Commercial Painting in Seattle
Commercial painting for occupied offices, storefronts and apartment buildings, planned so tenants keep working while the walls change color.
- Every elevation, floor or suite is priced as its own line, so owners can approve work in stages.
- Corridors, lobbies and shared areas can be painted after hours or on weekends.
- Licensed, bonded and insured under WA license VOLCABI792C6.
By appointment. Limited start dates.
- Over 200 projects
- 4.9 on Google
- 20+ years building
- WA license VOLCABI792C6
Trusted to build for
Buildings where the paint job has an audience
In a commercial building someone is always watching the work. These are the people who usually call.
Property managers and building owners
Scuffed corridors, faded stair towers and a tired exterior make a building harder to lease. You want the repaint split into phases your budget can carry, with residents told in advance which floor is next.
HOA boards and multifamily owners
An apartment building painting project touches every owner or renter. Boards need a clear scope to vote on, a color schedule, and a contractor who keeps balconies, doors and parking access sorted out day by day.
Business owners and facility managers
Office painting and retail refreshes happen around staff, shoppers and deliveries. Rooms have to open again on time, with furniture back in place.
Commercial painters for interiors, exteriors and the surfaces between
One licensed contractor handles the prep, the coatings and the small repairs a repaint uncovers, so the paint crew is not waiting on another trade.
Offices and suites
Walls, ceilings, door frames and trim in private offices, open plans and conference rooms, painted a floor or a wing at a time.
Retail and customer areas
Sales floors, fitting rooms, restaurant dining rooms and service counters, with the noisy and smelly steps moved outside trading hours.
Lobbies, corridors, stairwells
Common areas in apartment and office buildings take the most wear. Scuff resistant finishes are chosen for heavy traffic and scheduled so one route through the building always stays open.
Building exteriors
Siding, stucco, masonry, trim, railings and doors on commercial and multifamily buildings, worked elevation by elevation.
Surface prep and repair
Drywall patching, cracked stucco, rotten trim, failed caulk and rust on metal railings are fixed before any coating goes on, so the new finish is not hiding damage.
Doors, frames and metal
Hollow metal doors, frames, handrails and exposed steel get the primer and topcoat suited to metal, applied where people can still get past the work.
Painting is often one part of a larger job. See Facility Maintenance & Repairs in Seattle for ongoing work orders, Apartment Unit Turnovers in Seattle for units between residents, Commercial Remodeling in Seattle when walls move, and Multi-Unit & Mixed-Use in Seattle for new residential buildings. For houses, see House Painters in Seattle. In Bellevue, see Commercial Painting in Bellevue.
Phased so the building keeps running
A commercial repaint is planned area by area, and work that blocks entries or fills a room with odor moves to evenings or weekends when the building requires it.
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Walk the building and date it
We walk every area in the scope with your manager, note damaged surfaces and existing coatings, and ask for the build year so any lead paint rule is known before pricing.
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Phase plan and written price
You get a written price by area, a phase map that shows which floor, suite or elevation is painted when, and the notice text your tenants or residents will receive.
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Paint, inspect, sign off
Each phase is prepped, repaired and coated, then walked with your contact and signed off before the crew moves on.
Permits and paint rules for commercial buildings
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The Seattle rule
Paint alone rarely needs a permit
SDCI lists painting or cleaning a building, and surface finishes over existing walls and ceilings, among work that usually needs no permit. Work on load-bearing supports, changes to the building envelope, or anything that reduces egress, light, ventilation or fire resistance needs a permit however small, and all work must still meet code.
What we doIf a repaint uncovers repairs that cross one of those lines, we tell you in writing and price the permit before that work starts.
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The Bellevue rule
Finish work is exempt, the code still applies
Bellevue City Code 23.05.090 exempts painting, papering, tiling, carpeting and similar finish work from permits. The same section says an exemption does not allow work that violates the code, and an exemption under one technical code does not exempt work from the permits of another.
What we doAny electrical, plumbing or structural item found during an Eastside repaint is separated from the paint scope and permitted on its own.
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The lead rule
Pre-1978 apartments and child care space
The EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule covers paid work that disturbs paint, including painting preparation, in housing, apartments and child-occupied facilities built before 1978, unless records show the paint is not lead based. In Washington the Department of Commerce certifies firms, and a certified renovator must supervise or perform the work.
What we doWe confirm the build year and any paint test records first; covered prep work is done by a Commerce certified firm under a certified renovator.
Before renovation that disturbs building materials, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency requires an asbestos survey by an AHERA certified building inspector for anything other than an owner occupied single family house. Every contractor and subcontractor on the job must be registered with L&I under RCW 18.27.020.
What a board or owner can verify
Details a manager usually needs before a painting contract is approved.
Registered contractor
Washington license VOLCABI792C6 under RCW 18.27, which also makes it a gross misdemeanor to use an unregistered subcontractor. Licensed, bonded and insured.
One contractor for prep and repair
Carpentry, drywall and exterior repairs are handled by the same company that paints, so a rotten sill does not stall the schedule.
20+ years in construction
Over 200 projects company-wide, managed from our main office in Bellevue, and a 4.9 rating on Google.
Commercial painting questions
What does commercial painting in Seattle usually include?
Interior and exterior repainting of offices, retail space, apartment buildings and their common areas, together with the surface repairs that come first: patching drywall, cracked stucco, rotten trim, failed caulk and rusted metal.
Do we need a permit to repaint a commercial building?
Usually not for the paint itself. SDCI and Bellevue City Code 23.05.090 both treat painting as finish work that normally needs no permit, but repairs to load-bearing supports, the building envelope, or anything affecting egress or fire resistance need one. See SDCI: Do You Need a Permit?
Does the lead paint rule apply to our building?
It applies if the building is housing, including apartments, or a child-occupied facility such as a school or child care center, built before 1978. Paid work that disturbs the paint, painting preparation included, must be done by a certified firm unless testing shows the paint is not lead based.
Can you paint while our office or store is open?
Yes, in most buildings. Areas are painted in phases, occupants get notice first, and entries, lobbies or rooms that cannot close are scheduled after hours or on weekends.
Can painting over an old ceiling cause problems?
It can if the ceiling contains asbestos. The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency counts paint as a bridging encapsulant for asbestos materials and warns that painting to encapsulate can make later removal much harder, so older ceilings are surveyed before prep that disturbs them.
How do we get a price for painting our building?
Book a walkthrough using the form below. Share the areas, any color schedule and the build year; we walk the building and send a written price by area with a phase plan. For units between residents, see Apartment Unit Turnovers in Seattle.
Request a commercial painting walkthrough
Tell us about your project, investment range, and timeline. We’ll review the details and reach out to discuss your project and see if we’re the right fit.