Four Trades, One Scope, One Price in Lawrence

Lawrence was laid out fast and built dense, and the housing still shows it. Tower Hill and Prospect Hill run to wood frame three deckers standing shoulder to shoulder, with common stairs, back porches stacked three high and a foundation wall that takes every gallon coming off the roof. A large share of them are owned by somebody renting them out, so the work runs on turnover dates rather than on weekends. The vacancy between tenants is the window: patch the plaster, prime the ceilings where a leak left a stain, cut in around trim that nobody has stripped since the twenties, and clean the unit down to the switch plates before the keys change hands. The exterior side is mortar. Brick foundation walls and chimney stacks in this city have been through more freeze and thaw cycles than anyone counted, so joints rake back and brick faces flake off in thin sheets. Back porches take weather off the north and give up their paint first. We tell owners plainly which of those jobs belong in April and which can happen indoors in February.

On the commercial side the mills are the story. The old worsted and machine shop floors on Union Street and out along Merrimack Street now hold small manufacturers, offices, studios, a gym, a clinic. Those buildings have high ceilings, painted brick, exposed columns and one freight elevator that every tenant shares, so we book a slot instead of hoping for one. Interior repaints on a working mill floor happen after six or over a weekend, and dust control matters more than the paint does, because the tenant next door is not shutting down for us. Downtown, the Essex Street storefronts and the restaurants near the common get cleaned before opening or after the last cover. Schools and community buildings get the February and April vacation weeks, which is where most of the interior painting fits. Property managers running apartment blocks here want one number covering the hallway repaint, the common area cleaning and the front steps, and they want the certificate of insurance in hand before a van parks out front. We send it with the scope rather than waiting to be asked twice.

What we take on in Lawrence

• House cleaning, deep cleans and recurring visits
• Move in and move out cleaning for owners and landlords
• Post construction and renovation handover cleaning
• Pre sale cleaning before the photos and the first showing
• Interior and exterior painting, and cabinet refinishing
• Repointing, chimneys, steps, walkways and patios
• Pressure washing for siding, driveways, decks and storefronts
• Offices, retail, practices and restaurants around your hours
• Common areas and unit turnovers for property managers

Getting a price

Every quote for Lawrence starts with somebody standing in the actual place. Square footage over the phone is a guess, and on a wall it is worse than a guess, because the failure depth only shows when you put a hand on the joint. You get the scope written out area by area and one number for the job, usually the same business day.