City of Grosse Pointe, MichiganHouse painting in the City of Grosse Pointe, seen up close

Guiffre’s Painting Co. paints home interiors and exteriors in the City of Grosse Pointe, the compact, walkable Pointe that is home to the Village shopping district on Kercheval Avenue and to Neff Park on the lake. Many of its homes are older and set close together, which shapes how they should be prepped, painted and scheduled.

For more than 37 years, Bob Guiffre has painted homes across Grosse Pointe and Metro Detroit, more than 1,800 in all. His son, Bobby, works beside him on every project, and we paint with Sherwin-Williams.

On a walkable street, a house is seen from the sidewalk at walking speed, not from a passing car. Brush marks on a front door, a sash painted shut or a porch rail peeling at its joints all show, so that’s where the care goes first.

What does an exterior on the City’s older blocks need?

City houses face the same Lake St. Clair weather as the rest of the Pointes: wind, moisture, humid summers and freeze–thaw. On a walkable block, three parts of the exterior take the most wear and the closest looks.

• The front door. It’s handled daily and seen from a few feet away, so it deserves the finest finish on the house: light sanding between coats and a durable exterior enamel. Our front door guide covers sheen and color.
• The porch. Floors, steps and rails take foot traffic, standing water and winter grit. Floors need a coating made for porches and floors, and rail joints need sealing, or water gets in and the paint lifts at the seams.
• Wood windows. Original sashes need sound glazing putty and paint lapped slightly onto the glass to seal it, without gluing the sash shut. See painting old wood windows.

Siding and trim still need the full sequence of washing, scraping, priming bare wood and caulking open joints, which is the bulk of any exterior painting job. But on a street people walk every day, the door, porch and windows are what they notice.

What do older City interiors need before painting?

Inside, expect plaster walls and original wood trim. Some homes also keep stained woodwork that has never been painted, and that deserves a decision of its own.

Stained woodwork is a one-way choice. Paint goes over it well with proper cleaning, deglossing and priming, but getting back to bare stained wood later means slow, painstaking stripping. If you’re unsure, paint the walls first and live with the trim for a while.

Plaster wants real repairs. Cracks, loose spots and old anchor holes should be fixed with compounds suited to plaster and primed before the finish coats, or they show through as dull patches. It’s the slow part of interior painting in an older house, and the part that decides how the walls look.

Lead deserves attention. Homes built before 1978 may contain lead-based paint. The EPA’s Renovation, Repair and Painting rule requires certified firms and lead-safe work practices for paid work that disturbs more than 6 square feet of painted surface per room inside, or more than 20 square feet outside. Our guide to lead paint in older homes explains what to ask.

Which colors suit an older Colonial Revival or Georgian home?

Colonial Revival and Georgian houses, two of the period-revival styles found across the Pointes, were designed around crisp contrast: light trim, dark shutters and a door that stands out. Seen at close range from the sidewalk, a few well-chosen colors look better than many.

• Trim: Extra White SW 7006, a bright, crisp white that leans slightly cool, or Pure White SW 7005 for something softer and less stark.
• Shutters: Tricorn Black SW 6258, a true, neutral black, is the classic choice with red brick or white siding.
• Front door: Rookwood Red SW 2802, a deep historic oxblood red, gives a traditional entry weight without shouting.
• Inside: Shoji White SW 7042, a soft off-white with a greige cast, is a calm wall color beside original wood trim, painted or stained.

Chips and screens mislead, and a room that faces a neighbor’s wall a few feet away can be dim even at noon. Test real samples on your own walls and look at them morning and evening before you decide.

How do you plan a paint project on a compact City lot?

Compact lots leave little room for ladders and materials, and the front porch is often the main way in. A few early decisions keep the household running while work goes on.

• Plan around the porch. A freshly painted porch floor needs time before foot traffic and longer before furniture returns, and dry times vary with the product and the weather, so check the label. Use another door for those days. Our porch painting guide has more.
• Ask how debris is contained. On lots this close, paint chips from scraping can drift into a neighbor’s yard, so ground covers and daily cleanup matter, especially on a pre-1978 house.
• Do the street side first if you must choose. When the season or budget is tight, the front elevation, porch and door are what a walkable block sees every day. The back can follow next year.