The Charleston Lowcountry and York County on the South Carolina side of the Charlotte metro, across Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Lancaster and York counties. Each town below has its own permit authority and its own housing stock, and both change what the work involves.
Painting in the Lowcountry is mostly a preparation problem. The climate is hard on the surface and harder on anything applied over the top of a bad one.
Charleston County · City of Charleston
Charleston County · Town of Mount Pleasant
Charleston County · City of North Charleston
Dorchester County · Town of Summerville
Berkeley County · City of Goose Creek
Charleston County · Charleston County
Charleston County · City of Charleston
Berkeley County · Town of Moncks Corner
Charleston County · Charleston County
Colleton County · Colleton County
York County · City of Rock Hill
York County · Town of Fort Mill
York County · Town of Clover
York County · City of York
Lancaster County · Lancaster County
Humidity changes the work. Dry and recoat times stretch, and paint applied over a surface that is not genuinely dry — after pressure washing, or on a humid morning — will not bond properly no matter what the tin says. That is the single most common reason exterior paint fails early here.
Mildew is the second. In a warm, damp climate it grows on painted surfaces on the shaded and north-facing elevations, and painting over it simply feeds it through the new coat. It has to be killed and washed off first, and a mildew-resistant coating is worth specifying.
Sun is the third. South and west elevations take real ultraviolet load, and that is where colour fades and film degrades first — which is why an exterior repaint here often needs those elevations doing before the others are due.
On the coast a repaint is fighting three things at once: ultraviolet on the south and west elevations, salt-laden air on hardware and fasteners, and a humidity regime that grows mildew on any shaded, still surface for most of the year. That is why a Lowcountry exterior is judged elevation by elevation rather than repainted on a schedule — the sunny sides and the shady sides fail for opposite reasons and rarely at the same time.
In the York County towns the salt is absent and the wider winter temperature swing puts more movement through caulk joints and timber trim, so the failure tends to start at the joint rather than in the field. What is identical in both markets is that the coating is the last five per cent of the job. Washing, killing growth rather than painting over it, letting the substrate dry and cutting out failed caulk is the work that decides the outcome, and it is the first thing a low bid removes.
Painting is not permitted work in any of the towns above. What does apply, and applies federally rather than locally, is the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule: anyone paid to perform work that disturbs painted surfaces in a home built before 1978 must be a certified firm using trained renovators.
Between them, the towns above fall under 13 separate permit authorities.
In the Lowcountry, permits come from the City of Charleston for Charleston and West Ashley, the Town of Mount Pleasant for Mount Pleasant, the City of North Charleston for North Charleston, the Town of Summerville for Summerville, the City of Goose Creek for Goose Creek, Charleston County for James Island and Johns Island, the Town of Moncks Corner for Moncks Corner and Colleton County for Edisto Island.
In York and Lancaster counties, from the City of Rock Hill for Rock Hill, the Town of Fort Mill for Fort Mill, the Town of Clover for Clover, the City of York for York and Lancaster County for Indian Land.
It rarely affects a painting job at all — the exception is a historic district, where design review is administered by a specific body and covers exterior colour and material.
Given the age of much of the housing in both markets, that is routine rather than exceptional. It is worth asking any painter about directly, because a homeowner doing their own work is exempt and a contractor is not.
Not on a fixed schedule, and not all at once. Judge it elevation by elevation — the sun-facing sides usually fail first and the shaded sides grow mildew instead.
That is true in both markets, and more pronounced on the coast.
Mildew-resistant products earn their small premium on shaded coastal elevations and in bathrooms, and corrosion-resistant fixings matter near salt water.
Neither substitutes for killing and removing existing growth before painting.
No, in any town on this page. In a historic district, exterior colour and material can still be subject to design review, which is a separate approval from a building permit.