Our bathroom painting project came out beautifully. Clean edges and a flawless finish!
Commercial Building Exterior Painting in Pasadena, CA
Pasadena Elite Painting is Los Angeles County's commercial exterior painting contractor for property managers, facility managers, general contractors and building owners, handling stucco and elastomeric recoats, masonry and brick exterior work and full envelope repaints across the city's office, retail and mixed-use stock.
We handle projects from a single-tenant retail building under 5,000 square feet to multi-tenant office and mixed-use buildings running 150,000 square feet or more.
Our crews work office buildings, retail centres and strip malls, mixed-use developments and medical and professional offices, phasing elevations around business hours and tenant access so storefronts stay open and lobbies stay usable. Fully licensed (CSLB #585047), insured and bonded, with certificates of insurance, W-9 and manager or general contractor references available on request.
From an elevation-by-elevation takeoff to a documented closeout package for the ownership group, our team handles the parts of an exterior repaint that decide whether it finishes on schedule and passes inspection.
Serving Pasadena and the surrounding San Gabriel Valley commercial market, we hold a general contractor's schedule, work early mornings and weekends when a building's tenants need it, and turn the exterior over ready for punch and final walk.
- Full elevation takeoff, not a drive-by
- Phased around tenant business hours
- Bids built from your plans or specification
- Licensed, insured and bonded
Reviews
What facility teams say about the work
We needed our office repainted without creating a major disruption for employees. Pasadena Elite Painting handled the project efficiently and gave the entire workspace a brighter, more professional appearance.
The painters took great care around our furniture, flooring, and fixtures. Our walls and ceilings look fantastic, and there were no drips or messy edges left behind.
Our new accent wall looks perfect. It completely changed the feel of the room.
Pasadena Elite Painting helped us choose colors that complemented our flooring and natural lighting. The finished interior feels warm, coordinated, and much more inviting. We are extremely happy with the transformation.
Beautiful exterior painting and excellent workmanship from beginning to end.
We hired the team to paint several units in our rental property. The walls, doors, and trim were finished neatly, and each space looked fresh and ready for new tenants. The results made a noticeable difference.
Our commercial storefront needed an update, and Pasadena Elite Painting delivered exactly what we wanted. The new color scheme looks clean and professional, giving the building a much stronger street presence.
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Scope and project size
What moves a commercial facade project is elevation count and access, not simply floor area. This describes the range we take on.
| Building type | Typical size | Common scope |
|---|---|---|
| Single-tenant retail or restaurant | Under 5,000 sq ft | Storefront and full elevation repaint, signage-adjacent masking |
| Retail centre or strip mall | 5,000 to 40,000 sq ft | Multi-tenant elevations, common walkways and awning areas |
| Low-rise office building | One to three floors, up to 60,000 sq ft | Full envelope repaint plus entry and lobby exterior |
| Mid-rise office or mixed-use | Four floors and above, 60,000 sq ft and up | Elevation-by-elevation phased repaint with lift and scaffold access |
| Medical and professional office | Varies by campus | Phased elevations worked around patient access and quiet hours |
Square footage, floor count, the condition of the existing stucco, masonry, EIFS or siding, and the number of tenants who need advance notice all move both the scope and the schedule.
Who this is for
- Property managers maintaining a repaint cycle across one building or a managed portfolio.
- Facility managers responsible for envelope condition and maintenance budgets.
- General contractors needing a painting subcontractor on new construction, renovation or a capital improvement project.
- Owners and developers repositioning a property or preparing it for lease-up or sale.
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How a commercial exterior project runs
Six stages. Submittals sit at stage three because a colour rejected after mobilisation costs more than the sample ever would.
Site walk and takeoff
We walk the building with the manager or the general contractor, measure every elevation, and assess stucco, masonry, EIFS or siding condition, including cracking, chalking and blistering.
Written proposal or bid from plans
A scoped proposal covering preparation, coating systems and phasing, built from the walk or from architectural plans and a paint specification where those exist.
Submittals and samples
Colour and coating samples submitted for approval where a general contractor, architect or ownership group requires sign-off before work starts.
Scheduling and phasing
Elevations and sections sequenced around tenant business hours, deliveries and any active construction on the site.
Execution
Crews prep, prime and coat by elevation, with daily cleanup and protection of entries, signage, vehicles and planting.
Punch list and closeout
A joint walk-through with the manager or general contractor, then coverage documentation and product data sheets for the project file.
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Occupied buildings, compliance and bidding
Most commercial exterior work happens while the building stays open for business, and that changes the plan more than the specification does.
We phase elevations so retail entries, office lobbies and loading areas stay accessible throughout, and schedule the noisiest work, meaning pressure washing, scraping and masking, for hours that suit each tenant's operation. Tenant notices go out ahead of work affecting a specific storefront or entry. Dust, overspray and debris containment protect signage, glazing, vehicles and planting. Early morning, evening and weekend scheduling is available where a retail centre or medical office cannot absorb daytime disruption.
Credentials and compliance
We are licensed (CSLB #585047), insured and bonded, with certificates of insurance issued to property managers, general contractors and ownership groups on request. Bonding is available for projects that require it. Prevailing wage and publicly funded work is handled case by case with the general contractor or ownership group, so ask about your specific contract type rather than assuming either way. Crews follow lead-safe work practices on pre-1978 buildings, a real consideration across parts of Pasadena's older commercial stock, and low-VOC systems are specified to meet air quality requirements and any design-review guidelines that apply to your building. Safety documentation and licence verification are available on request.
How we scope and bid your project
Commercial exterior bids start with a full elevation takeoff rather than a drive-by. Where architectural plans or a paint specification exist we bid directly to them, so a general contractor or property manager compares proposals on the same scope. Where none exist, the site walk measures every elevation and documents the existing surface condition and coating type, and the written proposal that follows spells out preparation, coating systems, phasing and inclusions.
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Systems, scheduling and the Pasadena commercial market
Stucco dominates the city's commercial exteriors, historically as a three-coat system over wire lath and on newer construction as a one-coat synthetic.
Facade systems
Elastomeric is the standard commercial recoat because it bridges hairline cracking while still moving vapour, which matters because moisture intrusion behind the wall, not the paint film, is the real long-term risk on a wood-framed or masonry-backed building.
Reading the failure mode
Ultraviolet exposure produces chalking, a progressive powdering of the film. Expansion and contraction produce cracking. Trapped moisture produces blistering. The facade assessment identifies which is present before a system is specified, because the three call for different answers.
Masonry and brick
Common on the older downtown commercial buildings, and coated with breathable masonry systems rather than a sealed film, since trapping moisture behind brick accelerates spalling. Efflorescence and repointing condition are assessed before anything goes on.
Lead time depends on building size, elevation count and the season, and most facade work is scheduled for the dry summer and autumn months when coatings cure fastest and rain delay is least likely. Multi-storey and multi-elevation buildings are phased across several weeks rather than run continuously, both for safety on lift and scaffold work and to keep disruption contained to one section at a time. The written proposal carries a realistic phased schedule rather than a timeline committed to before the takeoff is done.
Pasadena's commercial stock runs from the historic downtown core, where exterior colour and material changes on older buildings often go through design review, out through the South Lake Avenue office and retail district and along the Colorado Boulevard, Fair Oaks Avenue and Orange Grove Boulevard corridors. The city sits at the junction of the 210, the 134 and the 110, which puts a well-maintained facade in front of a great deal of daily traffic, and the citywide visibility that arrives with the Rose Bowl Game and the Tournament of Roses each January is a genuine reason managers plan exterior work well ahead of the new year.
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Frequently asked questions about commercial exterior painting
What is the smallest and largest commercial building you take on?
From a single-tenant retail building under 5,000 square feet up through mid-rise office and mixed-use buildings of 150,000 square feet or more across several floors. Below that scale the work is usually storefront or tenant improvement rather than an envelope repaint.
Can you bid from architectural plans or a paint specification?
Yes, and it is the cleanest basis for a comparison. Where plans or a specification exist we bid directly to them so every proposal covers the same scope. Where none exist we build the scope from a full elevation takeoff during the site walk, and the proposal documents what we found.
Do you have experience with prevailing wage or public-adjacent work?
We work with general contractors and ownership groups on prevailing wage and publicly funded projects case by case. Ask about your specific contract type when you request a bid, and we will tell you plainly whether it is a fit rather than claiming blanket experience.
What insurance do you carry, and can you add us as additional insured?
We carry general liability coverage and can issue a certificate naming your company or ownership entity as additional insured. Bonding is available where the contract requires it. Limits and certificates go out on request rather than being published here.
Can you work around business hours so tenants are not disrupted?
Yes. Elevations are phased and the most disruptive preparation is scheduled around each tenant’s operating hours. Early mornings, evenings and weekends are all workable, and on a multi-tenant centre we build the sequence around which units cannot lose their frontage on which days.
How do you handle signage, awnings and glazing?
They are masked and protected, and where signage has to come off to coat behind it that is called out in the proposal rather than discovered on the day. Awnings are cleaned and masked or removed depending on condition, and glazing gets particular attention because overspray on glass is difficult and expensive to correct.
Does the building need design review approval?
It depends where it sits. In the historic downtown core and in some corridors, exterior colour and material changes on older buildings go through a review process. We flag that at the bid stage and allow for the timeline, because discovering it after mobilisation stops a job.
What do we receive at project closeout?
A signed punch-list walk-through, coverage documentation and product data sheets for every system used, formatted for your project file or the ownership group’s records. Where your organisation has specific submittal requirements, raise them at bid stage and they are built into the closeout package.
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Related commercial services
Facade work frequently runs with one of these.
- Office & Retail Interior Painting
- Industrial & Protective Coatings
- Apartment Complex Painting
- HOA & Condo Association Painting
- Stucco Painting
- Commercial Painting Contractors
Painting service areas
Commercial exterior work across every community we cover in the San Gabriel Valley.
Get a bid on your building envelope
Send the square footage, the floor count and any existing plans or specification. We will schedule a site walk and return a written, elevation-based bid.
- Elevation-by-elevation takeoff
- Phased around tenant access
- Licensed, insured and bonded