Lehigh County · South Mountain
Painting & drywall in Emmaus.
Emmaus began as a Moravian village of 32 house lots and did its biggest building in the 1950s. Houses from those two eras, and everything between, ask for different kinds of preparation.
Emmaus and its houses
Moravians surveyed the village in 1758: 102 acres divided into 32 house lots and 17 field lots, with the first house raised the next year. Emmaus stayed a closed church community for about a century, became a borough in 1859, the year the railroad came through, and grew on iron, silk and cigar making.
Its real building boom came after the war, when the population rose by almost a third in the 1950s. By the 1960s Emmaus had reached its present size, and houses now run to the borough line on every side.
Beyond that line lie Allentown and the townships of Salisbury, Lower Macungie and Upper Milford. Much of Upper Milford sits on South Mountain, which the borough borders.
The houses
What Emmaus’s houses ask for.
The Moravian village
Some of the borough's earliest buildings still stand: the Shelter House, a log house of oak and chestnut from about 1734, and the 1803 House, built of fieldstone under a slate roof. Walls of that age were finished in lime plaster, which is worth repairing in place wherever it can be saved.
Twins, rows and prewar houses
Roughly a quarter of Emmaus homes are attached, twins or rows sharing a wall, and a similar share predates 1940, when plaster was the standard wall. That plaster cracks where a house settles or takes on water, and it is usually worth repairing rather than replacing.
The 1950s house
The 1950s alone account for about one in five Emmaus homes, built as the population climbed past 10,000. Houses of that era often want a fresh start inside: tired ceilings, walls patched over the years, and trim under many coats of paint.
Over the line in the townships
Next door, more than half of Salisbury Township's homes were built between 1950 and 1979, while Upper Milford, much of it on South Mountain, built nearly half of its homes between 1970 and 1999. Houses from those decades can bring ceiling texture, settling cracks and decks that want regular staining.
Services
In Emmaus, specialty first.
Each service, written for Emmaus’s houses: what it involves here, what to check, and what people ask.
- Level 5 drywall finishA skim coat over the entire surface, for walls that hold up under raking light and dark paint.
- Skim coatingRough, patched or uneven walls resurfaced smooth, often after wallpaper comes down.
- Plaster repairCracked, loose and failing plaster in older homes, repaired and made sound.
- Interior paintingWalls, ceilings, trim, doors and millwork, prepared properly and finished clean.
- Exterior paintingSiding, trim, porches, stucco and brick, prepared to stand up to Pennsylvania weather.
- Drywall installation & repairNew drywall hung, taped and finished; cracks, holes and water damage repaired invisibly.
- Drywall texture matching & removalTexture matched so repairs disappear, applied where you want it, or taken off for a smooth wall.
- Popcorn ceiling removalOld acoustic texture taken down and the ceiling finished smooth.
- Wallpaper removalOld wallpaper and wall linings stripped without tearing up the wall beneath.
- Wood stainingDecks, porch floors, doors and trim, inside and out, stained by hand.
From clients and job sites
“Excellent work repairing my ceiling with new drywall & painting my home. Randy is meticulous and professional. The ceiling looks brand new & my walls look smooth & even. He is very easy to work with & always showed up on time…”
“Randy and his guys painted the interior of our new home, and did a great job! We needed our entire main floor and some of our upstairs rooms repainted…”
Questions
Asked in Emmaus.
Are any Emmaus houses on the National Register?
A few of the oldest buildings are, including the Shelter House, a log house from about 1734, and the fieldstone 1803 House. National Register listing does not on its own restrict what a private owner does with a property, but local rules can apply, so check with the borough before you change an exterior.
Our Emmaus house is from the 1950s and has textured ceilings. Can they come down?
Usually, after a test. Popcorn texture applied before the mid-1980s can contain asbestos, so a sample should be tested before it is disturbed; if it tests positive, removal is work for a certified asbestos abatement contractor. If the sample comes back clear, the texture comes off and the ceiling is skimmed smooth.
Can the walls in a 1950s Emmaus house be made as smooth as new?
Yes. Houses of that era may have plaster or early drywall, and either can be skim coated over the whole surface to take out old patches, seams and dents. Taken all the way, that is a Level 5 finish, the standard for walls under strong side light.
Do you also work in Salisbury, Lower Macungie and Upper Milford?
Yes. Randy serves Emmaus and the townships around it, including Salisbury, Lower Macungie and Upper Milford, and the villages of Vera Cruz and Zionsville.
Nearby
Neighboring towns.
Consultation
Request a private consultation.
Private walkthrough & written estimate, complimentary. Tell us a little about the house and the rooms, and Randy will be in touch to arrange a time.
- Hours
- Monday – Friday8:30 AM – 5:30 PMSaturday10 AM – 3 PMSundayClosed
- Service area
- Easton, Bethlehem, Allentown and the greater Lehigh Valley; Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Fully insured — proof on request. Residential and commercial.