Shaker Heights was planned as a garden suburb and it still runs like one: exterior changes on most homes go through the city’s Architectural Board of Review, and the color choices come from an approved historic palette. Homeowners sometimes hear that as a burden. We read it as a spec. It tells us what the house is supposed to look like, and a painter who works to a spec has fewer surprises. Here is how we approach a Shaker exterior, and what each part costs.
Check what needs approval before the first sample goes up
Repainting in the existing colors is usually not a review item. Changing the body or trim color, painting previously unpainted brick or stone, or altering trim, sash, or shutters generally is. Before anything else, confirm the current rule with the city’s planning department — the form and the palette are on the city website — and bring the approved color chips to the first meeting. We sample two or three candidate combinations on the least visible elevation, in the actual products, and photograph them at morning and late-afternoon light. A chip in the hand is not a color on a north-facing wall.
Keep the original windows; the board and the house both prefer it
Shaker’s Tudors, French eclectics, and center-hall colonials were built with wood sash, divided lights, and wood storms, and replacement windows change the face of the house in a way the review board notices. Restoration keeps every profile exactly where it was: sash scraped to sound wood, re-glazed, primed, two coats brushed by hand in the approved trim color, storms and screens refinished off the house and reinstalled square. Window condition also decides the price, so walk the north and west sides first — full repaint and restoration pricing is on our published pricing page.
Half-timbering, stucco, and the painted parts of a brick house
Most Shaker exteriors are brick or stucco with painted wood: half-timbering on the Tudors, eave lines, dentil and crown, porch columns, shutters, doors. That is trim work, and it is priced by the foot and the piece rather than by the wall — dentil and plain profiles the same. Stucco itself is usually a wash and a masonry coating, priced by area; we will tell you which tier it is after we see it. Trim, siding, and wash prices are on our published pricing page; materials are at cost on top of every line and a lift for three-story work is billed at cost.
The order of work on a Shaker exterior
Wash, then full dry time. Scrape and sand everything that is failing. Rebuild or replace rotted trim to the original profile — we trace and cut brackets and returns in our shop when stock does not exist. Re-glaze and prime the windows. Caulk. Two finish coats, brushed on trim and sash, sprayed and back-brushed on large runs where the product allows it. Storms and screens go back on last. Three owner quality checks along the way: after prep, after primer, and a final walkthrough with you and the approved chips in hand.
Get the number before the meeting
Count your windows by condition, your trim in feet, and whether you have painted siding, and the instant estimator on this site will give you a range in about two minutes using the same unit prices above. Or send photos of the north elevation and your approved colors to 440-382-5701 — most Shaker Heights estimates are back within 24 hours, and the price will match what you just read.
Price your own project with the instant estimator, check our full published prices, see our exterior painting service in Shaker Heights, or browse more guides.