High Point is a fifteen-minute run south-west of our Greensboro shop, and we work all four of its ZIP codes — 27260, 27262, 27263 and 27265. It is a different painting town from Greensboro, for two reasons: the age of its best housing, and the furniture industry that still sets the calendar.
Emerywood and the Uptown Suburbs
Emerywood, Johnson Street and the surrounding streets make up the Uptown Suburbs Historic District, listed on the National Register in 2013 — roughly 330 acres and several hundred contributing buildings, platted between 1907 and 1946.
Painting in this district is slow work and should be. The houses have deep milled trim, panelled doors, plaster walls, original windows with putty glazing, and in many cases coatings going back decades. That means hand scraping and hand sanding on profiles no power tool fits, glazing repairs before anything gets coated, plaster crack repair that behaves nothing like a drywall patch, and lead-safe work practices throughout, since effectively all of this housing pre-dates 1978.
It also means colour matters more than usual. In a district like this the palette is part of the property's value, and we would rather spend an hour on the trim colour than have it repainted in two years.
A furniture town, and what that means for schedules
High Point Market runs twice a year and fills the city. Showroom, office and hospitality repaints have to land between markets, not during them, and the window is firm — there is no negotiating with a date that a hundred thousand visitors are working to.
If you are scheduling commercial work in High Point, book it early against the market calendar. We plan our commercial year around it.
Oakview, Oak Hollow and the mid-century band
Around Oak Hollow Lake and through Oakview the housing shifts to 1950s-1970s brick ranches and split-levels. Brick exteriors mean the exterior work is trim, soffit, fascia, shutters and porches rather than whole-house siding — and the interiors in this band are where High Point's popcorn ceilings live. Ceiling texture was standard on these houses when they were built, and a large share of our ceiling-removal work in the city comes from exactly this housing.
Anything here built before about 1980 should have its ceiling texture tested before it is disturbed. We say the same thing in every town, and it applies to more houses in this part of High Point than in most.
Lake-side exposure
Properties around Oak Hollow Lake and City Lake Park get more sun and more moisture than an inland street: open water means UV off the surface as well as from above, and humidity that keeps decks and north walls damp. Deck finishes work harder here and want a product chosen for the exposure rather than whatever is standard.
Which county are you in?
High Point is unusual in spanning several counties — Guilford, Davidson, Randolph and Forsyth all touch city addresses. For straight painting it makes no practical difference, but for anything structural, such as deck framing or rail repair, the inspections jurisdiction depends on the parcel rather than the postal address. We check before we assume.
Getting to you
High Point is a short run from our shop and we are there regularly, so estimates are usually within the week. If you are in Emerywood or the historic district, expect us to spend longer looking at the trim and the glazing than at the wall area — on those houses that is where the cost and the quality actually live.
