unique and worked out well. Painting historic Queens Co-ops can be a challenge but it is always worth it. We are thankful for this very involved project and the way the finished place looks.