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Vancouver Neighbourhoods We Cover
Celestial Painting is based on Sophia Street in East Vancouver, near the Punjabi Market, and has served Vancouver and the Lower Mainland for more than 25 years. We repaint houses and condos inside and out, and we take on commercial and industrial jobs. This page covers what is specific to painting in Vancouver: the older houses, the stucco boxes, the Broadway corridor and the redevelopment reshaping parts of the city. Call (604) 374-0000 for a free estimate, or read on for what matters on your kind of property.
Rated 5.0 on Google
More than 25 years painting
Free estimates
Interior, exterior, commercial and industrial
Character Houses Built Before 1940 and Vancouver Specials From 1965 to 1985 Need Different Paint Jobs
The City of Vancouver defines a character house as one built before January 1, 1940 that keeps its original features. A house that meets the City's merit criteria can unlock zoning benefits if the owner retains it, and the current guidelines expect the street-facing character to be kept and restored. Those rules decide what you can change on the building, so ask the City's planners before you alter materials or rooflines. Painting is a separate question, and it is one we can answer.
Age also sets how carefully a house has to be prepared. Health Canada says a home built before 1960 probably contains lead-based paint, and that exterior paint from 1960 to 1990 may contain it too. Intact paint is sometimes safer left alone, but sanding or scraping it creates toxic dust. If your house falls in that range, ask about testing at the estimate, before anyone picks up a sander.
Heritage Vancouver's 2024 Top 10 Watch List describes the pressure on these houses. The R1-1 zone allows 1.0 floor space ratio on any lot, while retaining a character house earns 0.65 to 0.85, and building-code upgrades often lead owners to replace much of the original material. The group also asks the City to recognise later styles such as the Vancouver Special. For an owner, that makes a well-kept original increasingly rare, and worth keeping in good order.
Wood siding and trim on an older house often carry many coats. Peeling and bubbling on the coast usually point to moisture, which is why prep and drying time matter more than the colour you choose.
East Vancouver has a different signature house. The Vancouver Special was built between 1965 and 1985, and the Vancouver Heritage Foundation says they went up by the thousands. Most are stucco with a brick or stone veneer on the lower front, a shape that came from zoning rules that left the basement out of the floor-area count.
Stucco asks for different care from cedar. Cracks need filling, the surface needs cleaning, and the coating has to suit a material that takes in moisture. For a Special, the exterior repaint is mostly a stucco job, with the veneer and the trim around it to plan for. Our page on stucco and siding repaints covers the exterior side in more detail.
The Heritage Foundation also notes that a Special's unfinished basement could hold a rental suite or extra family space. If yours does, tell us whether the lower floor needs painting too, because the interior scope is easier to quote when we know about the second unit.
Painting From the Punjabi Market to Kitsilano and Dunbar
Our base is near the Punjabi Market, which runs along Main Street between 48th and 51st Avenues in the Sunset neighbourhood. It began in 1970 when Sucha Singh Claire opened a fabric shop on Main, and it was officially named in 1993. The Vancouver Heritage Foundation has a plaque on the Orr Building at Main and 49th.
That makes East Vancouver, from Sunset and Fraser out across the east side, the part of the city we know from the doorstep. From there the work runs west through Mount Pleasant and Kitsilano to Dunbar and Kerrisdale. Across the Fraser River, painting in Richmond and Steveston's permit rules has its own page.
Housing changes along the way. Strathcona, Mount Pleasant and Kitsilano hold many of the city's older houses, while the Vancouver Specials are found across the city rather than in one pocket. Both need a plan built around the actual surface, not the postal code.
If you are weighing a repaint inside the house, our approach to repainting the inside of a Vancouver home starts with protecting floors and furniture and repairing the walls before any colour goes on. Older plaster walls and newer drywall take paint differently, and the estimate is where we look at which you have.
Commercial Painting Along the Broadway Subway Corridor and Main Street
The Broadway Subway extends the Millennium Line 5.7 kilometres from VCC-Clark Station to Arbutus Street, with six new stations that include Great Northern Way-Emily Carr and Broadway-City Hall. SkyTrain vehicles began dynamic testing on the extension in May 2026, and the public opening is targeted for fall 2027. Ottawa is contributing $896.9 million, British Columbia $1.957 billion and the City of Vancouver $100.3 million.
Businesses along the corridor have worked around construction for years. Owners near a station may want fresh paint on a storefront or office before the line opens, and the work is easier to plan well ahead of an opening date. We paint storefronts and offices across the city, and the estimate is the place to talk through how your space is used.
Main Street has its own commercial story. The Punjabi Market had its busiest years in the 1980s, declined in the late 2000s, and has a community group, the Punjabi Market Regeneration Collective, working to revive it. Shop owners there who want a refreshed front can call for an estimate like anyone else.
Jericho Lands, Oakridge and the Blocks Around Them
Two large projects are changing the West Side. The Jericho Lands, 90 acres of former military land owned by the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations and Canada Lands Company, had its Official Development Plan approved by council on April 22, 2025. The earlier policy statement envisions about 13,000 homes for 24,000 residents, built over 25 to 30 years, and the next step is a Phase 1 rezoning application.
The former Oakridge Transit Centre site on West 41st Avenue has a rezoning application from Grosvenor Property Canada, received on June 1, 2026. It proposes 16 buildings from 6 to 33 storeys, with 1,231 strata homes, 1,238 market rental homes and 158 below-market rentals. It also includes a site for about 361 social housing homes, a 1.9-acre park and a 69-space childcare. The Urban Design Panel reviewed it on June 17, 2026, and staff review comes next.
Across the city, council voted in September 2023 to allow multiplexes of up to six strata homes or eight rental homes on single-family lots. Projects like these take years, so a house or storefront nearby that needs paint now does not have to wait for them.
What an Estimate Looks Like for a Vancouver House or Storefront
Most jobs start with a call to (604) 374-0000 or a message through our website. Tell us the address, the type of property, and when it was built if you know. We visit, look at the surfaces and give you a clear price before any work is booked.
At the visit we start with the surface. On an older wood house that means the condition of the paint, the trim and any signs of moisture. On a Special it means cracks in the stucco and the line where the veneer begins. On a storefront it means the front's materials, the signage and how people get in and out.
If your house was built before 1990, ask about lead paint testing at that visit. For exterior jobs, Vancouver's wet months shape the timing, so agree the schedule with the estimate in hand.
Questions About Painting a Vancouver House or Storefront
Does keeping a pre-1940 house as a character home change how I repaint it?
The City defines a character house as one built before 1940 that keeps its original features, and retaining one can unlock zoning benefits. Ask the City's planners whether your plans touch the street-facing features before you change materials. Repainting is a separate decision, and we can quote it once you know the scope.
My house was built in the 1950s. Should I worry about lead paint?
Health Canada says homes built before 1960 probably contain lead-based paint. Paint that is intact is sometimes safer left alone, but sanding or scraping it creates toxic dust, which is where the risk starts. Ask about testing at the estimate before any prep begins.
Can you repaint a Vancouver Special?
Yes. These stucco houses, built between 1965 and 1985, are exterior repaints like any other stucco house: cracks filled, the surface cleaned and a suitable coating applied. Tell us about the lower veneer and the trim, and we will cover them at the estimate.
Do you paint storefronts and offices along the Broadway Subway corridor?
Yes. We paint offices, retail spaces and other business properties across Vancouver, including along Broadway. The extension is targeted to open in fall 2027, so owners nearby may want to plan repainting ahead of that date. Call for an estimate and tell us how the space is used.
Do you work in the Punjabi Market and the rest of East Vancouver?
East Vancouver is where we are based, on Sophia Street near the Punjabi Market. We paint houses and shops in Sunset, along Main and Fraser, and across the east side. Call (604) 374-0000 to book a visit.
Will the Jericho Lands or Oakridge redevelopments affect painting near them?
Both are long projects. The Jericho Lands plan was approved in April 2025 and is phased over decades, and the Oakridge Transit Centre application was received in June 2026 and is still under review. A house or building nearby that needs paint now does not have to wait, so call for an estimate.
Do heritage rules in Strathcona change what colour I can use?
Heritage rules can apply to exterior changes in some Vancouver heritage areas, and they vary by property. Check with the City's heritage planners before you change colours. Once you know what is allowed, we can plan the repaint around it.
Do you offer free estimates in Vancouver?
Yes. We visit the property, look at the surfaces and give you a clear price before any work is booked. Call (604) 374-0000 or send a message through the website.
Do you paint both the inside and outside of a house?
Yes. Interior and exterior painting are two of our four core services, and the two can be planned together. Exterior work depends on Vancouver's wet weather, so we agree timing for each part at the estimate.
Do you take on commercial and industrial work as well as houses?
Yes. Commercial and industrial painting are core services alongside interior and exterior work. Describe the property and what needs painting, and we will explain what the estimate covers.
Book an Estimate Before Your Vancouver Project Starts
Whether it is a character house, a stucco Special, or a storefront near Broadway, call (604) 374-0000 or send the details through the website. Celestial Painting, 6625 Sophia St, Vancouver, BC V5X 3N4.