House painting and porch painting in Brookland, Washington, DC 20017

Frame houses, bungalows and porch fronts around the Brookland-CUA Metro

Brookland grew up in the late 1800s on old estate land beside the B&O railroad, and it kept a small-town feel even as the city filled in around it. Catholic University's campus sits to the west, and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception rises above the north end of the neighborhood. To the east, the Franciscan Monastery and its gardens anchor the streets near Quincy and 14th. The 12th Street NE corridor still serves as Brookland's main street, while Monroe Street Market added new apartments and shops by the Metro.

The housing is more varied than most of DC. You'll find Victorian and Queen Anne frame houses with wood clapboard and gingerbread trim, 1910s and 1920s foursquares, Craftsman and Sears-style bungalows with deep porches, and blocks of brick porch-front rowhouses. A detached house with wood siding next to a rowhouse with a painted porch front is common, and each needs a different plan.

That mix of wood exteriors is why so much of our Brookland work is outside. Clapboard, porch columns, tongue-and-groove porch floors and beadboard ceilings all need regular paint, and most of these houses were painted with lead-based coatings at some point.

Brookland porch and siding problems we see on our own street

These come up often when we walk Brookland houses, sometimes on the same block as our office.

• Cupped porch floor boards

  Tongue-and-groove porch floors cup and split where rain and snow sit. We replace bad boards, sand the high edges and coat with a floor-rated porch enamel that handles foot traffic.

• Rotten column bases

  Wood porch columns rot from the bottom, where water wicks up from the floor. We repair or replace the base, then prime the end grain so it doesn't happen again quickly.

• Peeling clapboard

  Older clapboard with many layers peels in strips, especially on south and west sides. We scrape, sand edges and spot-prime bare wood before two finish coats.

• Mildew on porch ceilings

  Beadboard porch ceilings stay shaded and humid, so mildew grows on them. We wash with a mildewcide and repaint, often in a classic pale blue.

• Rusty stoop railings

  Iron railings on rowhouse stoops rust at welds and post bases. We grind off rust, treat it, prime and paint in an enamel built for metal.

• Failed window glazing

  Glazing putty on old wood windows cracks and falls out, letting water reach the sash. We note it during the walkthrough and repair it before painting the sash.

How we repaint a Brookland bungalow porch from floor to ceiling

Here's a typical porch job on a 1920s Brookland bungalow.

1. Coat 01

   Look and probe

   We probe floor boards, column bases, rails and stair treads for rot and note peeling areas. Porch painting here typically runs $2.40 to $4.80 per square foot for floors, with columns and ceilings priced separately.

2. Coat 02

   Lead-safe setup

   Because most Brookland houses predate 1978, we lay plastic below the porch and around plants, mist surfaces and use HEPA vacuums while scraping and sanding.

3. Coat 03

   Repair wood

   Rotten boards, column bases and rails are cut out and replaced. New wood is primed on all sides before going in so it stays dry.

4. Coat 04

   Scrape and prime

   Loose paint on the ceiling, rails and columns is scraped and feathered, then primed. The floor is cleaned and sanded to give the enamel a good grip.

5. Coat 05

   Paint top to bottom

   We work from the ceiling down: ceiling, columns and rails, then the floor last. Floor coats need a full day or more to dry before furniture goes back.

6. Coat 06

   Final check

   We clean up, remove containment and walk the porch with you. Since we're nearby, a later touch-up visit is easy to arrange.

Scheduling Brookland work around parking, the university and the Metro

Being local helps, but a few details still shape the calendar.

• Many Brookland streets have residential permit parking, so we generally request DDOT emergency no-parking signs for longer exterior jobs.
• Catholic University move-in, commencement and big events at the Basilica fill local streets, so we avoid starting new jobs on those days.
• Some rowhouse blocks have rear alleys, which give us an easier way to bring in ladders and materials.
• Most of Brookland sits outside DC's designated historic districts, and repainting already-painted wood generally needs no review anyway, but check with the DC Historic Preservation Office if your house has an individual landmark designation.
• Exterior work generally runs April through October, and porch floors need dry, mild days.
• We answer the phone 24/7, and since our office is here we can often see your house within a day or two.

Most requested here

• Porch Painting

  Porch floors, steps, columns and haint-blue ceilings painted with floor-rated enamels that handle traffic.

• Exterior House Painting

  Siding, trim, soffits and porches scraped, primed and painted on a schedule built around DC weather.

• Siding Painting

  Wood, fiber cement and aluminum siding painted with the primer each material needs to hold paint.

• Lead-Safe Painting

  Containment, wet scraping and HEPA cleanup when older paint is disturbed in homes built before 1978.

• Wood Rot Repair

  Soft sills, fascia and porch trim cut out or consolidated and rebuilt so new paint is not wasted.

• Iron Railing & Fence Painting

  Rust ground off, converted and primed before stoop railings and iron fences get a durable enamel coat.

• Window Sash & Trim Painting

  Glazing checked, sashes and frames painted, and windows left operable instead of painted shut.

• Interior House Painting

  Walls, ceilings and trim in occupied homes, with furniture moved, floors covered and rooms back in use each night.

Close by

ZIP codes we cover here: 20017. We also paint in these neighboring areas.

• Michigan Park, Washington, DC
• Woodridge, Washington, DC
• Petworth, Washington, DC
• Bloomingdale, Washington, DC
• Hyattsville, MD

Questions from Brookland homeowners