Interior House Painting
Walls, ceilings and trim in occupied homes, with furniture moved, floors covered and rooms handed back each evening.
DetailsInterior painting
Trim and molding painting in Park Ridge, IL
We paint baseboards, door and window casings, crown molding and chair rail in homes across Park Ridge and the nearby suburbs. Every joint gets caulked, every surface gets sanded, and the enamel is brushed to a clean line against the wall color.
- Every gap caulked before paint
- Bonding primer over old oil
- Clean line at the wall
Short answer
Trim painting means cleaning, sanding, filling and caulking baseboards, casings and crown, priming bare or oil-painted spots, and brushing two coats of a hard enamel. Around Park Ridge, trim in pre-1978 homes is often old oil paint that needs a bonding primer and lead-safe prep. Pricing runs $1.85 to $4.40 per linear foot, depending on profile detail and condition.
Paint lines we use most, matched to the surface: Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams and PPG for walls and trim, Romabio for limewash, Cabot and Sikkens for wood stain.
Benjamin MooreSherwin-WilliamsPPGBehrValsparFarrow & BallFine Paints of EuropeRomabioCabotSikkensZinsserRust-Oleum
What separates a good trim job from a quick one
Trim is where people look first and touch most. A quick job leaves gaps along the top of the baseboard, nail holes still showing, brush marks in the enamel and a wavy line where the trim meets the wall. A good job takes most of its time in prep: cleaning off the grime, sanding the old finish, filling dents and holes, and running a bead of paintable caulk along every joint.
We brush trim instead of spraying it in occupied homes, because spray needs heavy masking and the overspray risk is high. A good brush and a leveling enamel, given time to flow out, gives a smooth finish without the plastic look of a heavily rolled coat.
- Clean and degrease the trim
- Sand to dull the old finish
- Fill nail holes and dents
- Caulk every joint against the wall
- Two coats of leveling enamel, brushed
Old oil paint on trim and why latex peels off it
Trim in most homes built before the 1990s was painted with oil-based enamel at some point. If someone later put latex straight over that glossy oil, it peels off in long strips, often along baseboards where a vacuum or a foot catches it.
We test with a denatured alcohol swab. Latex softens and wipes off, oil does not. Where we find oil, we sand to a dull finish and apply a bonding primer before the topcoat. For the finish we use a waterborne alkyd or urethane-modified enamel, which levels and hardens like oil but cleans up with water and yellows far less.
Painted trim in ranches and stained oak in older homes
In most postwar brick ranches, Cape Cods and split-levels around Park Ridge, Des Plaines and Mount Prospect, the trim is simple pine or fir that was painted from the start. Painting it again is straightforward, and owners often switch from yellowed off-white to a crisp white, or paint trim the same color as the walls for a modern look.
Older bungalows and foursquares in Elmhurst, Villa Park and Berwyn, and Prairie and Tudor homes in Oak Park, Evanston and Wilmette, often still have original stained oak or pine trim. Once that wood is painted, getting back to bare grain means hours of stripping. If it is in decent shape, we usually suggest cleaning and recoating the clear finish instead. If you have decided to paint, we prime with a shellac-based primer first, because oak tannins bleed yellow through water-based primers.
Lead in older baseboards and window stools
Window stools, door casings and baseboards are the trim pieces most likely to carry lead in a pre-1978 house, because they were painted most often with high-gloss oil enamel. They are also the pieces that rub and wear, which makes dust. That covers most postwar ranches and split-levels in the northwest suburbs, not only older homes.
We follow EPA lead-safe work practices on that trim: plastic sheeting on the floor below, misting before sanding, hand sanding or wet sanding only, HEPA vacuums for cleanup and a wipe check at the end.
Signs your trim needs repainting
Trim usually shows wear before the walls do.
Chipped baseboards
Vacuums, chairs and shoes knock paint off the top edge and corners of baseboards.
Open gaps at the wall
Dark lines along the top of baseboards or sides of casings mean the caulk has dried out and separated.
Yellowed white trim
Old oil enamel yellows, especially in rooms without much daylight.
Paint peeling in strips
Latex over old oil without a primer comes off in long ribbons.
Worn window stools
Bare wood on window ledges lets condensation soak in and swell the wood.
Runs and heavy brush lines
Drips from a past paint job make trim look rough and need sanding flat.
How we paint trim and molding room by room
Test and plan
We check for oil paint and lead and agree on color and sheen for each room.
Protect floors and walls
Floors get covered and we tape the floor edge below baseboards.
Clean and repair
Trim is degreased, dents and nail holes are filled, and loose pieces are renailed.
Sand and prime
Old finishes are scuffed, and bare wood or oil spots get a bonding primer.
Caulk the joints
Every gap between trim and wall gets a bead of paintable caulk, tooled smooth.
Two coats of enamel
We brush the finish in two coats with drying time between, and cut a clean line at the wall.
What trim and molding painting costs in Park Ridge area homes
We price trim by the linear foot, with doors and windows listed as their own lines.
| What is priced | Typical range | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Baseboards, casings and crown | $1.85 to $4.40 | per linear ft |
| Interior door with frame | $135 to $265 | per door |
| Window sash and frame | $185 to $465 | each |
| Lead-safe setup | $145 to $385 | per room |
These ranges are typical, and the walk-through sets the real number for your trim.
Full painting price guideWhat moves the price
- Profile detail, since built-up crown and wide colonial casings take longer
- Old oil paint that needs sanding and a bonding primer
- How much caulk, filling and repair the trim needs
- Color change, especially from stained wood to paint
- Lead-safe practices in pre-1978 homes
Trim work in Park Ridge Georgians, ranches and older North Shore homes
Georgians and Colonials in Park Ridge and Glenview tend to have the most trim of any house we see: wide casings, crown in the main rooms, chair rail in the dining room and a long run of stair skirt board. That is usually painted white enamel, and after twenty years it has yellowed and the caulk has opened at every joint. Brick ranches in Niles and Morton Grove have less trim but it takes more wear, since baseboards in a one-story house see all the traffic.
In Oak Park, River Forest and Evanston, a lot of Prairie and Craftsman trim is still original stained wood, and we often get asked whether to paint it. If a home sits in a local historic district, interior trim is not usually reviewed, but it still pays to think hard before painting wood that cannot easily be stripped back.
Where we do trim & molding painting
We take trim & molding painting jobs in Park Ridge and the suburbs around it. A few of the places we work most:
Trim & Molding Painting: common questions
Should I paint the original oak trim in my Oak Park or Evanston home?
If the oak is in decent shape, we usually suggest cleaning and recoating the clear finish instead. Once oak is painted, stripping it back is slow and costly. If you have decided to paint, we prime with shellac first so tannins do not bleed through.
Why is the paint on my baseboards peeling off in long strips?
That almost always means latex was painted over old oil enamel without a bonding primer. The fix is to sand off the loose paint, prime with a bonding primer and recoat with a hard enamel.
What sheen do you recommend for painted trim and baseboards in a family home?
Semi-gloss is the usual choice because it is hard and washable. Satin is softer looking and still holds up well. High gloss suits doors and trim in formal rooms but shows every flaw in the wood.
When you paint trim and walls in the same room, which gets painted first?
We usually paint trim first, then cut the walls to it. That way the final line is the wall color against the trim, which is the easier line to keep straight.
Can you paint crown molding without repainting the ceiling?
Yes. We tape the ceiling line and cut carefully along it. If the ceiling paint is old and chalky, we may need to touch up a narrow band, and we tell you before we start.
How do you handle lead paint on old window stools and baseboards?
We treat that trim as possibly containing lead in any pre-1978 house. We cover the floor below, mist before sanding, hand or wet sand only, and clean with HEPA vacuums.
Work that often goes with this job
Interior Door Painting
Panel and slab doors painted on both faces and all six edges, with hardware removed and frames done to match.
DetailsWoodwork Staining & Varnishing
Original oak and pine woodwork cleaned, touched up and recoated so the grain stays visible instead of hidden under paint.
DetailsLead-Safe Painting
Painting in pre-1978 homes using EPA lead-safe work practices: containment, wet methods and HEPA cleanup.
DetailsWindow Sash & Frame Painting
Sashes, frames and sills scraped, reglazed where loose and painted so windows still open and shed water.
DetailsBook a walk-through for trim & molding painting
Call any hour. Someone picks up, takes the details and books a time to walk the job with you.