Stearns Painting

Fifty-one Google ratings, a 5-star average, and one word doing most of the work: prep. Stearns Painting works out of Stoneham and gets called for both sides of a house — interior rooms, trim and ceilings, exteriors, decks, and kitchen cabinets. Michael (Mike) Stearns runs the crew and shows up on the jobs himself; customers name him constantly, and several say they've hired the company more than once. The prep is what people write about. A homeowner in July 2026 described the crew spending "endless hours" power washing and scraping before a single coat went on the exterior. In a 2022 review, another said the team examined and primed each shingle on a 1952 house by hand, pulling old alarm hardware and cable off the siding as they went. A 2023 customer who wanted maple cabinets sprayed rather than brushed wrote that the masking took longer than the painting did. Cabinet and finish work is a real second lane, not a sideline. Reviews from 2023 through 2026 describe white-sprayed maple cabinets, a kitchen makeover, refinished porches and decks, and — after a flood gutted a condo — a floor-to-ceiling restoration including hardwood and wainscotting that a 2024 reviewer said came in on the estimate and on schedule. What's worth knowing: they aren't the cheap bid. A 2023 customer who took four estimates said Stearns wasn't the lowest, and chose them anyway after calling the references Mike offered. Others describe pricing as fair or competitive, so ask for the estimate in writing and confirm what the prep scope actually includes — that's where the hours, and the cost, go. One caveat on the reputation itself: nearly all of it sits on a single platform. Fifty-one Google reviews spanning 2022 to 2026 with no dissent is a consistent record, but it's one room's worth of opinion, and only three of those reviews landed in the last six months. The right call for an owner of an older house who cares more about how the surface is prepared than about the lowest number on the quote. Confirm the crew and the timeline for your specific job, and ask for the references — by several accounts, they're offered without being asked.