About Pasadena Elite Painting, a Contractor Built for Older Housing Stock
Pasadena Elite Painting is Los Angeles County's trusted expert in residential and commercial painting, specializing in surface preparation, period restoration and specified coating systems. We offer written scopes on residential work and formal bids on commercial and association projects.
Our team provides one crew from start to finish, delivering documented preparation for homes and phased schedules for both residential and commercial projects. Fully licensed (CSLB #585047), insured and bonded, we handle everything from one hallway to a ten-building association.
From lead-safe practices on a 1915 bungalow to a phase plan that keeps a property trading through a repaint, our team handles every detail. Serving Pasadena, South Pasadena, Altadena and San Marino, we ensure fast, efficient service and deliver reliable, professional and durable results on every painting project.
- Free written estimate
- Prep documented before any coating
- Residential and commercial divisions
- Licensed, insured and bonded
01
Why this market needs a specific kind of painter
Pasadena has an unusual concentration of pre-1930 building still standing and still lived in. A repaint here is frequently a restoration problem wearing a paint job's clothes, and the contractor who treats it as a wash and two coats leaves damage behind.
Craftsman bungalows and Arts and Crafts homes fill Bungalow Heaven and Garfield Heights. Spanish Colonial Revival and Mediterranean elevations from the 1920s run through Madison Heights and the streets off Orange Grove Boulevard. Most of it still carries original wood siding, wood sash windows and plaster over wood lath, on lead-era substrates that require lead-safe practices whenever a surface is disturbed. Postwar tract stucco fills Hastings Ranch and East Pasadena, mid-century sits in Linda Vista and the San Rafael Hills, and dense multifamily and office stock runs along Lake, Colorado and Fair Oaks.
The climate is equally specific. Hot, dry inland summers put far more ultraviolet load on south and west elevations than the coastal basin sees, and very low humidity causes fast flash-off, lap marks and dry spray on any wall coated in direct sun. Santa Ana events funnel out of the Arroyo Seco and Eaton Canyon and drive grit into wet film. Cool, damp winter mornings narrow the usable recoat window from December through March. And seismic movement on the Raymond Fault opens stucco and plaster cracks that have to be cut out and bedded rather than painted over.
02
How we are set up
Two branches of work, run differently, because a homeowner and a facilities manager need different things from the same trade.
| Client | What they get |
|---|---|
| Homeowners | A free written estimate, one crew from start to finish, colour work done on the building rather than off a chip, and a walk-through in daylight before we leave |
| Period and historic property owners | Hand preparation calibrated to original material, lead-safe practices, breathable systems on historic plaster, and documentation to support a design review submission |
| Property managers | A written proposal off a measured takeoff, phasing around occupied units, resident notice, certificates of insurance and a punch-list sign-off |
| Association boards | Bids built to a reserve study so proposals compare like for like, sample elevations before a vote, and a phase plan agreed before mobilisation |
| Facilities and general contractors | Elevation takeoffs, submittals, night and weekend scheduling, and a closeout package in the format the project file needs |
03
What we will and will not tell you
Most of the frustration in this trade comes from things that were not said at the estimate.
We name the preparation
The written estimate says what gets scraped, patched, bedded, caulked and primed, area by area. Preparation is the invisible part of a price and the part that decides whether a coating is still sound in five years, so it is written down rather than implied.
We say when work is not needed
If only two elevations have failed, we will say so. If your stucco does not need a coat yet, we will say that too. Painting a wall that does not need it commits you to a coating cycle you could have deferred.
We do not quote sight unseen
Condition drives scope far more than area does. A small chimney that is spalling can be more work than a long garden wall that is simply tired, and no honest figure comes out of a phone call about either one.
What the client still supplies
Colour direction, access, and any documentation attached to the property, meaning association guidelines, a reserve study, a historic district requirement or a tenant notice period. Tell us about those at the walk-through rather than after mobilisation, because every one of them affects the schedule and none of them is a problem when it is known in advance.
04
Frequently asked questions about working with us
Are you licensed, insured and bonded?
Yes, and documentation goes out on request rather than being published on a page. On commercial, association and multifamily work a certificate of insurance, a W-9 and references are supplied as part of the bid package, and additional insured wording is arranged with your agent where a contract requires it.
Do you use your own crews?
Yes. The people who set up on day one finish the job, with a site lead on larger projects managing sequencing and client coordination. Where a specialist trade is genuinely required, such as abatement or structural repair, it is named in the proposal rather than absorbed quietly into the scope.
How quickly do you reply?
Same business day on enquiries received during working hours. Site visits for an estimate are usually within a few days across the whole service area. Scheduling the work itself depends on the season, since exterior work concentrates between spring and autumn here and the winter recoat window is genuinely shorter.
What areas do you cover?
Pasadena and the surrounding communities: South Pasadena, Altadena, San Marino, La Cañada Flintridge, Eagle Rock, Sierra Madre, Alhambra, Arcadia, San Gabriel and Temple City. Work also reaches Highland Park, Monrovia, Duarte and Rosemead. If your property sits just past the edge, call and ask rather than assuming.
Is a one-room or single-repair project too small for you?
Yes. A single room, one ceiling, a front door and its casing, or a repair that needs matching into an existing wall. Small work is scheduled around larger projects so there may be a wait, and it is quoted and finished to the same standard as everything else.
Can you work with our designer or architect?
Regularly, and without friction. Where a specification comes from a designer, an architect or a property management standard, we work to it rather than substituting our own preference, and we raise any conflict between the specified product and the actual substrate before applying it rather than afterwards.
What happens if something goes wrong on site?
You are told the same day. Damage, an unexpected substrate condition or a scope change gets raised while the crew is still there and while it is still cheap to deal with. The alternative, which is discovering it at the final walk-through, is how a good job turns into a dispute.
Is there a guarantee on the work?
Coverage is set out in the estimate documentation and in our terms of service rather than being described loosely here, because different systems carry genuinely different expectations. Your estimator will explain what applies to your scope before anything is agreed.
05
Where to go next
The full service list, the areas we cover, or straight to a conversation.
- Interior House Painting
- Exterior House Painting
- Historic Home Restoration Painting
- Stucco Painting
- Kitchen Cabinet Painting
- Commercial Painting Contractors
Painting service areas
Start with a walk-through
Tell us about the property and what is bothering you about it. You get a written scope with the preparation and the coating system named.
- Free written estimate
- One crew from start to finish
- Licensed, insured and bonded