Residential painting
A house painted by the same person who priced it
We paint the inside of homes across the Coachella Valley. Walls, ceilings, trim, doors, closets, hallways and the odd feature wall. Some of it is a whole house at once. A lot of it is one or two rooms that have gone tired while the rest of the house still looks fine.
M R Miller Painting is Michael Miller. He has held a California painting license since 1989, CSLB #566071 in C33 Painting and Decorating, and he does the work himself. The person who prices your job is the person on the ladder.
Every job begins with filling, sanding and crack repair, because paint does not hide a bad wall, it points at it. The kitchen gets the same treatment when the cabinets are being sprayed at the same time.
Whole house, or one room at a time?
Both work, and the right answer is usually about how you live in the house. A whole house repaint gives the cleanest result, because every wall, ceiling and door gets the same color, the same sheen and the same run of work. Nothing sits half old and half new where two rooms meet. That is how we paint right across the valley.
Room by room suits people who are living there through it. We mask the doorway, cover the floor and the furniture, work one space at a time and put the room back together at the end of the day. We do the same for seasonal homes while the owner is away, so you come back in the fall to finished rooms. Drywall and crack repair is part of the job, not a separate trade you have to chase. In homes built before 1978 there can be lead in the older layers, and the EPA sets out what to watch for.
High ceilings, arched entries and textured walls
Valley homes are built tall. Two story entries, domed ceilings, arched openings and stairwells that run past a light fitting nobody wants to take down. Getting up there safely is half the job, and it is the part that makes most people call a painter instead of borrowing a ladder.
Interior walls here are often stucco or a heavy hand texture rather than flat drywall. Texture drinks paint and it shows every missed spot, so the roller has to be loaded properly and the wall gets a full second coat. Arched openings, bullnose corners and the curve of a domed ceiling are all cut in by hand. You can see how that comes out in photos of homes we have painted.
Free estimate on your home repaint
Inside painting across La Quinta and the Coachella Valley. Licensed in California since 1989, and the owner does the work.
Call (949) 233-1242Why a color reads different in desert light
The light here is bright and hard for most of the year, and it bounces in off pale ground through big windows. A gray that looked soft on a paint chip in the shop can read cold and blue on a sunlit wall, and a warm white can go yellow by mid afternoon. Rooms facing away from the sun behave differently again once the light drops behind the Santa Rosa Mountains.
So we do not pick from a chip. Paint a sample square on the actual wall, look at it in the morning, at midday and under your own lamps at night, then decide. Michael brings samples out and talks through sheen as well as color, because a flat finish hides wall texture while a satin wipes clean in a busy hallway. That thinking runs through all of our interior painting work, and the colors get settled on the same visit.
Why choose M R Miller Painting in La Quinta?
Because one person does all of it. Michael looks at the job, prices the job, preps the job and paints the job. Nothing gets handed to somebody you have never met, and nothing gets rushed because another house is waiting that afternoon.
He has held the same California license since 1989, CSLB #566071 in C33 Painting and Decorating, and carries a $25,000 contractor bond. Estimates are free and given in person, after he has walked the rooms and looked at the walls. If you want the background before you call, here is more about Michael and how he works.
Ask the contractor doing the work
Straight answers about floors and paint in the desert
Do you paint the outside of houses?
No. We work inside only now. Walls, ceilings, trim, doors, kitchen cabinets and floor coatings are what we take on, and we would rather say that up front than take a job we are not set up for.
Can we live in the house while you paint?
Yes, most of our work is in occupied homes. We work one area at a time, mask the doorways, cover floors and furniture, and put each room back together before we leave for the day so you always have somewhere to sit and sleep.
Do you repair cracks and drywall damage first?
Yes, that is part of the job. Nail pops, settlement cracks, dents and old patch work all get filled and sanded flat before any paint goes on. Fresh paint over a bad wall just makes the damage easier to see.
How long does a whole house repaint take?
It depends on the size of the house, the ceiling heights and how much repair the walls need. Michael gives you a real schedule at the estimate, after he has seen the rooms, rather than a guess over the phone.
Can you paint a seasonal home while we are away?
Yes, and we do a lot of it here. We arrange access with you or your property manager, keep you posted with photos as the work moves along, and leave the house clean and locked up so it is finished when you get back.
Which areas do you cover?
La Quinta is home base, and we work across the Coachella Valley: Palm Desert, Indio, Indian Wells, Bermuda Dunes, Rancho Mirage, Palm Springs, Cathedral City and Coachella.