House painters in Tempe, AZ

Before the first coat in Tempe

1. 01

   Painted concrete block on Tempe's 1948 and later tract houses

   The City of Tempe's Roosevelt Addition design guidelines say that by 1948 virtually all new tract houses in Tempe were concrete block, that block houses of the period were usually painted, and that stucco was very rarely applied. Recoating block like this starts with a wash, then masonry filler in open pores and hairline cracks, then a coating made for masonry, rather than a new stucco or texture skin that would change the original wall surface.

2. 02

   Rare brick ranch houses in Borden Homes and Roosevelt Addition

   The City of Tempe says forty Borden Homes houses were built with row-lock brick masonry, rarely seen in Tempe or the Phoenix area. The city's Roosevelt Addition guidelines call brick very rare in post-war Tempe subdivisions, ask that brick masonry be preserved in its original condition, and note that the brick there was most likely painted from the start because it is Grade B brick without a good natural finish. A painter on these streets first sorts painted brick, which gets a breathable masonry coating, from bare brick, which stays bare unless the Historic Preservation Office agrees to a change.

3. 03

   Steel casement windows on 1950s Tempe ranch houses

   The City of Tempe's Roosevelt Addition guidelines tie steel casement windows to simple Ranch style houses built before about 1959, when aluminum sliding sash became available locally, and the city lists steel casements among the predominant materials of Tomlinson Estates. Old steel sash is wire-brushed where rust has started, primed with a rust-inhibiting primer, and finished with the vents worked open afterward so they do not paint shut.

4. 04

   Flood irrigation against Tempe foundations

   The City of Tempe coordinates Salt River Project flood irrigation for about 850 residential customers, and its University Park listing describes lawns flooded inside low perimeter berms. Water that stands against a foundation soaks into the bottom courses of block, so on a flood-irrigated lot exterior work waits for the base of the wall to dry, and peeling or white salts along that line are scraped and sealed before the finish coat.

5. 05

   Pastel walls and contrasting trim in Tempe's ranch-era districts

   The City of Tempe's Roosevelt Addition design guidelines note that many houses there are painted in light pastel colors typical of their period, many with contrasting trim colors, and they encourage original color schemes or a historic Ranch-era scheme. On a home listed in the Tempe Historic Property Register, the color plan is worth showing to the Historic Preservation Office, which reviews exterior changes, before paint is ordered.