Take a drive through Amherstburg and you can see generations of home design within a few blocks. Victorian and Late Victorian houses sit alongside vernacular homes, Colonial-influenced properties, cottages, bungalows and homes built throughout the early and mid-1900s.
Painting one of these homes is not quite the same as painting a newer build. The goal is often to make it feel refreshed without covering up the details that give it character in the first place.
That starts before the paint does.
Older walls are not always perfectly smooth. Plaster can develop hairline cracks, old patches can sit slightly differently from the surrounding wall, and years of renovations may leave several surfaces and materials within one room. Rather than simply painting over them, those areas need to be assessed individually. A stable hairline imperfection may only need minor preparation, while loose or damaged areas need to be repaired before a finish coat can perform properly.
Trim presents another challenge.
Older Amherstburg homes can have substantial baseboards, detailed window casings, original doors, built-ins and decorative mouldings. After decades of repainting, those details can begin to disappear underneath layer after layer of paint. Proper preparation may involve removing loose material, smoothing heavy paint edges, repairing dents and gaps, and carefully preparing profiles without flattening the detail that makes them interesting.
The same thinking applies when deciding what not to paint.
If a home still has attractive original woodwork, covering it simply because painted trim is currently popular may not be the right choice. On the other hand, trim that has already been painted several times can often be refreshed while keeping its original proportions and craftsmanship. The decision should be based on the condition and character of the individual home, not just the latest trend.
Primer also matters more than homeowners sometimes realize. Older surfaces can have previous repairs, stains, glossy finishes or materials that do not accept a new coating evenly. Using the appropriate primer creates a more consistent surface and can prevent old discolouration or patchwork from showing through the finished paint.
There is also a safety consideration in significantly older homes. Health Canada advises that homes built before 1960 are more likely to contain lead-based paint, and disturbing old coatings can create hazardous dust. Unknown older paint should therefore be assessed before aggressive removal or sanding begins. (Canada)
Finally, colour should work with the architecture. A homeowner does not have to recreate a historically accurate palette. A contemporary wall colour can still sit beautifully beside an old staircase, substantial trim or tall windows. Often, keeping the architectural details visually distinct instead of painting every surface exactly the same is what allows those features to stand out.
Amherstburg’s older homes were not built to look perfectly uniform, and that is part of their appeal.
A successful update is not about erasing every sign of age. It is knowing which imperfections need correcting, which details deserve protecting and how to use preparation and paint to make the best parts of the home noticeable again
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