First repaints in Verona, a city that doubled in twenty years
Most Verona homes went up since 2000 with builder paint, factory-finished cabinets and a new deck. Two decades on, those tend to come due together.
Verona doubled in twenty years: the Census counted 7,052 residents in 2000 and 14,030 in 2020, and the number of homes more than doubled, from 2,664 to 5,646. A city built that quickly is a city of first repaints, full of houses due to replace the wall paint, cabinet finish and deck stain they were built with.
Half of the city's homes were built in 2002 or later, and only about 18% predate 1980. Scraping and heavy repair are seldom the issue here. The job is replacing finishes that were picked to suit a builder's schedule, in an order that makes sense for the people living there.
What we do in Verona
Refinishing the maple and cherry in Verona's 2000s builder kitchens
For the stained maple or cherry kitchen that came with a 2000s house: how the slick factory topcoat is cleaned and primed so paint can grip, why cherry's red needs a stain-blocking primer under white, why maple paints so smoothly, and how to judge whether twenty-year-old boxes deserve the work.
The first real repaint after builder paint in a Verona home
About trading the builder's single flat color for paint you can wash. It explains why touch-ups on old flat paint shine, which sheens suit halls and family rooms, where a new color can stop in an open plan, and the nail pops and split caulk fixed first.
A first finish for the newer decks behind Verona's newer houses
Written for decks that have had one coat of stain or none at all: when new treated lumber is ready, how today's copper-based wood differs from the CCA used before 2004, why boards you walk on get stain rather than paint, and why young decks check so soon.
Verona homes at a glance
| Homes counted | 6,651 |
|---|---|
| Median year built | 2002 |
| Built before 1980 | 18% |
| Built 1980 to 1999 | 25% |
| Built 2000 or later | 57% |
| Owner occupied | 67% |
| Single-family detached | 54% |
Walls, cabinets and deck all due at once: picking an order
About 57% of Verona's homes were built in 2000 or later and about 25% between 1980 and 1999, so roughly four homes in five date from 1980 on. Because so much of that came in the last two decades, a large share of houses here are reaching their first repaint now, and in each one the walls, the cabinets and the deck usually get there together.
So the question is less whether to repaint than what to do first. And because prep on a house this young is mostly cleaning and priming, with little to strip or rebuild, the quote can be written with few surprises in it.
A sensible order usually follows how much each finish bothers you day to day. Kitchens get the most use and the most opinions, halls and stairways show scuffs next, and the deck can wait for a dry stretch without holding up anything inside. All of it can go on one written quote, so start with the whole list rather than one item at a time.
Builder finishes at twenty years
Builders choose finishes that go on fast and look good at closing. On the walls that usually meant one flat color everywhere, which hides drywall seams well but marks easily, shines where it's scrubbed and won't take a touch-up without showing it. Repainting whole walls in eggshell or satin fixes all three, as the builder-paint page for Verona explains, and the main interior painting page describes how rooms are protected and prepped.
In the kitchen, cabinets from those years often came stained maple or cherry under a factory topcoat. That coat is tougher than most paint, so it's degreased, dulled and given a bonding primer before color goes on, and cherry also gets a stain-blocking primer so its red doesn't creep into a light paint. The Verona maple and cherry page goes wood by wood, and our post on white kitchen cabinets covers choosing the white itself.
Two decades of heating seasons also leave small marks: nail pops in the drywall and caulk at the baseboards that has split into thin dark lines. Those get filled and recaulked in prep, before any color goes on.
Young decks and their first real coat
A deck built in 2004 or later is very unlikely to be the old CCA lumber, which the EPA says manufacturers stopped making for homeowner uses in December 2003. Many newer decks are copper-based treated wood instead, and that treatment protects against decay and insects, not against sun and rain.
The Forest Products Laboratory says decks left without proper maintenance develop checks, cracks, raised grain and mildew, and it recommends penetrating stains for the boards people walk on. A deck that has had one coat or none is the easiest kind to start right, because there's no peeling film to strip first. The first-finish page for Verona decks explains how to tell when new boards are ready.
If your yard has a pergola beside the deck, our post on staining a pergola covers working overhead and picking a stain. Deck projects usually take one to three days and are booked around dry weather.
Before the boom: Verona's first century
The city was named for Verona, New York. It incorporated as a village in 1921 and as a city in 1978, and it sits about 10 miles southwest of downtown Madison, within the Town of Verona. Growth started well before 2000: 748 residents in 1950, 3,336 in 1980, 5,374 in 1990 and 10,619 by 2010.
Homes from those earlier decades make up about 18% of today's total, and only about 1% predate 1940. They're the likeliest to carry several older coats under the current paint, so if yours is one of them, give George its build year when you call.
The boom years brought two big arrivals. The health software company Epic Systems moved its headquarters to a large campus here in 2005, and the Verona Public Library opened in 2006 in a building that looks out on Badger Prairie Park.
Common questions
Is a twenty-year-old house too new to repaint?
No. Twenty years is about when builder finishes start showing their age: flat wall paint holds marks it won't give up, factory cabinet coats wear pale near the pulls, and a deck stained once at the start has long since gone gray. The prep on a house this young is light, which helps.
Can the builder kitchen and the walls be done in one project?
Yes. Cabinets and rooms can share one written quote and one schedule, and the order can keep the kitchen and the rooms beside it from being torn up on the same days. List everything you're considering on the first call so it's planned together.
Do newer Verona homes have a typical paint problem?
Yes: flat builder paint that can't take a scrubbing. Wiping a scuff leaves a shiny patch and a dab of touch-up paint leaves a spot that catches the light, so a hallway can look worse the more it's cleaned. Repainting whole walls in a washable sheen is the lasting fix.
Do you work in the newer neighborhoods on Verona's edges?
Yes, anywhere in the city, from the older blocks to the subdivisions added since 2000. Verona is about 10 miles southwest of downtown Madison, a regular drive from our base in Waunakee. If your address is in the Town of Verona rather than the city, mention it when you call.
How is the work priced?
Cabinet refinishing is priced per cabinet and interior painting per square foot, with the paint included in both. The estimate is free and comes as a written quote, outdoor projects included. The written quote is the price, no extra charge if the job takes longer than expected. Our guide to hiring a painter shows how to compare quotes that cover the same work.
Other towns we serve
Helpful guides
Sources
- American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, U.S. Census Bureau, via Census Reporter
- Verona, Wisconsin, Wikipedia
- Epic Systems, Wikipedia
- Chromated Arsenicals (CCA), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Finishes for Wood Decks, USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory