Painter San Jose: Lead Rules, Landmarks and Eichler Siding

The work

Where the brush meets San Jose's older finishes

Lap siding and trim on a pre-war house
Your Old House treats surface preparation as the heart of a repaint: take damaged or deteriorated paint off only down to the next intact layer, by the gentlest method, and strip completely only when the new coat would otherwise fail. It also warns that some latex paints will not bond well to earlier oil-based paint without a primer coat. On a house built before 1978, any scraping past 20 square feet of exterior paint makes the job a renovation under the EPA's lead rule, so the firm needs EPA certification and contained work practices.
Grooved plywood on an Eichler
The city's Eichler standards ask for a light hand on siding that has already been painted, because excessive coats dull the vertical grooves and the original texture. They add that splintering and delamination often come from water or sun, especially on west- and south-facing walls, and that the small wooden corner trim was meant to blend with the siding rather than stand out. Accent colors suit doors, exposed beams, lintels and fascia boards, and the front door was most often painted a contrasting color.
Picking colors for an older house
The guide's color chapter asks that a facade read as one composition. One base color is preferred, with one or two accent colors, though styles such as the Queen Anne have precedent for more. Base colors should be muted and can take their cue from the natural color of the building's materials, finishes should be matte rather than glossy, bright colors are reserved for accents such as an entry, and muted earth tones are preferred. The Historic Landmarks Commission uses the same guide when it reviews Landmark homes.
Masonry that should stay bare
Not everything on an old San Jose lot is meant for paint. Your Old House says brick or stone that was not painted historically should not be painted, and that painting a historic masonry wall, or covering it with stucco or another cement coating, is not appropriate. That covers the Greystone sandstone foundations and porches in Naglee Park as well as low stone garden walls. On a Fairglen Additions Eichler, the city's standards likewise keep originally unfinished concrete block unpainted in permitted work.

Hotel Valencia at Santana Row in San Jose. Photo: Payton Chung, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The houses here

Clapboard, stucco and stained plywood under later coats

San Jose's preservation guide, Your Old House, reads its houses by finish. Colonial Revival houses carry horizontal wood siding, often painted white; a Craftsman house typically wears clapboard or shingles, with local stone in its chimney, foundation and porch supports; Spanish Revival houses have flat stucco walls. The guide's rule of thumb is that all wood should be painted or stained, and that a house painted historically should stay painted, trim included, while one stained historically should stay stained. The post-war Eichlers break the pattern: their vertical-groove plywood was originally coated in an opaque stain, and the city's 2025 standards note that most have since been painted over.

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Permits and local rules

What the city, the EPA and the county ask of a repaint

No building permit for paint
San José's permit center lists the projects that need no building permit under Municipal Code Section 24.02.110, and painting is one of the cosmetic surface improvements on that list, alongside cabinet replacement, countertops, floor finishes and sheetrock taping other than fire-rated board. The same page points contractors and owners to the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule. Leaving the building department out of a repaint does not take the lead rule, a historic review or the storm drain code out of it.
Source: City of San José Permit Center (sanjoseca.gov)
City Landmarks: painting counts as maintenance
For a City Landmark, or a house inside a City Landmark District such as Hensley, Municipal Code Section 13.48.210 requires a Historic Preservation Permit for alterations, judged against the Secretary of the Interior's Standards. The Planning Division states that ordinary maintenance such as painting, which does not change the external appearance of the building, needs no HP Permit. Whether a new color scheme still counts as unchanged appearance is a question for Planning staff before the paint is bought.
Source: City of San José Planning Division (sanjoseca.gov)
The federal lead line at 1978
EPA defines renovation as modifying a structure in a way that disturbs painted surfaces, naming surface preparation such as sanding and scraping among its examples, and the rule covers housing built before 1978. Minor repair and maintenance is outside it: 6 square feet or less of painted surface per room inside, or 20 square feet or less outside, with no prohibited work practices and no window replacement. Past those limits, prep on a house of that age is renovation work for a firm holding EPA certification.
Source: U.S. EPA, 40 CFR 745.83 (ecfr.gov)
Leftover paint goes to a drop-off
San José's household hazardous waste page tells residents never to pour leftover paint down a sink, toilet or storm drain or put it in the garbage. Disposal is free by appointment through the Santa Clara County Household Hazardous Waste Program, and San José has a permanent drop-off facility at the Environmental Innovation Center. It also links to PaintCare, whose take-back sites accept latex and oil-based house paint, stain and varnish in containers of 5 gallons or less, but not aerosols.
Source: City of San José Environmental Services (sanjoseca.gov)

State license for this work: C-33 Painting and Decorating. Look up a contractor's license on the CSLB website (cslb.ca.gov).

Part by part

Districts where a repaint reads differently

Hensley Historic District
A City Landmark District since 1990 and on the National Register since 1983, Hensley holds more than 225 contributing buildings, the largest concentration of Victorian-era houses in greater San Jose, much of it Italianate, Stick-Eastlake and Queen Anne. Painting that keeps a house's appearance is maintenance here, and the Queen Anne is the style the guide names as having precedent for more than two colors.
Naglee Park
A city conservation area east of San José State, built from about 1904 through the bungalow era into the Spanish Colonial Revival of the early 1920s. Its sandstone foundations and porches are the masonry the guide asks owners not to paint, and the city sends improvements to listed houses here through a Single-Family House Permit.
Hanchett and Hester Park
Laid out by John McLaren, the designer of Golden Gate Park, this conservation area mixes Queen Anne, Craftsman bungalow, Spanish Mission Colonial Revival and Prairie houses, with palm-lined Martin Avenue showing Prairie, Spanish Revival and Craftsman side by side. Wood and stucco styles share a block, so one painter may be asked for both.
Fairglen Additions
The one Eichler neighborhood on the city's Historic Resources Inventory, listed on the National Register in 2019. When owners seek a permit for exterior changes, the 2025 standards apply: unfinished block stays unfinished, painted or stained elements are not stripped, and any new metal caps on the exposed beams are painted the beam's color.

Before you hire

Five checks before hiring for a San Jose repaint

For a house built before 1978, ask for the firm's EPA certificate and how much paint the prep will disturb on each wall.
On an older house, ask whether they strip only to the next sound layer, and whether they will prime where latex goes over old oil paint.
In Hensley or another City Landmark District, ask Planning whether your new color scheme still counts as ordinary maintenance.
On an Eichler, ask how many coats they plan for the grooved siding; the city's standards ask for paint to go on sparingly.
Ask whether the leftover cans go to a PaintCare site or a county appointment, and keep one labeled can for touch-ups.

Questions

San Jose repaint questions, from permits to leftover cans

Do I need a permit from the City of San José to repaint my house?

Not a building permit: Municipal Code Section 24.02.110 makes painting an exempt surface improvement. A City Landmark, or a house in a Landmark District such as Hensley, needs no Historic Preservation Permit either when the painting is ordinary maintenance that does not change its external appearance. On any house built before 1978, the EPA's lead rule still applies to the prep.

Our Hensley Victorian is a contributing house. How free are we to pick colors?

The city's guide, Your Old House, prefers one base color with one or two accents, and names the Queen Anne among styles with precedent for more. It asks for muted base colors, matte finishes, bright colors only on accents such as the entry, and muted earth tones. Since painting needs no Historic Preservation Permit only when the appearance does not change, check a bold new scheme with Planning first.

Do we have to use the original Eichler colors on our Fairglen Additions house?

No. The city's 2025 Eichler standards suggest, without requiring, that owners research the original scheme; Eichler Homes used Cabot Stains' Ranch House Hues with accent colors by Dunn-Edwards, and the standards print a reference palette for inspiration only. What they do require, in permitted exterior work, is that unfinished concrete block stays unpainted and that painted or stained elements are not stripped.

Where can leftover paint go in San Jose?

PaintCare's locator lists 15 drop-off sites with San Jose addresses, mostly paint and hardware stores, where per-visit limits run from 5 to 20 gallons, plus a transfer station on Mabury Road that takes up to 200. Cans must be 5 gallons or smaller, and spray paint is refused. For thinners and other hazardous leftovers, book a free appointment with the county program; San José's permanent facility is at the Environmental Innovation Center.

Should the stone foundation of our Naglee Park house be painted to match the trim?

No. Your Old House says brick or stone that was not painted historically should not be painted, and Naglee Park is known in the guide for its Greystone quarry sandstone foundations and porches. If the stone looks tired, the guide points to gentle cleaning and repair, not a coat of paint, and leaves the painter the wood above it.

Keep exploring

More on painting work and San Jose

Painting in other cities

Painting in Fremont

Other trades in San Jose

Guides and smaller jobs

Where this page belongs

Where these facts come from

Checked against these public sources in October 2026. Rules and programs change: confirm permit requirements with the city before work starts, and a contractor's license on the CSLB website.

sanjoseca.gov: when is a building permit required (sanjoseca.gov)
sanjoseca.gov: permits for projects with historic resources (sanjoseca.gov)
sanjoseca.gov: your old house (sanjoseca.gov)
sanjoseca.gov: 636689792740100000 (sanjoseca.gov)
sanjoseca.gov: 636689792742770000 (sanjoseca.gov)
sanjoseca.gov: 636689792748230000 (sanjoseca.gov)
sanjoseca.gov: 636689792753570000 (sanjoseca.gov)
sanjoseca.gov: 636689792756070000 (sanjoseca.gov)
sanjoseca.gov: 638913000651930000 (sanjoseca.gov)
ecfr.gov: section 745 (ecfr.gov)
epa.gov: lead renovation repair and painting program (epa.gov)
sanjoseca.gov: household hazardous waste (sanjoseca.gov)

Repainting San Jose houses, from Hensley Victorians to Fairglen Eichlers

Where the brush meets San Jose's older finishes

Lap siding and trim on a pre-war house

Grooved plywood on an Eichler

Picking colors for an older house

Masonry that should stay bare

Clapboard, stucco and stained plywood under later coats

Get quotes for painting work in San Jose

What the city, the EPA and the county ask of a repaint

No building permit for paint

City Landmarks: painting counts as maintenance

The federal lead line at 1978

Leftover paint goes to a drop-off

Districts where a repaint reads differently

Hensley Historic District

Naglee Park

Hanchett and Hester Park

Fairglen Additions