On the Delaware River
Painting & drywall in New Hope.
A river town of stone, brick and frame, settled in the 1700s and built up after the canal arrived in 1832. Walls here can face damp masonry and high water, and in the historic district a new paint color needs a certificate.
New Hope and its houses
New Hope began as a ferry crossing on the York Road, known first as Wells' Ferry and then Coryell's Ferry, and took its name from Benjamin Parry's mills, rebuilt after a fire in 1790. It was part of Solebury Township until 1837. The Delaware Canal, cut through in 1832, is what turned it into a town.
The borough's National Register nomination, written in 1984, put its buildings at about 30 percent stone, 20 percent brick and half frame, with many of the 18th-century survivors in stone. The land climbs steeply from the river, and Ingham Creek runs through the middle of town.
The Delaware has topped major flood stage at New Hope several times, three of them between 2004 and 2006, and the record crest came in 1955. For houses near the water, damp masonry and the occasional high water are part of the work.
The houses
What New Hope’s houses ask for.
Stone houses of the 1700s
More than twenty 18th-century buildings survive in the borough, many of them stone, and Solebury Township around it has more than 400 houses from the 1700s and 1800s. Plaster on stone walls suffers when the masonry stays wet, so the stone has to be dry and the plaster sound before paint can last.
Canal and workmen's houses
The canal company built in stone, and its houses are small two-story buildings with gable roofs and two or three rooms to a floor; a stone row on Ferry Street housed local workmen in the 1790s. Small rooms put trim, doors and color close to the eye, so the preparation shows.
Italianate frame houses
By the mid-1800s Italianate was the town's preferred style, including three-story frame houses with deep bracketed cornices. Cornices and upper clapboards take the weather hardest and are reached from tall ladders, so the preparation up high has to be as careful as at the porch.
Solebury's newer houses
More than half of Solebury's homes have been built since 1980. Their drywall interiors are where a Level 5 finish pays off, especially in rooms with deep colors or art under directed light, where ordinary taped seams would show.
Services
In New Hope, specialty first.
Each service, written for New Hope’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
“These guys are great Randy is amazing ! They made my old uneven walls look so nice I seriously would recommend them to everyone looking for any work done !”
“Michelangelo of painting.”
Questions
Asked in New Hope.
Does painting a house in New Hope's historic district need approval?
Yes. The borough requires a Certificate of Appropriateness for any change to an exterior facade in its historic district, painting included. HARB recommends it and Borough Council issues it before work can begin, so settle the color and finish early and leave time for the meetings.
Do you work in Solebury and the villages around New Hope?
Yes. Randy is based in Easton and serves Bucks County, including Solebury Township and its villages, such as Carversville, Lumberville, Center Bridge and Phillips Mill, as well as Lahaska.
Our walls took on water when the river came up. When can they be repaired?
Once the house has dried out. Drywall that soaked up water is usually cut out above the waterline, and new board, compound and paint should only go onto framing and masonry that are dry, because finishes put over damp material fail. Plaster that stayed sound can often be kept and repaired.
Is the plaster in an old stone house worth saving?
Often, yes. Sound plaster on stone gives the walls their depth and slight movement, and cracks and loose patches can be repaired and skimmed without taking the wall down. Where the stone is wet, the moisture has to be dealt with first, or the repair will not last.
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.