Interior painters in Minnetonka, MN

The wood problem, and what to do about it

Minnetonka built out earlier than most of its neighbors, largely through the 1960s, 70s and 80s, with a strong bias toward homes that sat into the trees rather than on top of a graded lot. Split-levels, walkouts, contemporaries with big windows and cedar accents. It's a genuinely good housing stock.

It also came with a lot of wood: stained trim, sometimes full walls of paneling, and often dark-stained beams or a stained stair rail running through the middle of the house. In 1978 that read as warm and expensive. In a modern house with lighter floors it reads dark, heavy and closed-in, and it makes rooms feel smaller than they are.

Painting the trim out is one of the highest-impact things you can do to a house of this era — and it has to be done properly or it will peel. Stained and varnished wood needs cleaning, scuff-sanding and a proper bonding primer before any finish coat touches it. There are no shortcuts on that step, and the people who take one are the reason some homeowners are scared to do it at all. Here's exactly how I do it.

Stairwells and split-level walls

The other Minnetonka signature is the multi-level wall. Split-entries and walkouts produce stairwell walls that run two or three levels with no floor underneath to stand on. Same story as any tall wall: it can't be done safely off a household ladder, and it's usually the most visible wall in the house because everyone walks past it a dozen times a day.

Older walls need a different touch

Houses from the 60s and 70s have had several owners and several rounds of paint. What I'm looking for during a Minnetonka estimate:

• Old oil-based paint on trim. Common in this era. Latex won't bond to it without a bonding primer, so it matters that someone checks rather than assumes.
• Wallpaper that was painted over. More common than you'd think. It changes the whole approach.
• Settling cracks. Half a century of Minnesota freeze-thaw leaves hairline cracks, especially above door frames.
• Textured or knock-down walls. These need different patching expectations than smooth drywall, and I'll be straight with you about what a patch will look like.

Areas I cover in Minnetonka

All of Minnetonka, including Glen Lake, Minnetonka Mills, the Ridgedale area, and the neighborhoods along Minnetonka Boulevard, Excelsior Boulevard and County Road 101. It's a straight run down from Plymouth, well inside my normal radius.

What I do for Minnetonka homeowners

• Trim and baseboard painting — stained wood to white, done right
• Interior house painting — including tall stairwell walls
• Drywall patching