Giving vintage homes a colorful paint job worth the cost, effort

Transforming an old house into a “Painted Lady” isn't a job for the meek. It takes planning, patience and yes, a potentially large amount of cash.

But the results, say local contractors who've tackled such jobs, can be stunning.

“It can make a huge difference in how you feel when you drive up to your home every night,” said Bob Swanson, owner of Cary-based Swanson Painting. “When a Painted Lady is done right, it becomes an asset not just to the owner, but to the whole neighborhood.”

The term “Painted Ladies” refers to vintage houses — Victorians and Queen Annes, for example — that have been painted in multiple colors in a way that brings out the structures' architectural features.

Generally, Painted Ladies feature at least three colors, though contractors say they've completed projects that used 10 or more.

Color, though, is just one of many decisions that need to be made by homeowners before moving ahead with a Painted-Lady job. Here is a list of items that local contractors, all of whom have worked with Painted Ladies, said homeowners should think about.

Ÿ Check with your town: If you own a vintage house, there's a chance it sits in a historic district. If that's the case, there will be limits as to what can be done to the outside of the structure.

“Homeowners definitely should check with the city to see what they can do and what kind of permits they might need,” said Holly Wiedmeyer of Quality Painting and Carpentry in Elgin. “You open yourself up to a lot of headache and cost if you don't do your homework first.”

Ÿ Hire a contractor who's lead-safe certified: Many houses built before 1978 have paint that contains lead, exposure to which can cause serious problems in both children and adults. The federal EPA now requires contractors renovating such homes be trained in how to handle materials containing lead.

“I would say this is one of the first things a homeowner should look into,” Swanson said.

Ÿ Learn to love color: The key to the success of a Painted Lady is the mix of colors used in the project. Carlos Rivera of Homework Construction Inc. in Elgin suggested that homeowners first take a close look at their houses to see if any architectural details — stained-glass windows, for instance — could be incorporated into a color scheme.

“If your house has something like that already, it can make the decision process a little easier,” he said.

Rivera said many paint stores provide a service in which pictures of homes can be entered into a computer and then digitally painted to show the homeowner what particular color choices might look like.

“Especially in cases where you're thinking about using a lot of colors, you really should see it before committing to it,” he said.

Swanson said homeowners are sometimes leery of going with bold colors, perhaps worried that they'll end up living in a two-story Easter egg.

“It can seem like a risk, going with colors, but if done right, nothing looks better,” he said. “There are books out there about Painted Ladies; I'd suggest that people look through one to get a sense of what color can do.”

Ÿ Be patient: How long does it take to create a beautiful Painted Lady? Contractors say it depends.

Many paint jobs can take three to six weeks to complete, depending on the size of the house, the number of colors being used and the architectural style. But projects can last much longer than that, too.

Wiedmeyer said her company can take a year or more to finish a house, because they strip the paint completely and make any required repairs to the wood.

“We want this paint to last more than five, six or seven years,” she said. “We want it to last 10 or even 20. So we make sure the surface is in the best condition we can get before we start painting. It's a different way of working, but we believe in it.”

Ÿ Prepare to spend: Like the duration of a Painted Lady project, its cost can vary widely, as well. Swanson said the projects he's worked on have cost anywhere from $5,000 to $30,000. Rivera said most of his recent Painted Ladies have fallen between $15,000 and $22,000.

“I'd say for a full paint job on a big historic home, $20,000 is a good initial expectation,” he said. “It might end up being more or less, obviously, but that's a good ballpark figure.”

If all of this makes homeowners wonder if a Painted Lady project is worthwhile, contractors stress that the final product is something special.

“We did this on my house, and the feeling of satisfaction is amazing,” said Rivera, who lives in Elgin. “We used eight colors on ours, and it looks fantastic. These old homes are what attracted us to Elgin in the first place, and to get it looking so great really felt nice.”

As an added incentive to homeowners considering such a project, the Schaumburg-based Chicago Paint and Coatings Association holds an annual contest that spotlights the best Painted Ladies in a variety of categories within a 50-mile radius of the city. The contest, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, runs from Memorial Day through Labor Day. The companies owned by Swanson, Wiedmeyer and Rivera have all worked on winning entries in the past.

“It started as a public education kind of thing,” said Bill Heiden, a Huntley resident and the contest's head organizer. “We wanted to show how paint and color can beautify a home.”

Heiden said that Victorian homes aren't the only ones that win. Newer homes that use color in a creative way, even if they're technically not Painted Ladies, have won in the past.

“The thing is, even homes that have siding on them can use color in interesting ways,” he said. “There's trim around windows, there could be pillars or other features that can be painted with color. You don't have to make everything white.”

Entries are still being accepted for this year's contest. For information, go to chicagopaint.org.