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Living in Your Home During a Painting Job

By pasadena house painting desk

Most Pasadena homeowners stay in their houses while they are painted. For an exterior job, that is almost always practical. For an interior job, it depends on the size of the project, the household and how much disruption you can tolerate. Either way, a little planning before the crew arrives makes the difference between a job that feels manageable and one that feels like living in a construction site.

This page covers the practical side of daily life during a painting project: what to prepare, what to expect, and what to discuss with the contractor beforehand.

Before the first day

Ask the contractor exactly what they expect you to do before work starts. Common requests include:

• Removing pictures, mirrors, curtains and wall hangings.
• Clearing shelves and surfaces in rooms to be painted.
• Moving small furniture, electronics and fragile items out of work areas.
• Trimming plants and shrubs away from exterior walls, or agreeing who will do it.
• Moving cars from the driveway or garage if the crew needs access.
• Unlocking gates and securing pets.

Some contractors include moving large furniture in their price. Others expect you to handle it. Clarify this in the contract so neither side is surprised on the first morning.

Planning around rooms during an interior job

Interior painting usually proceeds room by room or area by area. Ask the contractor for a sequence so you can plan where to sleep, work and eat each day. Bedrooms are typically the hardest to lose, so it often helps to paint them early in the day and return them to use as soon as the paint is dry enough. Kitchens and bathrooms are used constantly, so plan a day or two where you work around limited access.

If you work from home, set up a temporary workspace in a room that is scheduled late in the sequence, or arrange to work elsewhere on the days when the crew is closest to your space.

Children and pets

Painting sites have ladders, open cans, drop cloths, tools and wet surfaces. Keep young children and pets away from work areas. Many families arrange for pets to stay with friends or at a boarding facility for noisy or disruptive days. Cats in particular are good at finding their way into rooms that were supposed to be closed off. If your home was built before 1978 and the job involves disturbing old paint, keep children and pregnant family members out of work areas entirely, and follow the contractor's containment instructions carefully.

Ventilation and comfort

Modern paints sold in the Los Angeles area must meet South Coast AQMD VOC limits, and many interior products today have low odor. Still, fresh paint has a smell, and some people are sensitive to it. Ventilate painted rooms as the product label recommends, and ask the contractor about products with lower odor if anyone in your household has respiratory concerns. On hot days, ventilation and air conditioning may compete, so discuss with the crew which windows can be open and when.

During exterior work, windows may be masked closed for a day or more. If that affects ventilation or cooling, ask the contractor to sequence masking so no part of the house is sealed for longer than needed.

Outdoor spaces during exterior work

An exterior job takes over the yard as much as the walls. Patio furniture, grills, potted plants, hoses and children's play equipment near the house will need to be moved or covered, and ladders may sit in garden beds. Decide in advance which areas you still need, such as a path to the trash bins or the side gate, and ask the crew to keep them clear at the end of each day. If you have irrigation, turn off sprinklers aimed at the house for the duration so fresh paint and drop cloths are not soaked overnight.

Security and access

Decide how the crew will get in and out. Some homeowners are home every day. Others give the contractor a key, a code or a lockbox. Agree on which doors the crew may use, which rooms are off limits, and who will lock up at the end of each day. Put valuables and personal documents away before the job starts. It is a simple precaution that respects both you and the crew.

Bathrooms, water and power

Discuss whether the crew will use a bathroom in your house, and if so which one. Some contractors bring a portable toilet on larger exterior jobs. Also agree on use of outside faucets for washing and cleanup, and on electrical outlets for tools and lights. Ask where brushes and rollers will be cleaned. Water-based paint rinse water should not go into a storm drain.

Parking and neighbors

A painting crew brings a truck or van, sometimes a trailer, and sometimes more than one vehicle. On narrow Pasadena streets or houses with shared driveways, parking can become an issue. Tell your immediate neighbors when the job will happen, how long it is expected to last, and whether there may be ladders near the property line. If the crew will spray on the exterior, ask how they will protect neighboring cars and structures.

Daily rhythm

Ask the crew what time they typically arrive and leave. Many start early to take advantage of cooler hours. Ask for a quick word at the end of each day about what was done and what is planned next. This gives you a natural time to raise any concerns and prepare for the next day's work areas.

When moving out makes sense

For a large interior job, especially one involving lead-safe work on an older house, cabinets in the kitchen, or floors being refinished at the same time, it can be worth staying elsewhere for a few days. Discuss the sequence with the contractor and decide whether consolidating the most disruptive work into a short period while you are away would shorten the overall project.

After the crew leaves each day

Walk through work areas briefly at the end of each day. Check that doors and windows are secure, that paint and solvents are closed and stored safely, and that walkways are clear. Avoid touching or leaning anything against freshly painted surfaces, and wait before rehanging pictures or pushing furniture back against walls. Paint can feel dry well before it has cured enough to resist scuffs and sticking.

A painting job is temporary, but a well-planned one lets you get through it with your routine mostly intact and your patience with the crew intact too.