Interior and exterior painting for Fircrest (98466) homes
Fircrest is a small city tucked between Tacoma and University Place, with curving, tree-lined streets that set it apart from the grid around it. Incorporated in 1925, it filled in over the next few decades with a mix of brick and wood homes: some 1920s and 1930s cottages and Tudor-style houses near the older center, then many 1940s through 1960s ramblers and daylight basement homes. Fircrest Golf Club borders the town, and the community pool and parks keep it feeling like a small, close neighborhood. Yards are well kept, and most homes are owner-occupied.
At a glance
- ZIP
- 98466
- County
- Pierce County
- Part of
- Fircrest, WA
- Best exterior window
- Late May to mid September
- Phone
- Answered 24/7
Fircrest owners tend to keep up their houses on a steady schedule, so we often find homes that need a careful repaint rather than heavy repairs. Inside, that means fresh walls, ceilings and trim with clean lines, often room by room through the winter, and interior painting is a big share of our Fircrest work. Outside, brick homes with painted wood trim, gables and eaves need trim and molding painting more than full siding work. Wood-sided ramblers get full exterior repaints, usually in quiet, classic colors that fit the street.
What should Fircrest owners of brick homes paint, and what should stay natural?
Most Fircrest brick homes were built to show the brick, and we recommend leaving it unpainted unless it has already been painted or is badly stained. Once brick is painted, it needs regular upkeep and can trap moisture if the wrong coating is used. What does need regular paint is the wood: eaves, fascia, gables, window frames, doors and garage doors. Those parts take the most weather, and refreshing them every several years keeps the house looking sharp. Gutters and downspouts can be painted to blend in at the same time.
For trim on brick homes, we scrape loose paint, sand edges smooth, replace any soft wood and prime bare spots with an oil-based primer. Then we apply two coats of exterior acrylic in a satin or semi-gloss finish. Front doors are a good place for a richer color. If the brick has been painted before and is peeling, we can clean it, repair mortar spots and recoat with a breathable masonry paint so it holds. Window glazing gets checked too.
What we watch for here
- Brick homes where painted wood trim and eaves wear faster than the masonry around them.
- Lead paint on original trim and windows in homes built before 1978.
- Mature street trees that shade north faces and grow moss on siding and roofs.
- Well-kept neighborhoods where owners expect clean lines and tidy work sites.
- Older plaster and textured ceilings inside that need repair before repainting.
Houses common in Fircrest and how we prep them
1920s-1930s cottages and Tudor-style homes
Steep gables, arched doors and stucco or wood accents. We use lead-safe prep on old trim and masonry primer on stucco.
Brick homes with wood trim
The brick stays natural, while eaves, gables, windows and doors are scraped, primed and painted in crisp trim colors.
1940s-1960s ramblers
Wood lap or board siding with wide eaves. We wash, prime bare spots and repaint, with fascia and sills checked for rot.
Daylight basement homes
Taller rear walls on sloped lots. We stage the downhill side and paint basement doors and windows to match the rest.
Painting jobs we do most in Fircrest
Interior Painting
Interior painting in Tacoma covers moving and covering furniture, filling nail holes and dings, sanding, spot priming, cutting in edges by hand and rolling two finish coats on the walls, with ceilings and trim as add-ons.
See interior paintingTrim & Molding Painting
Trim painting covers door and window casings, crown molding, chair rail, picture rail and window stools.
See trim & molding paintingExterior House Painting
Exterior house painting in Tacoma means washing off mildew and dirt, checking that the siding reads about 15% moisture or less, scraping and sanding loose paint, fixing rot, caulking, priming bare wood, then applying two coats of exterior acrylic.
See exterior house paintingCeiling Painting
Ceiling painting in Tacoma means protecting the room, washing or degreasing the surface, spot-priming water stains with a stain-blocking primer, patching cracks and nail pops, then rolling two coats of flat ceiling paint in one continuous wet edge.
See ceiling paintingDoor Painting
Door painting covers interior passage doors, closet doors and exterior entry doors.
See door paintingCabinet Painting
Cabinet painting means removing doors and drawer fronts, degreasing and sanding every surface, priming with a bonding primer and spraying a hard urethane-modified enamel.
See cabinet painting
Painting questions from Fircrest
Can you paint my Fircrest home's interior during the winter?
Yes, and many Fircrest owners prefer it. Winter is a good time for interior rooms, ceilings, trim and doors, since exterior work waits for dry weather. We work one or two rooms at a time so you can keep living in the house, and we use low-odor paints so the smell is minimal.
My ceilings have cracks along the seams. Can you fix them before painting?
Yes. Seam cracks usually mean the tape has lifted. We cut out loose tape, retape and finish the joint, then sand and prime. On older plaster ceilings, we open and fill cracks with setting compound. If a ceiling has popcorn texture from before the mid-1980s, we test it first.
Do you paint garage doors on Fircrest ramblers?
We do. Many Fircrest ramblers have garage doors facing the street, so painting them in the trim or body color makes a big difference. Wood doors get sanded and primed, and steel doors get spot-primed where rust shows. We usually paint them during the exterior repaint.
Neighboring areas we paint
Painting a home in Fircrest?
Call and tell us what you are painting. We answer 24/7 and set up a walk-through at a time that suits you.