North Pine Painting, LLC

We have the best customers! Of course we appreciate getting paid when a project is completed, but it means so much more when that check comes in the mail along with a handwritten thank-you note. It's a rare thing these days. It's not unusual for there to be a 'thank you' notation in the check memo line, but for somebody to take the time to write a note to tuck in with the check is gratifying. This tells us our goal of great customer service is being met! (BTW both of these were recent exterior painting jobs.)

Today is kind of a transition day for us. Part of the crew is wrapping up the exterior job on Chuckanut Shore (the one with the glass roof pergola), and moving on to prep another exterior before the rain comes Wednesday. Getting ready to start an interior if we get rained out, and John broke away to do a quick bedroom accent wall with grass cloth this morning. Wallpaper is Silver Metallic in Beige, by Brewster Home Fashions. This one was a bit of a delay - the paper had been on backorder since February plus the homeowner had some remodeling delays. Today everything came together!

Yes, it's a great view. No, they're not on thin ice. Job out on Chuckanut Shore is a refinish of the beams on this glass pergola - removing old failed caulk comes first.

Some days the working conditions just have to be seen to be believed.

Another nice day to work on exterior projects. We're doing two identical homes at the same time in this development outside of Lynden. We've got Miguel brushing on trim, Robert spraying on the finish coat, and Robby doing cleanup while he waits to follow Robert to backroll.

We're doing two identical townhomes here on the golf course. Makes it easy - same color paint, same location. And we're only doing the side exposed to the sun - it fades more quickly than the rest of the house.

Cool weather hasn't stopped our exterior painting work. Great day to power wash.

Four footed supervisors everywhere on this exterior. We get up to the roof edge for some prep, and the project manager was already waiting for us.

Break time...

Often when we're working, the four legged family members keep an eye on what we're doing. Usually that means cats and dogs. This is a first.

We love small wallpaper projects - they usually take less than a day and can easily be worked in around our other jobs. For example, if the crew has an exterior moving ahead of schedule, John usually can break away to go do a wallpaper install. That happened several times this week. Most recently - a pantry/entryway using 'Picasso' from Lucie Annabel. (See the closeup of the paper for detail on this vintage floral. These types of papers are very popular among owners of older homes in this area - they are looking for period-appropriate decor.)

Here's another one of the house we just posted about - this is from a few days ago when it was raining. A bit of rain - unless it's a downpour - rarely keeps us from doing prep work. We just get a bit creative. A few clips and some tarps gave the guys a dry space to work in.

Finishing up prep work on another exterior painting project here in Bellingham. For many of the homes we work on (especially the older ones), the prep work can take up to twice as long as applying the finish coats. Case in point - check out the closeup of one area, representative of the whole house. Failed caulk has to be removed, then the area re-caulked to prevent moisture from seeping in and rotting the underneath. This is why we buy caulk in bulk whenever it's on sale! Also, as you can see on the purple fascia board, the old paint was in terrible condition. Looks like it was actually painted over without being scraped and prepped first.

The painting crew is loving this mild weather! Perfect for painting outside. Oh, and the smiling guy in the bright green shirt? Our newest crew member, Austin. Happy to have him on board!

Yet another entryway wallpaper project finished! This one - for Highline Construction. A gorgeous colorful floral - 'Hill Garden' Pattern T13657 from Thibaut Design.

While most of the crew was wrapping up one exterior painting project and starting another one, John squeezed in some wallpaper in an entryway yesterday. Paper is 'Meadowsweet,' WPPR54-2 by Serena & Lily Beautiful neutral.

John's been out on Orcas Island for a few days wrapping up the next phase of this huge wallpaper project. Today's interesting job: wallpaper to hide a door as much as possible. Check out the match work on all the details! Paper is 'Aesop's Fables' from the Caverly Wallpaper Collection by Sanderson Fabrics and Wallpapers.

We see some familiar names on this list. Shout out to several general contractors who we've been pleased to partner with on projects! Congrats to Dawson Construction, Ethos West Construction, Inc., Faber Construction, and Highline Construction! It's a privilege as a privately owned Whatcom County business to work with these companies!

Who made the Top 100? This year’s list of Whatcom County’s Top 100 private companies (based on 2023 sales) is in the current issue of Business Pulse magazine: businesspulse.com/the-top-100-privately-owned-companies-in-whatcom-county. Most organizations are hiring (or planning to this year). More than a list, here is your look at Whatcom’s locally owned success!

Yesterday's wallpaper project, a dining room for TA Built LLC. Paper is 'Silky Strings II' (Pattern 3811) in Pearl, by Phillip Jeffries Ltd.. Great neutral to complement . the sage green trim.

We wanted you to see the comparison for the wall covering project we did yesterday - look at the before! Now imagine sitting down to work in a spot like this!

Mural project this morning - mural is 'Summer Vista' by Photowall. We worked with Nesting Instincts: Interior Styling on this one.

Nice weather is holding (and fortunately the temps are going down), so we're moving ahead on our exterior painting projects. House that got started this week is power washed, scraped, and ready for paint. (After we hauled away more than 3 contractor bags of paint chips. Some houses need more prep work than others, and this is one of them.)

Another powder room wrapped up! This dramatic green graphic is called 'Opulence,' in Jade from Rebel Walls.

We certainly appreciate receiving a customer's check when we've wrapped up a project, but it means so much more when that check is tucked inside a hand written card. (This particular customer needed wallpaper repair after some flood damage.)

It seems without us actively pursuing this kind of work, installing wallpaper on boats has become a specialty of ours. Today John and Robby are working in somewhat cramped quarters in one of the heads on a big yacht.

Been a busy week even with the holidays! We're wrapping up a full exterior repaint today, and meanwhile John & Robby have been working in some small wallpaper jobs, including this accent wall for Lux Design Builds. Paper is 'Primitive Vines' in Metallic Gold, from York Wallcoverings.

We were just notified that our company was named Best Painter in the Bellingham area for the 2024 Cascades Best Contest sponsored by the Bellingham Herald. We sure appreciate all the support! And we look forward to continuing to provide you with the very best in painting and decorating services.

Part of the crew getting started on an exterior in Bellingham. Nice day to be working outside!

We've been running split crews for the past several weeks - John and Robby or Miguel on wall covering, the rest of the guys on a huge interior renovation, where we've painted just about every surface in the house, including the cabinets. And now you see why we buy painter's plastic and blue tape in bulk!

Wrapped this one up yesterday, and now we're moving on to exteriors. Thankfully we've got warm, dry weather!

Installing wallpaper on boats has become a niche market for us, and word is getting around the boatyards. The tight quarters make for some maneuvering. And on break, sometimes one of the crew likes to imagine what it would be like to pilot one of these.