Painting looks like the simplest renovation you can do - until you watch a poorly prepped exterior peel after one North Shore winter or see roller marks show through a finish coat under afternoon sun. A good paint job isn't really about the paint. It's about the prep work that nobody photographs, the products that match the conditions of the house, and the hand that knows the difference.
Custom Installations is a North Vancouver house painter offering both interior and exterior painting for homes and condos across the North Shore. Same prep-first standards we bring to every renovation. Premium paint brands we already know inside and out. Crisp lines, even coverage, and a finish built to hold up to what North Van actually throws at it - not what the paint can label suggests.
Call 604-818-4053 to start the conversation or send a few photos of the space you want painted. Most quotes start there.
There's a reason a generic painter quote often goes wrong on the North Shore. A handful of things change how the work needs to be done - and how much prep matters.
North Shore Rainfall
The North Shore gets 2,500–3,500mm of rain a year at mid-elevation - among the highest annual rainfall of any urban area in Canada. That moisture finds every shortcut in an exterior paint job. Skipped sanding, missed caulking, no primer over bare wood, the wrong type of paint for the substrate - any of these will show up as peel, blister, or fade within two or three winters. Prep that's adequate in Kelowna is not adequate here.
Cedar Siding Is Everywhere
Cedar siding - usually Western Red Cedar - is one of the most common exterior cladding materials on North Van homes, especially in Lynn Valley, Edgemont, Pemberton Heights, and Deep Cove. It's a beautiful material that evolved in this climate, but it still needs to be repainted or restained every 5–7 years to keep moisture out. Cedar prep is different from prep on Hardie board or stucco - you have to handle tannins, knots, and the unique way cedar absorbs and releases moisture. Painters who treat cedar like generic wood siding produce paint jobs that fail early.
Older Homes and Lead Paint
If your home was built before 1980, the existing paint very likely contains lead. Sanding, scraping, or otherwise disturbing lead paint without proper precautions creates real health risks and is regulated. On pre-1980 homes, we use containment, dust-control sanding, and proper waste handling - and we'll talk you through what's involved before we start.
The North Shore Paint Season
Exterior painting in North Vancouver has a real window. Paint manufacturers want daytime temperatures between 10°C and 25°C with overnight temperatures above 5–8°C, plus 24 hours of dry weather before and after application. In practice, that means late May through September is prime exterior season, with July and August offering the most reliable stretches of dry weather. We book exterior projects around that window. Interior painting runs year-round.
Mountainside Topography
Many North Van homes sit on slopes that change how exterior painting actually gets done - pump-jacks, scaffolds, longer reach for upper gables, and access logistics that flat-lot painters don't have to think about. We plan equipment and crew around the lot before quoting, not on day one of the job.
Condo and Strata Buildings
Condo and townhouse painting in Lower Lonsdale, along Marine Drive, in Park & Tilford, and in the North Van City Centre buildings comes with strata bylaws on work hours, elevator bookings, hard-surface protection, and notifications. We've done enough strata work to plan around it.
Interior House Painting
Whole-home repaints, single rooms, feature walls, ceilings, hallways, stairwells, trim, doors, and detail work. We patch, sand, caulk, prime, and finish to a standard you can read in afternoon light without seeing roller marks. Sheen guidance for high-traffic areas, kitchens, bathrooms, and kids' rooms is part of the conversation.
Exterior House Painting
Full exterior repaints on detached homes - siding, soffits, fascia, trim, doors, decks, fences, and railings. We pressure-wash, scrape, sand, repair rot where we find it, prime, and finish with paint matched to the substrate (cedar, Hardie, stucco, or composite). We don't paint over rotten wood and we don't take shortcuts on prep - both are how paint jobs fail.
Cabinet and Trim Refinishing
Kitchen cabinet repainting, vanity refinishing, trim and door refresh. Properly cleaned and degreased, sanded, primed for adhesion, and sprayed or rolled to a finish that holds up to daily kitchen use. Especially useful for Westwood Plateau-era oak cabinetry, mid-tone Lynn Valley kitchens, and any condo cabinet update.
Condo and Strata Painting
Strata-compliant condo painting - work hour management, hard-surface and floor protection, elevator coordination, owner sign-off requirements. We handle the logistics so you don't have to chase your strata council the morning we arrive.
Drywall Repair, Patch, and Paint
Holes from old hardware, settling cracks, water-damage repair (post-leak fix), and full re-tape jobs. Drywall and painting are usually done by separate crews - we handle both in-house, which means cleaner transitions between the patch and the finish.
Why Choose Us?
Exterior season on the North Shore is shorter than it looks on the calendar. We schedule around it carefully:
|
Season |
Exterior Painting Reality |
|---|---|
|
Late May – June |
Reliable enough for most projects, but watch for late-spring rain. Good time to book. |
|
July – August |
Prime window. Driest, warmest, longest workdays. Books up early - reach out by late winter. |
|
September |
Often still workable, but overnight temperatures start dropping. Good window for finishing projects already underway. |
|
October – April |
Generally too wet and cold for exterior on the North Shore. Use this window for interior work, planning, and colour selection. |
We are extremely happy with the work done by Custom Installations! They repaired the laminate flooring in our living room and installed new tiles in the entryway- we couldn’t be happier with the results. They were reliable, professional, and responded to all our inquiries promptly.
We paint across the City and District of North Vancouver, including:
We also serve West Vancouver (Ambleside, Dundarave, British Properties, Caulfeild) and the broader Lower Mainland for the right project.
Interior paint failures look different from exterior failures, but they come from the same place: prep skipped, products mismatched, or technique rushed. The work we do up front is what makes a $4,000 paint job look like a $4,000 paint job in six months, not like a hurry-up six months.
We work primarily with Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams - both established brand partners on the rest of our renovation work. Premium lines (Benjamin Moore Regal, Aura, Advance; Sherwin-Williams Emerald, Cashmere) cost more per gallon but cover better in fewer coats, level out for a smoother finish, and hold up to washing in high-traffic areas. The paint is usually a small fraction of the total job cost; we don't recommend saving the wrong $200.
Initial conversation.
Send a few photos (interior rooms, exterior elevation) and a quick note on what you want painted. We'll set up a call or visit.
Walkthrough and quote.
We assess the condition of substrates, identify prep work needed, recommend products, and write a clear quote with the scope and exclusions visible - not buried.
Colour and sheen selection.
We help with both. For exteriors, we recommend reviewing colour samples in actual North Shore daylight at multiple times of day - colour shifts dramatically with cloud cover.
Scheduling.
For exterior, we book around the late-May–September window. For interior, we work year-round and around your daily routine where possible.
Prep and paint.
Following the prep sequence above. Tidy job site each day. Adjacent rooms protected. End-of-day walkthrough when relevant.
Final walkthrough.
We check the work with you in good light, address any touch-ups, and you sign off when you're satisfied.
July and August are the most reliable months for exterior work on the North Shore. Late May, June, and early September are usually workable. The catch is that the best crews - including ours - fill those months up. If you want exterior work done in 2026, reach out in late winter or early spring rather than waiting until summer.
Generally no - not on the North Shore. Paint needs surfaces dry, temperatures above the manufacturer's minimums (typically 10°C daytime and 5–8°C overnight), and a stretch of dry weather after application. The North Vancouver climate doesn't reliably offer that between October and April. We use the winter season for interior work, prep planning, and colour selection.
Yes - frequently. Cedar is one of the most common exterior cladding materials on North Van homes and needs proper handling: stain-blocking primer over knots and tannins, careful surface prep, and a paint or stain suited to cedar's tendency to move with moisture. We also flag rot or other failures that need to be repaired before paint goes on, rather than painting over them and pretending.
A single room (walls only) usually takes 1–2 days. A typical 3-bedroom condo full interior repaint takes 4–7 days. A full-home interior repaint of a detached home usually takes 1–3 weeks depending on size, ceiling heights, trim scope, and how much patching is needed up front.
A standard two-storey North Van home exterior takes 1–3 weeks from start to finish. Cedar-sided homes with significant prep needs can run longer. Weather adds variability - we plan around it but can't control it.
Yes. We provide colour and sheen guidance based on the room, usage, and how light hits the space. For exteriors, we strongly recommend looking at colour samples on the actual house in different lighting conditions across multiple times of day. North Shore overcast and full afternoon sun read colours very differently.
Yes. Patching, sanding, taping, mudding, priming, and finish painting are all part of what we do. If your walls need more than minor patching - water damage, settling cracks, holes from prior fixtures - that all gets handled before paint goes on, by the same team.
Pre-1980 homes likely have lead paint somewhere on existing painted surfaces. Disturbing it without precautions creates real health and regulatory issues. We use proper containment, dust-control sanding, and waste handling on these projects. We'll talk you through what's required on your home at the quote stage.
Yes. We do significant condo and townhouse work in Lower Lonsdale, along Marine Drive, in Park & Tilford, and in the North Van City Centre buildings. We coordinate strata sign-off, elevator bookings, work hours, and the surface protections most buildings require.
Yes. We stand behind our work. If a paint failure shows up that's the result of our workmanship or product choice, we come out and fix it. The reason we can offer that confidence is because the prep is real - we don't paint over rotten wood, failing caulking, or contaminated surfaces.
Call 604-818-4053 or fill out the quote form below. Send a few photos of the space you want painted (interior rooms, or exterior elevations) and a one-line note on what you'd like done. It makes the first conversation faster and the quote more accurate.