Platypus Painting Inc

Oakland, United States

4.9

Closed now

20 reviews

Does not accept credit cards

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 510-508-0736
Website:
www.platypuspainting.com
Address:
1129 32nd St, Oakland, CA, 94608
b/t Chestnut St & Adeline St
West Oakland
Categories:
QR code
Download QR Image Download vCard

Map

Streetview

Activate map

Bussiness info

Accepts Credit Cards
No

Today

Today 9:30 am – 5:30 pm
Closed now
Local time (Oakland) 6:42 AM Thursday, May 22, 2025

Business hours

Monday 8:00 am – 4:00 pm
Tuesday 9:30 am – 5:30 pm
Wednesday 9:30 am – 5:30 pm
Thursday 9:30 am – 5:30 pm
Friday 9:30 am – 5:30 pm
Saturday –
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

We use exemplary procedures and the best products to give your project beauty and longevity. We also employ the most capable workers to provide you with a hassle free experience. We don’t use day labor or anyone not covered by our insurance.

Don’t be fooled by the name, we’re serious about painting. Platypus Painting Inc. is dedicated to professionalism, fostering client relationships, quality workmanship and exceptional product knowledge.

Custom Interior Painting (Residential and commercial)

Custom Exterior Painting (Residential and commercial)

Cabinet Refinishing

Custom Staining & Varnishing

Faux Finishing

Wallpaper Removal

Plaster and Drywall Repair

Siding/​Rot Repair

Historical Restoration

Green Paints (No & low VOC)

High Performance Floor Epoxies

Water Damage Repair

Power Washing

Color Solutions

History

Established in 2005.

Growing up in the Northeast, Colin Baird (owner/​operator) has a deep appreciation for architectural history, restoration and aesthetic. He’s been in the painting industry since high school (1991). Working his way up through the painting ranks from helper to journeyman, Colin learned, through hands-​on experience, the technical aspects of the painting industry. After repeated success as a crew foreman and encouragement from his peers, Colin launched his first owner operated painting company under the name Haapala Painting (his wife’s maiden name) in 2003. The challenges of business management solidified his entrepreneurial desire and has been driving him ever since. 2008 brought a reorganization to the company and the new, unforgettable name Platypus Painting Inc. This is the same name he and his wife relocated to Berkeley CA with. In it’s infancy stage on the West coast Platypus Painting Inc. is working diligently to bring value to its clients and build a business that really lasts.

Meet the Business Owner

Colin B.

Business Owner

Colin grew up in a small New Hampshire town in an old farmhouse next to a family-​run dairy farm. The quintessential boyhood in a cozy community helped shape his personality and business almost 30 years later.

His introduction to painting was through a summer job at the small school he attended. These skills accompanied Colin to college where he earned a Bachelors of Social Work in 2001. He painted through his entire college experience, subcontracting from local builders on the New Hampshire seacoast.

After a period of working with at risk youth, Colin moved to San Francisco for a change of pace and scenery. This move propelled him into the painting trade again as he discovered his work ethic and authenticity were in demand in the city. Colin and his wife now live in East bay. Both self-​employed, they work out of their home in Berkeley.

Colin is authentic, trustworthy and hard working. He has a real passion for aesthetic and the business of painting.

Related places

You might also consider:
1
ft
Dwell Painting
2370 Market St Ste 350 (Duboce Triangle)
1
ft
Nor-Cal Painting
Serving Pinole and surrounding area
1
ft
Doherty Restoration
Serving San Francisco and surrounding area
1
ft
A Very Handy Guy
1388 Haight St Ste 190 (The Haight)
1
ft
Jason’s Painting & Wallcoverings
Serving San Francisco and surrounding area
1.1
mi
Milton Painting & Decorating
Serving San Bruno and surrounding area

Vicinity

Near this location:
1
ft
Splash Window Cleaning & Solutions
Serving Richmond and surrounding area
1
ft
A Marin Taxi
Loring & Hwy 1
1
ft
Quality Pro Guard
Serving Martinez and surrounding area
1
ft
Choice Mechanical
Serving San Mateo and surrounding area
1
ft
Arthur McLaughlin & Associates Inc
501 Broderick St
1
ft
Venusgirl Photography
Serving Oakland and surrounding area

20 reviews of Platypus Painting Inc

No registration required
Place rating: 5
Oakland, CA
I called Colin and his team over to do an all around makeover to my entryway. Patching, caulking, mudding, smoothing, and painting everything from walls to stairs. Not only was Colin extremely patient with my scheduling issues, he was also willing to work around some of the other contracted jobs I had going on. The job was done on time and to perfection, I can’t even recognize my new entryway!
From now on I will be sure to contact Platypus Painting for all of my painting needs and I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for professional service as well as beautiful work.
Place rating: 5
Alameda, CA
Very detailed and professional workers. Can’t say enough good things about them, they transformed my 2 bedrooms! They clean the job site everyday with a HEPA vacuum, so I don’t have to worry about dust get into my other rooms, which is very important to me since I have a new born. Such a great company to work with. Highly recommend!
Place rating: 5
Oakland, CA
Colin and his team are top notch in customer service and their work is exquisite. It is very easy for me to recommend him highly to my decorating customers and they are always thrilled!
I am planning on doing an update to my own kitchen and of course, I will be hiring Colin and his team.
No matter how simple or complicated the project, hire Platypus painting for excellent results!
Place rating: 2
Oakland, CA
Hopefully, my experience was a mishap since they came highly recommended from a friend and clearly have good feedback from others. Nonetheless, I feel that it should be reflected in their collective feedback. The man who came for our quote seemed a little disinterested in our project as soon as my husband mentioned we had received other quotes. After over a month of waiting, we had not received the quote and had to follow up with the office (the woman who helped was extremely apologetic and friendly). When we received the quote it was twice as much as the other quotes. I would have preferred the company to have declined the work instead of wasting time and then pricing themselves out. We’ve moved on with another painter and are happy.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
We hired Colin and his team for the sexiest job in the painting business: removing and repainting dirty, old popcorn ceilings. Unlike some other painting businesses who flat out refused to do such an awful job (I don’t blame them), Colin was professional and a pleasure to work with. He spent time walking through our house, explaining the process and what to expect (both good and potentially, bad). His crew was on time, friendly and flexible when we changed our mind on the color of paint last moment. The finished product was beautiful and immaculate — it completely transformed our space! It was just a bonus that the price was right. Thanks Platypus Painting!
Place rating: 5
Albany, CA
We’ve just gotten back in town after a week away, during which Platypus painted our entire interior house. We’re so pleased with the results, it could not look nicer. We chose a lot of bright, bold colors and they look terrific. The interfaces where the colors come together or bright colors meet white trim are crisp and there’s no sign of carelessness. They went above and beyond — there are areas where we didn’t ask them to paint the trim, but we can see signs that it was touched up anyway. Colin, who came to our house, was terrific. Easy to work with, very communicative, and very reassuring. The crew cleaned up impeccably. We arrived after a long day of flying to a house that was clean. Our doors were locked, our alarm was set, and our large furniture pieces were back where they belonged. The price was very reasonable and was within the range (+/​-​about $ 500) of the other companies we consulted for estimates, but Platypus was by far the most confidence-​inspiring upon initial meeting and they worked with our time frame. We felt it was well worth the money spent! We would definitely hire Platypus again and would recommend them to our friends.
Place rating: 5
Albany, CA
I can’t recommend Platypus Painting highly enough. I just had both exterior and interior home painting done and they did a fantastic job: very professional, prompt, high quality, tidy and very respectful crew. The price was right, the attention to detail extraordinary, responsive in terms of getting bids and all paperwork, went out of their way to make sure i was satisfied. I would definitely use them again and recommend them to anyone. I come from a contractor/​fine home building family business background with very high standards where we usually do these kinds of things ourselves b/​c we don’t trust others to do it as well — but these guys surpassed all of my expectations. Colin and his crew are the best!
Place rating: 5
Oakland, CA
Very professional, did a great job, will be hiring them again.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
We have had very good experiences with Platypus Painting. Platypus painted the trim on our Tudor-​style multi-​story house in the fall of 2013. Tammy at the office, and Colin (the owner), who came out to look at our house, were easy to work with, and we thought the price was reasonable. We contacted Platypus in March 2015 when we noticed that some of the trim on the sunny side of the house had bubbled. Within a day, Tammy and Colin scheduled Luis to come out the same week. Luis actually found additional areas to work on beyond what we noticed, and did a great job fixing them. We know from sad experience that some painters don’t stand behind their work, and won’t come back if there’s a problem. It’s also rare that a company is so quick to respond. We would definitely go with Platypus again for a paint job.
Place rating: 5
Alameda, CA
Platypus Painting Inc. painted our 1887 Victorian this past Fall. We were overwhelmed with the beautiful work they did and what a pleasure they were to work with. They were so thoughtul, considerate, quiet, clean… a dream to work with! Every detail on our house, (and there are many), were done so neatly, and carefully. Colin, Hector and their crew treated our house with special care from the beginning to the end — true professionals. We highly recommend them to anyone who needs their house painted. We absolutely love the work they did and couldn’t be happier. Thank you Colin, Hector and crew!
Place rating: 5
Oakland, CA
We have a 1930’s Julia Morgan building that is a state landmark, and we have to be careful when doing repairs and restorations. We had two areas of lath and plaster damage that we needed to have repaired. We had used Platypus for various other plaster and painting projects before and we had always been very pleased with their work. Colin and his staff member Chino did an excellent job this time as well. Colin was very professional from the initial estimate to organizing the job, and Chino was not only very skilled at repairing and matching the wall finishes, but also very conscientious and pleasant to work with. I couldn’t recommend Platypus more highly.
Place rating: 5
Alameda, CA
Platypus Painting painted our 115-​year-​old Colonial Revival in Alameda this past summer and we couldn’t be happier with the results! Colin, Hector and all the guys were just wonderful to work with. We’ve worked with a variety of home improvement persons over the past several years and it can be a highly stressful and difficult experience. Not the case with Platypus! They were courteous, dependable, and very skilled. I would highly recommend Platypus Painting!
Place rating: 5
Oakland, CA
When we first moved into our fixer-​upper in Oakland, we had dreams about being those people who did home improvement jobs ourselves. And, of the many things we had to do, interior painting seemed so easy! One weekend, we tackled our small guest bathroom with high hopes, only to emerge 8 hours later with the walls looking terrible and the trim largely unfinished — and we were no longer on speaking terms. We accepted the painful truth (s) that 1) we are not good at this; and 2) our relationship might depend on hiring professionals.
So, with the assistance of Unilocal,we tracked down Platypus. We have hired them for two jobs — one larger/​multi-​room job that included painting several windows, and (yes) the other job of fixing that dreadful bathroom. Each time, Colin and his team were great to deal with: reliable, professional, neat, non-​disruptive, clear communicators, etc. They are very detail-​oriented and thoughtful, and will stop what they’re doing if they uncover something unexpected or need your input on something. His bids have been reasonable and accurate and, in the case of the bathroom, his team took less time than they originally anticipated, and he reduced the price accordingly.
Other reviewers have noted that they are not always the cheapest. That is true and, in fact, as our renovation costs skyrocketed (surprise!), we did hire other painters to save some money. However, we learned that while the price differential wasn’t huge, the quality/​service differential was. We had other painters make important decisions without consulting us, leave a huge pile of cigarette butts in the driveway, show up late and work until 9 PM, and do work that is only marginally better than what we could do ourselves. You avoid all of that with Platypus, and it’s well worth it. Highly recommended!
Place rating: 5
Oakland, CA
If I could give Platypus Painting 6 stars I would!
My paint job turned out to be almost twice the amount of work anyone expected. But Colin and his crew did NOT try to make up any time by scrimping on any other aspect to this «nightmare» job. They stuck to their guns and completed this job with the highest standards of any contractor I’ve ever seen. Platypus Painting went the extra mile (two miles, ten miles) to make sure this job was done correctly and thoroughly!
I cannot recommend them enough.
Place rating: 5
Oakland, CA
I think this was definitely one of my better experiences of hiring painters.
They show up when they say they will, did an excellent job on an interior, cleaned up well and really seemed to take pride in their job. This is not a given in my experience when hiring painters. Loved that the details you discuss with Colin do seem to get passed to the painters. I’d really rather have the boss direct their own workers and not have to get too involved — in my experience, contractors prefer to hear their instructions from the guys, not female home owners. They are quiet and respectful of your house — some of us have work to do from home and I appreciated that. No radios!
I told them up front that I’m a picky customer and no one was fazed and I seemed to get a crew that was pretty picky too. Liked that I could communicate easily with the crew leader but also liked that there wasn’t much need to point things out that were missed etc — that was minimal. Liked that there was no attitude — even when I asked to check the paint color and queried what nap of roller they were using. I’ve learned from previous mistakes that not everyone is into this level of detail but I’m paying with my hard earned $$ so I care!
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
I found Platypus through Unilocal as I searched for a vendor to paint my garage and epoxy the floor. It was a bumpy start since I didn’t hear back from Colin immediately. However, once I did, he was easy to communicate with (primarily email). He suggested that I make sure my floors didn’t have moisture coming up before I epoxy it, which I appreciated. The other vendors I spoke to didn’t ask about that. It passed the «moisture test» so Colin came out to give me a bid. I didn’t really shop around too much, but the quote was around what I expected to pay.
I went with Colin because he made me feel comfortable and he had a very friendly disposition (not sleazy, salesman like). Also, the positive Unilocal reviews helped! His crew came out right on time and finished within 3 days. Everything looked great and done as requested. I did want some small holes patched, which the crew didn’t do. Colin offered to send them back, but I said it wasn’t necessary.
Overall, I would recommend Platypus Painting, but I would say they’re not the cheapest out there. However, you do have to pay a little more for good work and peace of mind!
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
We are so happy with the service and quality of work. I screwed up the colors on one room, and they were able to come back in and repaint the entire room again in spite of the painters demanding schedule.
5 stars all the way! :)
Thank you!
Place rating: 5
Oakland, CA
Platypus Painting has painted a number of jobs for me, each time with excellent results. Colin is easy to talk and understands my priorities as well as what it takes to create the right affects, from a silky smooth sprayed finish to a custom handbrushed look. I highly recommend Platypus Painting and Colin Baird.
Place rating: 5
Sausalito, CA
I decided to write this review «pre-​work» since me experience so far has been very pleasant! I initially called 4 local painters listed on Unilocal to set up times for an estimate. One called me back two days later, one never called me back and the other called me back, met me to bid the job and never sent a quote. Collin was the only painter that returned my call that day, set up a time to quote the job, was right on time for the appt and sent me a quote within the week. Thank you Colin… now time to schedule the work! Updated review to follow.
Place rating: 5
Oakland, CA
After bouncing around between a variety of different painters, I settled on Colin’s Platypus Painting for several reasons:
1. The scope of the project changed and the others who I had initially contacted lost interest once the scale of work to be done declined, forcing me to find new prospects.
2. Out of the three new prospects I talked to, one bowed out because there wasn’t enough work to be done, the second had no interest to actually come out to see what had to be done (instead wanted to rely on me taking photos and him making the call based on that).
3. And then there was Colin. A breath of fresh air! We talked on the phone, making sure we were both on the same page. Then he came over and took a look himself at what had to be done, estimating what had to be done & how much time it would take to get the job done as a whole. A day’s work for 1 person. We scheduled him to drop in and have the work done less than a week later and everything was finally moving ahead on our painting project.
I highly suggest you take a look at their website. I agree that they stand by their philosophy and pledge listed there. To reiterate some of these key points based on my individual experience:
1. Colin was running late due to an emergency and couldn’t be in for 0800 — only 1030. He let me know a day or two ahead of time. I think it was a big deal for him as they pride themselves on being consistently on time and standing by their commitments. It didn’t bother me though as the job likely would have run over 2 days regardless and the key thing was getting the painting project finished on the whole, not worrying so much about when it would be done.
2. Colin went above and beyond and didn’t just stand around waiting for the paint to dry. He either found something to do like a whole pile of additional touch-​up painting that we didn’t ask him to tackle OR he went to another job site where he could provide added value, follow-​up with other customers etc.
3. Excellent follow-​up after the job was completed. Unfortunately, no, you didn’t miss anything and no, I don’t wish to change anything — it’s perfect as is.
I’m positive that you will have a similar experience if you select Platypus Painting for your next project.