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.

NYC Interior and Exterior Commercial Painting: Blue Haven East

If you find yourself in need of comfort food, craft brew, a game of darts and/or fried Twinkies in eastern Manhattan between 11 a.m. and 4 a.m. any day of the week, stroll on over to Blue Haven East. Just a few blocks from the East River at 493 3rd Avenue, this recently opened restaurant offers modern gastropub fare in a very cool setting that includes freshly painted walls by yours truly Paintworks & Decorating. The idea inside was simply something clean, new and smooth for this second Blue Haven eatery. The original Blue Haven is still in downtown Manhattan at 108 W. Houston St.

We also creatively and smoothly applied the dual blue colors on the exterior. These colors include the casual appeal of dusty denim and soft sky blue. The navy blue vertical columns add a touch of formality like the English dish Shepherds Pie and touch of class in the BLTA sammich - A = avocado. That raises the bar on a diner fave. Painting commercial interiors demands professional skills like Paintworks consistently delivers for proper mixing, rolling, brushing, achieving smooth corners and straight lines where ceilings, wood and other materials meet the walls. You come here for the food, drink and socializing. Not particularly noticing the excellent paint job means we did our job perfectly. Kind of like how they do the bacon mac & cheese. Perfectly.

View fullsize

Co-op Interior Painting Manhattan

This client called us days before closing on a home in the historic west village area of Manhattan. We love that he chose to go with a light gray for trim and against the off white walls. It’s a nice contrast that is unique. We were able to get co-op approval extremely fast and paint before he moved in.

After

Before

Painting Storefront for Conan O’Brien New Season Launch Marketing

Talk about springing into action on short notice with a whisker of temperature variance and a very tight deadline - those were the parameters that Paintworks recently dealt with for an exterior retail store paint job for a nationally syndicated television show. Factor in going from a dark color, black in his case, to a lighter color, orange, and the challenges before us were embraced with confidence and courage. We had 24 hours to begin and end the job and were incredibly thankful that temps hovered ever so slightly above 35 degrees so the exterior paint could bond properly.

We were stoked for the opportunity and worked practically around the clock with Benjamin Moore's Aura Exterior Paint. Among its advantages is the low temperature application possibility, along with exceptional color results with Color Lock® technology, superior adhesion properties, fast dry and re-coat times and self-priming capability. We worked diligently and attentively across three coats to get the desired cover-up of the black and strong presence of the orange. Then we stood back, admired our work and went for donuts.

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