Northampton County
Painting & drywall in Nazareth.
A Moravian settlement until 1858, Nazareth grew into a grid of brick and frame houses around Center Square, now ringed by new subdivisions. Old plaster in town and new drywall outside it both reward patient preparation.
Nazareth and its houses
Moravian settlers took over the Nazareth tract in 1741, and for more than a century the town was open only to members of the church. Some of their buildings still stand, from the stone Whitefield House to the 1740 Gray Cottage, the oldest surviving Moravian building in America. The town opened to outsiders in 1856 and became a borough in 1858.
Most of the houses came after that. By 1899 just over half of the historic district's buildings were up, and another third followed by 1938, many of them built for workers at the cement plants that opened around town from 1898. Census estimates put about 54 percent of the borough's homes before 1940.
The Nazareth Historic District, on the National Register since 1988, takes in more than 500 buildings, mostly two and a half stories of brick or frame. Past the borough line, Upper and Lower Nazareth and Bushkill townships are mostly post-1980 construction. Randy serves the borough and all three.
The houses
What Nazareth’s houses ask for.
Moravian stone
Most of the town's remaining stone buildings went up before 1858, the largest of them with the massive walls of the old communal houses. Plaster laid directly on masonry cracks and loosens where damp moves through the wall, so repairs have to suit the wall rather than seal it in.
Brick and frame on the grid
Two-and-a-half-story houses of brick or frame on the streets laid out parallel to Center and Main, most of them standing by 1938. The district holds the largest collection of mid-1800s to early-1900s high-style architecture in central Northampton County, and original plaster under many coats of paint is common in houses of this age.
Cement-era houses
A large share of the houses built in the district between 1900 and 1938 went up for workers at the cement plants around town. About one in five of the borough's homes now sits in a two-unit building, so shared walls and neighbors on the other side are part of planning the work.
New houses in the townships
Nearly half the homes in Upper Nazareth Township were built since 2000, and farmland around the borough is still turning into subdivisions. New drywall wants crisp corners and flat ceilings, and where light rakes across a tall wall, a Level 5 finish.
Services
In Nazareth, specialty first.
Each service, written for Nazareth’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
“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…”
“We hired Randy to paint the trim and stain the floor of the porches in our Victorian style home, some light repairs were also required. We had to work around some weather issues but in the end they is an awesome job…”
Questions
Asked in Nazareth.
Are there restrictions on painting a house in the Nazareth Historic District?
The district has been on the National Register since 1988, and National Register listing by itself places no restrictions on what a private owner does with private funds. Local rules are a separate matter, so before you change the outside of a house in the district, check with the borough.
Our house in the borough has stone walls. Can the plaster inside be painted like any other wall?
Once it is sound, yes. Plaster on stone often shows damp, bubbling or powdery patches where moisture moves through the wall; those areas are cut back and repaired first, and the source of the damp is worth finding before any finish goes on.
Do you work in Upper Nazareth, Lower Nazareth and Bushkill townships?
Yes. Randy serves the borough and the townships around it, along with Stockertown and Tatamy, including the newer homes where drywall repair, a smooth Level 5 finish or a full interior repaint is the job.
Our new house in the townships has nail pops and cracked seams. Is that normal?
In a new house, some nail pops and hairline cracks at seams and corners are common as the framing dries and settles through its first seasons. They are worth fixing once the house has settled, with each spot reset, refinished and painted so the repair disappears.
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.