Painting Services in Highlands

Professional Painting Services in Highlands, Edmonton

Highlands is one of Edmonton's most architecturally significant residential neighbourhoods, located in the city's northeast quadrant along the north bank of the North Saskatchewan River valley. Established between the 1910s and 1940s, Highlands sits within the Beverly-Highlands heritage district and contains one of the highest concentrations of pre-war character homes in all of Alberta. For iPaint Painting, Highlands represents a uniquely rewarding service area — the neighbourhood's Tudor Revival, Colonial, Craftsman bungalow, and Arts and Crafts style homes demand a level of preparation skill, product knowledge, and colour sensitivity that sets heritage painting apart from standard residential work. Our shop at 9821 33 Ave NW in south Edmonton is approximately 20 minutes from Highlands via Wayne Gretzky Drive and 112 Avenue, giving our crew fast, direct access to every street in the district.

Highlands Architecture: A Century of Character

What makes Highlands exceptional from a professional painter's perspective is the extraordinary diversity and quality of its original housing stock. The neighbourhood developed in waves beginning around 1912, when Edmonton's pre-war real estate boom attracted builders who constructed substantial homes along the elevated terrain overlooking the river valley. Ada Boulevard, the neighbourhood's signature street, features a procession of stately residences with panoramic views across the North Saskatchewan River valley to the Legislature Grounds and downtown skyline — many of these homes are listed on the Edmonton Heritage Registry and display the kind of ornamental woodwork, multi-gabled rooflines, and decorative exterior trim that requires meticulous hand-painting rather than spray application.

Tudor Revival homes are among the most prominent architectural styles in Highlands, characterized by steeply pitched rooflines, half-timbering with stucco infill panels, arched doorways, and multi-pane casement windows with divided-light muntins. Painting a Tudor Revival exterior in Highlands is a multi-colour undertaking — the stucco panels, timber framing, window trim, fascia boards, and decorative brackets each receive different colours to articulate the architectural detail. iPaint Painting typically applies three to five distinct colours on a Highlands Tudor Revival exterior, using Benjamin Moore Aura Exterior for its superior adhesion to both wood and stucco substrates and its fade-resistant pigment technology that holds colour integrity through Edmonton's extreme UV exposure and temperature cycling.

Craftsman bungalows represent another major component of the Highlands streetscape. Built predominantly in the 1920s and 1930s, these one-and-a-half-storey homes feature low-pitched rooflines with wide overhanging eaves, exposed rafter tails, tapered porch columns on stone or brick piers, and original narrow-lap wood siding — sometimes called clapboard or lap siding. The wood siding on these Craftsman homes is typically old-growth fir or spruce, dense and durable but prone to checking and splitting after a century of Edmonton winters. Proper preparation on a Highlands Craftsman bungalow means hand-scraping every loose edge, spot-priming bare wood with a penetrating alkyd primer, caulking all open joints with high-performance exterior sealant, and applying two full coats of premium acrylic latex to build a flexible, breathable film that protects the wood without trapping moisture.

Colonial-style homes along the quieter residential streets of Highlands add yet another dimension. These symmetrical facades with central entries, shuttered windows, and classical proportions call for clean, traditional colour palettes — typically white, cream, or pale grey body colours with darker shutters and trim. The simplicity of the Colonial palette belies the precision required: any imperfection in surface preparation or cutting-in shows immediately on these flat, symmetrical facades. iPaint Painting's experienced crew treats every Colonial-style Highlands home with the same attention to detail we bring to the most ornate Tudor Revival project.

Heritage Painting Requirements in the Beverly-Highlands District

Many Highlands properties carry heritage designation or sit within the Beverly-Highlands Area Redevelopment Plan zone, which means exterior modifications are subject to additional scrutiny by the City of Edmonton's Heritage Resources Management Section. While repainting is generally classified as routine maintenance and does not require a development permit, dramatic colour changes on heritage-registered properties may trigger a heritage impact assessment. iPaint Painting advises all Highlands heritage homeowners to verify their property's status before committing to exterior colour selections. Our complimentary colour consultation service draws on historical colour references from Benjamin Moore's Historical Collection and Sherwin-Williams' Preservation Palette, helping homeowners choose schemes that honour the architectural period while incorporating modern preferences.

Lead paint is a practical reality in Highlands. Any home built before 1960 — which includes virtually the entire original housing stock — may contain lead-based paint layers beneath subsequent coatings. iPaint Painting follows Health Canada guidelines for lead paint disturbance, including containment measures during scraping, HEPA-filtered dust collection, and proper disposal of paint debris. We test suspect surfaces before beginning any exterior preparation work on pre-war Highlands homes and adjust our methods accordingly. This is not optional — it is a standard part of our heritage painting protocol for every Highlands project.

The Gentrification Wave: Renovations and Infill in Highlands

Highlands has experienced significant gentrification over the past two decades. Young professionals and families drawn to the neighbourhood's character, walkability, and proximity to downtown Edmonton have invested heavily in restoring original homes and constructing modern infill on formerly vacant or subdivided lots. This renovation wave creates substantial painting demand on both sides — heritage restoration projects that require period-sensitive exterior work and interior updates that blend original plaster walls and wood trim with contemporary finishes and colour palettes. iPaint Painting regularly handles Highlands renovation projects where the scope includes repainting original plaster ceilings with their characteristic texture, refinishing built-in cabinetry and window seats, and applying fresh coatings to restored wood trim throughout the home.

Modern infill construction in Highlands presents its own painting requirements. These contemporary homes — typically narrow-lot two-storey designs with flat or shed rooflines, Hardie board siding, and large window expanses — arrive from the builder with basic single-coat finishes that benefit from a quality upgrade. iPaint Painting works with Highlands infill homeowners to select finishes that complement the heritage streetscape while expressing a modern aesthetic, using Sherwin-Williams Duration or Benjamin Moore Regal Select for interiors that deliver superior washability and colour depth.

Highlands Landmarks and Community Character

The neighbourhood's identity is shaped by its landmark features. Ada Boulevard runs along the river valley escarpment and offers some of the most dramatic views in Edmonton — the homes along this stretch are among the city's most photographed and their exterior appearance contributes directly to the neighbourhood's visual identity. Highlands Park and Virginia Park provide mature green spaces with century-old elm and spruce trees that create heavy shade conditions on adjacent homes, accelerating moisture retention and moss growth on north-facing exterior surfaces. iPaint Painting accounts for these microclimate conditions when specifying exterior products for shaded Highlands properties, selecting coatings with enhanced mildew resistance and moisture-vapour permeability.

The nearby Alberta Avenue arts district along 112 Avenue has become a vibrant commercial and cultural corridor, home to galleries, independent restaurants, music venues, and creative businesses that generate steady demand for commercial painting services. iPaint Painting serves Alberta Avenue businesses with the same quality standards and 5-year written warranty we apply to residential heritage projects — from accent walls in gallery spaces to full exterior repaints on converted storefronts.

Why Highlands Homeowners Choose iPaint Painting

iPaint Painting is a fully insured painting contractor with a 4.9-star rating from 156 Google Reviews, based just 20 minutes from Highlands via Wayne Gretzky Drive. Every Highlands project is owner-led, completed by our in-house crew — never subcontracted — using premium Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams products backed by a 5-year written warranty. Whether you need a multi-colour heritage exterior on Ada Boulevard, an interior refresh in a renovated Craftsman bungalow, or cabinet refinishing in a Beverly Heights kitchen, Highlands trusts iPaint Painting to deliver results that honour the neighbourhood's architectural legacy.