Nelson Painting is the best painter in Rochester, MA

Three Generations of Craftsmanship

Painting Contractors in Rochester, MA

Name: Spend a Day on the Jobsite With the Nelson Painting Crew
Uploaded: 2026-01-13
Duration: 6 min 43 s
Description: These are the painters who will be at your property — Marc, Marc Jr., and the rest of the team. Spend a day with them on an active jobsite and see exactly how Nelson Painting preps, paints, and finishes the work before the truck pulls out of the driveway.

Nelson Painting provides residential and commercial painting, cabinet refinishing, deck staining, carpentry, and power washing for homeowners and property owners in Rochester, MA. From North Rochester and Howlands to Sturtevant Mill and the woods around East Over Reservation, our licensed crews deliver lasting results. Free estimates.

65+ Years in Business: Three-generation family legacy of quality painting.
Licensed & Insured: MA HIC #142477 with full workers' comp coverage.
In-House Crews Only: Never subcontracted — direct accountability on every job.
Free Estimates: On-site walk-throughs with detailed written proposals.

Ready to get started? Request your free painting estimate today.

Call (508) 746-6432 View Our Services

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

100s of 5-Star Ratings on Platforms You Trust

What We Do

Painting and Restoration Services in Rochester, MA

Interior and exterior painting, cabinet refinishing, deck and fence staining, power washing, and carpentry, delivered by in-house crews and never subcontracted. Explore the services below to see how each one works on a Rochester property.

Interior Painting

Interior painting services for homes and businesses in Plymouth, MA. Our crew handles walls, ceilings, trim, and doors with the preparation-first approach that has earned Nelson Painting three generations of trust across Southeastern Massachusetts.

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Exterior Painting

Exterior painting for homes and businesses in Plymouth, MA. We protect your property from coastal weather with thorough surface preparation and premium exterior coatings designed for the salt air, humidity, and freeze-thaw cycles of Southeastern Massachusetts.

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Cabinet Refinishing

Cabinet refinishing services in Plymouth, MA. Transform your kitchen or bathroom cabinets with professional spray finishing — new color, factory-smooth results, and thousands saved compared to full cabinet replacement.

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Nelson Painting is a painting contractor that provides deck and fence staining across Plymouth County, Barnstable County, and Bristol County

Deck & Fence Staining

Deck and fence staining in Plymouth, MA. We apply professional-grade stains and sealants that protect your outdoor wood from the moisture, UV exposure, and freeze-thaw cycles common across Southeastern Massachusetts.

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Power Washing

Power washing services in Plymouth, MA. We remove built-up dirt, algae, oil stains, and mildew from driveways, patios, walkways, and building exteriors — restoring your property to like-new condition.

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Soft Washing

Soft washing services in Plymouth, MA. Our low-pressure cleaning process kills algae, mold, and mildew at the root using biodegradable solutions safe for your siding, roof, and landscaping. Lasting results for the humid coastal climate.

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Carpentry Services

Carpentry services in Plymouth, MA. We repair rotted trim, replace damaged clapboards and shingles, and restore wood surfaces before painting — ensuring your home or building is structurally sound and protected for years to come.

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Nelson Painting is a painting contractor that provides water and smoke damage restoration painting across Plymouth County, Barnstable County, and Bristol County

Water & Smoke Damage Restoration

Water and smoke damage restoration painting in Plymouth, MA. Our crew handles drywall repair, stain blocking, odor sealing, and full repainting to restore your property after fire or water damage. Insurance documentation provided.

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Who We Serve

Residential and Commercial Painting Specialists in Rochester, MA

Whether your house sits in North Rochester, at Howlands, near Wolf Lake, or on acreage down a long drive, the forest is what you are actually maintaining against. Here is exactly what each service involves on a Rochester property.

Residential

Rochester's 2,235 housing units are 88.1% owner-occupied and sit on large, heavily wooded lots. Antique farmhouses, capes, colonials, and newer homes on subdivided woodland all share the same governing condition: trees.

What’s Included

Exterior House Painting
Exterior work is roughly seventy percent preparation. We wash the envelope to remove chalking, mildew, and green growth, scrape and sand every failing edge back to sound material, and prime bare wood before any finish coat goes on.
Shade is the defining Rochester condition. Under mature canopy a wall stays damp for hours after an open elevation has dried, and mildew and algae establish anywhere that happens. Those walls need a mildewcide-containing wash and a mildew-resistant finish, not a plain rinse, and they need washing more often than the rest of the house.
Tree cover also means debris and abrasion. Gutters fill with leaf litter and overflow onto fascia every autumn, branches rub siding in wind, and anything growing against the house holds moisture against it permanently. We will flag the vegetation issues we see, because cutting a limb back does more for that wall than any product we could sell you.
We caulk the joints that actually move with an elastomeric sealant that stays flexible through freeze-thaw. Rigid caulk at a window head splits in the first hard winter and lets water behind the trim.
Wood-Boring Insect Damage & Protection
This is the Rochester-specific problem and it is worth understanding properly, because the fix is largely a painting decision.
Carpenter bees bore clean, round holes roughly the diameter of a pencil into fascia, rake boards, deck railings, pergolas, and any exposed horizontal wood. They strongly prefer bare, weathered, or stained softwood and they largely avoid well-painted surfaces. A painted fascia with a sound film is genuinely far less attractive to them than the same board finished with a penetrating stain, which is one of the few cases where paint outperforms stain for reasons that have nothing to do with appearance.
Woodpeckers are the second half of the problem and the more destructive one. They hear the larvae in the galleries and open the board up to get at them, which turns a set of small round holes into a fascia board that has to be replaced. If you have woodpecker damage on a fascia, you almost certainly had carpenter bees first.
What we do about it: fill and seal existing galleries during preparation rather than painting over them, replace boards too far gone, and specify a proper painted film on the vulnerable elements rather than leaving them stained or bare. We are not exterminators and we will not pretend otherwise, but keeping a sound painted surface on exposed trim is the single most effective thing a homeowner can do, and it is work we are already there to do.
Interior Wall & Ceiling Painting
Every job starts with the parts nobody photographs. We wash surfaces to remove hand oils and cooking film that stop paint bonding, scrape and sand failing areas, spot-prime every patch and every stain, and caulk where walls meet trim.
Older Rochester farmhouses bring plaster rather than drywall, which needs different patching, a different primer, and an honest conversation about which hairline cracks will return with the seasons regardless of what we do.
Wood heat is common on properties this rural, and it changes interior surfaces. Soot and resin film build on walls and ceilings near a stove and will stop paint bonding if painted over rather than washed off. A room that looks merely dark is frequently a room that needs proper cleaning and a stain-blocking primer first.
On well water, mineral staining shows up in bathrooms and around fixtures. It needs a stain-blocking primer rather than another coat of the same paint, or it comes straight back through within months.
Deck, Railing & Fence Staining
Rochester decks are the hardest maintenance item in town. Under canopy they never get the drying hours an open deck gets, they collect leaf litter continuously, and they are prime carpenter bee territory at the railings and under the rail caps.
We wash the surface, wait for it to reach the right moisture content, sand where the grain has raised, and replace any board past saving before staining. That waiting step is the one most often skipped and the single most common reason a finish fails in its first year, and under tree cover the drying window is genuinely longer than the label assumes.
Algae and green growth on shaded decking are a slip hazard as much as an appearance problem. A finish with a mildew-resistant additive plus an annual wash makes far more difference here than a more expensive stain would.
On rural properties, fencing runs at a scale suburban lots do not: split rail along a long drive, paddock fence, and boundary runs of hundreds of feet. Those are stained rather than painted, and the honest calculation is coverage rate against linear footage, which we work out with you before you commit.
Cabinet Refinishing
Refinishing kitchen cabinets costs a fraction of replacement and takes days rather than weeks. In a house where the cabinetry is solid wood and well built, refinishing is frequently the better answer on quality grounds as well as cost.
The finish quality comes from degreasing and sanding, not from the spray gun. We degrease thoroughly, sand to a uniform profile, and use a bonding primer made for cabinetry before any colour goes on.
Farmhouse kitchens often include built-in pantry and butlery joinery carrying decades of paint that has filled the detail. Part of the work is deciding how far to take that back so the profile reads again without destroying it.
We are candid about what will not work. Thermofoil and some laminate faces do not hold a coating reliably, and telling you that before we quote is cheaper for both of us than discovering it after the deposit.
Power Washing & Soft Washing
Washing is the cheapest maintenance there is and on shaded Rochester lots it is the single highest-return decision available, because growth here is relentless.
Vinyl and aluminium siding, roof shingles, and older wood clapboard need soft washing: low pressure with a solution that kills mildew at the root rather than blasting the surface layer off. High pressure on siding forces water behind the panels, and on rough or weathered wood it raises the grain and makes the surface more attractive to insects, not less.
Shaded and north-facing elevations need washing more often than the rest. Treating the whole house on one schedule means those walls are permanently behind, and they are the ones that fail first.
Wash runoff near wells, ponds, and conservation land deserves control. We contain and direct it rather than letting it run wherever the ground slopes.
Carpentry & Wood Repair
Paint does not fix rot, and it does not fix insect damage either. When we find soft trim, failing sills, bored fascia, or damaged clapboard during prep, we repair or replace it before painting rather than coating over the problem.
Our crews carry carpentry capability, so a rotted sill found on Tuesday does not become a second contractor, a second schedule, and a second mobilisation charge. On a rural property that matters more than usual, because getting a second trade to drive out for half a day is genuinely harder here.
The Rochester failure map is forest-driven: fascia behind gutters that overflow with leaf litter, north-facing sills, the bottoms of corner boards where growth has been against the house, deck ledgers under canopy, and any exposed horizontal trim that carpenter bees have found.
On antique farmhouses, period trim profiles are worth matching rather than replacing with stock. We will price both approaches so the choice is yours.
Color Consultation & Design
Choosing colour from a two-inch chip in a store is how people end up repainting. We bring large samples to your house and look at them on your walls, in your light, at the hours you actually use the room.
Rochester's canopy changes interior light substantially. A room shaded by mature trees reads colours several degrees cooler and darker than the same paint in an open-lot house, and a colour chosen under store lighting frequently disappoints on a north wall here.
For exteriors, the backdrop is trees for most of the year rather than sky. A body colour that works against open sky can read heavy against dense green, and the colours that hold up best on a shaded house are not the same as the ones that hold up in full sun.
There is no charge for this and no obligation.

Best For

Ideal for Rochester homeowners in North Rochester, Howlands, Sturtevant Mill, Wolf Lake, and throughout the town seeking interior or exterior painting, cabinet refinishing, deck staining, or carpentry from a licensed, insured contractor.

Nelson Painting is a painting company in Rochester, MA that provides interior painting, exterior painting, cabinet refinishing, deck staining, power washing, soft washing, carpentry, and restoration services

Three Generations, One Standard

The Painting Contractor Rochester Homeowners Call Back

Nelson Painting has been a family business since 1960. Three generations have run the same crews under the same standard: show up when we say, prep properly, and finish the job before we start the next one. Sixty-five years in the same region means most of our work now comes from people who have already used us or know someone who has.

Rochester is one of the least dense towns we serve, with 5,837 people at 66.4 per square mile and an average commute of 36.5 minutes. That is a town of large wooded lots, long private drives, and houses surrounded by genuine forest rather than by neighbours. It is beautiful and it is hard on wood.

Trees change the whole maintenance picture. Constant shade means damp that never fully dries, leaf litter that fills gutters and holds water against fascia, and a population of wood-boring insects that treat unpainted trim as an invitation. Most of the exterior problems we find in Rochester trace back to one of those three things.

Learn Our Full Story

See Us at Work

Spend a Day on the Jobsite With the Nelson Painting Crew

These are the painters who will be at your property — Marc, Marc Jr., and the rest of the team. Spend a day with them on an active jobsite and see exactly how Nelson Painting preps, paints, and finishes the work before the truck pulls out of the driveway.

3

Generations Since 1960

6

In-House Team Members

0

Subcontractors, Ever

0

BBB Complaints in 65+ Yrs

In-House Crews Only

Our dedicated six-person crew handles every project personally. No subcontractors means consistent quality, direct communication, and the same trusted team from start to finish.

Free On-Site Estimates

Owner Marc Nelson personally walks your property to assess every detail. You receive a thorough written proposal — no vague ballpark figures, no hidden costs, no obligation.

Premium Paint Products

We use only the highest-quality paints and coatings built to withstand coastal humidity, salt air, and harsh New England winters. Better products mean longer-lasting results and fewer touch-ups.

Licensed & Fully Insured

Every crew member is covered by workers' compensation and general liability insurance. You never have to worry about exposure if something unexpected happens on your property.

65+ Years Family Owned

Your project benefits from over six decades of knowledge passed down through three generations. That kind of experience means fewer surprises, better problem-solving, and results that stand the test of time.

EPA Lead-Safe Certified

Many South Shore and Cape Cod homes were built before 1978 and may contain lead paint. Our EPA-certified crews follow strict protocols to keep your family safe during renovation work.

Customer Reviews

What Our Clients Say About Us

5.0from 143 reviews

DS

Deanne Smith

August 4, 2026

Google

The guys did a great job! They were diligent, professional, friendly and accommodating!

JM

Julie Mackin

July 24, 2026

Google

We had a wonderful experience with Nelson Painting. Nicole was incredibly easy to work with and we had an estimate within a week. The painters did an amazing job, incredibly professional and meticulous. We are so pleased with how the outside of our house came out.

JM

Janice Madden

July 29, 2026

Google

We would highly recommend Nelson Painting, if you are looking to get your house painted. From soft washing the house to the final painting of trim and clapboard, they were nothing but professional. They were respectful of property and cleaned up every day before they left. Marc came right out when we called and we had a price the next day. Very reasonably priced. We could not be more pleased.

PC

Pamela Cluff-McDevitt

July 23, 2026

Google

Nelson Painting was great! They had to come fix a mess that someone else made. They were quick and did an amazing job! Very easy to work with.

WD

William Donovan

July 27, 2026

Google

Professional, courteous and efficient service. Very satisfied!

KC

Kimberly Callanan

July 23, 2026

Google

Nelson painting completed an outdoor pool bar/shed paint and did a great job! Showed up on time, reasonable pricing and final product looked great.

MD

Mark Dennish

July 24, 2026

Google

On time, flawless work, respectful of property. Estimate was 100 percent accurate.

JS

Jane Scarbrough

July 2, 2026

Google

We highly recommend Nelson Painting. The crew was respectful, professional and thorough. Quality excellent!! Jane and John Scarbrough

How It Works

Our Painting Process in Rochester, MA

Six steps, the same every time, so you always know what happens next.

1

We walk the property with you, measure, and look at the actual conditions rather than quoting from a photograph. On a Rochester property that usually means walking more than one building and looking hard at fascia, rake boards, and railings for bore holes.

You get a detailed written proposal listing surfaces, preparation, products, and price, including any vegetation issues we think are costing you more than the paint is.

2

We bring large samples and view them in your actual light before anything is ordered. Under canopy, colours read cooler and darker than the chip suggests, indoors and out.

Once colours are settled we confirm the schedule and any access we need. Long drives and soft ground affect how and when we can bring equipment in, and we would rather plan that than discover it.

3

This is the majority of the work and it decides how long the result lasts. Washing, scraping, sanding, filling, caulking, and priming all happen before any finish coat.

On shaded elevations the wash includes a mildewcide rather than being a plain rinse. Insect galleries in fascia and trim are filled and sealed rather than painted over, and boards too far gone are replaced. Wood repair and carpentry are completed at this stage.

4

Floors, furniture, landscaping, fixtures, and hardware are covered and protected before painting starts. On a wooded lot that includes planting beds and anything growing against the house.

Near wells, ponds, and conservation land we contain and direct wash runoff. Clean, protected work areas are a standard rather than a courtesy.

5

Our in-house crews apply the specified system, never subcontracted, so the people on your property are the people accountable for the result.

Under tree cover we watch dew point closely, because a shaded wall that looks dry at eight in the morning frequently is not, and applying over it wastes the whole job.

6

We walk the finished work with you, address anything you flag, and clean the site completely before leaving. Touch-up paint is labelled and left with you.

We will also tell you plainly which elevations need washing more often, and where to keep an eye out for new bore holes next spring.

Nelson Painting is a local painting company near me

Request Your Free Painting Estimate in Rochester, MA

Call or request an estimate online. We will walk the whole property, tell you honestly where the money should go first, and give you a detailed written proposal before you commit to anything.

Get Your Free Estimate Call (508) 746-6432

Common Questions

Rochester Painting Questions, Answered

The questions Rochester homeowners and property owners ask us most often.

Wooded Property Questions

There are perfectly round holes in my fascia. What are they?

Carpenter bees. They bore clean holes roughly the diameter of a pencil into fascia, rake boards, deck railings, pergolas, and any exposed horizontal wood, then tunnel along the grain to nest.

They strongly prefer bare, weathered, or stained softwood and largely avoid well-painted surfaces. That is genuinely useful, because it means keeping a sound painted film on the vulnerable trim is one of the most effective things you can do, and it is work we are there to do anyway.

Woodpeckers have destroyed a section of my fascia. Why that spot?

Because there were almost certainly carpenter bee larvae in it. The woodpeckers hear them and open the board up to get at them, which turns a set of small round holes into a board that has to be replaced.

If you have woodpecker damage on a fascia, treat it as evidence of the bees rather than as a bird problem. Replacing the board and putting a proper painted film on the new one addresses the actual cause.

Should I stain or paint my trim?

On a wooded Rochester property, paint on the exposed trim and fascia, for a reason that has nothing to do with appearance. A sound painted film is markedly less attractive to carpenter bees than a penetrating stain or bare wood.

Decking and fencing are different, and there we recommend semi-transparent stain because it wears gradually rather than peeling on surfaces you will refresh often. Railings and rail caps sit in between, and we will talk through that one with you at the property.

Why does only the shaded side of my house grow green?

Because it never dries out. Under mature canopy a wall stays damp for hours after an open elevation has dried, and mildew and algae establish anywhere that happens.

The fix is a wash containing a mildewcide rather than a plain rinse, plus a finish with mildew resistance in it, and washing that elevation more often than the rest. Treating the whole house on one schedule means the shaded wall is permanently behind.

General Questions

What areas does Nelson Painting serve?

Will you drive out here for a small job?

Are you licensed and insured?

Do you use subcontractors?

Farmhouse & Working Property Questions

The walls near our wood stove keep failing. Why?

We have staining in the bathroom that keeps coming back.

We have several buildings. Where should the money go first?

By consequence, not by appearance. A building that is losing weathertightness costs you more every season it waits; one that merely looks tired costs you nothing but pride.

We survey every structure, document condition, and give you a prioritised multi-season plan. Frequently the first dollars go somewhere that will not impress anybody, and we would rather tell you that than sell you the pretty version.

Still have questions? We're here to help — no pressure, just answers.

Call (508) 746-6432 Now Fill Out Our Form

Serving Southeastern Massachusetts

Full-Service Painting, Staining, and Property Care Across Plymouth, Barnstable, and Bristol Counties

From the South Shore to Cape Cod and the South Coast, our crew handles interior and exterior painting, cabinet refinishing, carpentry, deck and fence staining, power washing, soft washing, and water and smoke damage restoration for homes and businesses up to 30 miles from our West Plymouth headquarters. Need directions? Use the map below to find us at 15 Roberts Rd, Unit D, Plymouth, MA 02360.

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Proudly Serving Rochester and the Surrounding Area

Neighborhoods (4)

HowlandsNorth RochesterSturtevant MillWolf Lake

ZIP Codes (2)

0257602770

Nelson Painting, Inc.

AddressPlymouth, MA

Phone(508) 746-6432

HoursMon-Sun: 6AM-8PM

Painting Contractors in Rochester, MA

100s of 5-Star Ratings on Platforms You Trust

Painting and Restoration Services in Rochester, MA

Interior Painting

Interior Painting

Exterior Painting

Exterior Painting

Cabinet Refinishing

Cabinet Refinishing

Deck & Fence Staining

Deck & Fence Staining

Power Washing

Power Washing

Soft Washing

Soft Washing

Carpentry Services

Carpentry Services

Water & Smoke Damage Restoration

Water & Smoke Damage Restoration

Residential and Commercial Painting Specialists in Rochester, MA

Residential

What’s Included

Exterior House Painting

Wood-Boring Insect Damage & Protection

Interior Wall & Ceiling Painting

Deck, Railing & Fence Staining

Cabinet Refinishing

Power Washing & Soft Washing

Carpentry & Wood Repair

Color Consultation & Design

The Painting Contractor Rochester Homeowners Call Back

Spend a Day on the Jobsite With the Nelson Painting Crew

In-House Crews Only

Free On-Site Estimates

Premium Paint Products

Licensed & Fully Insured

65+ Years Family Owned

EPA Lead-Safe Certified

What Our Clients Say About Us

Our Painting Process in Rochester, MA

1. Free On-Site Estimate

2. Color Selection & Planning

3. Surface Preparation

4. Protection & Masking

5. Painting & Finishing

6. Final Walk-Through

Request Your Free Painting Estimate in Rochester, MA

Rochester Painting Questions, Answered

Wooded Property Questions

There are perfectly round holes in my fascia. What are they?

Woodpeckers have destroyed a section of my fascia. Why that spot?

Should I stain or paint my trim?

Why does only the shaded side of my house grow green?

General Questions

What areas does Nelson Painting serve?

Will you drive out here for a small job?

Are you licensed and insured?

Do you use subcontractors?

Farmhouse & Working Property Questions

The walls near our wood stove keep failing. Why?

We have staining in the bathroom that keeps coming back.

We have several buildings. Where should the money go first?

Full-Service Painting, Staining, and Property Care Across Plymouth, Barnstable, and Bristol Counties

Proudly Serving Rochester and the Surrounding Area

Neighborhoods (4)

ZIP Codes (2)

Nelson Painting, Inc.