Niklaus Painting

Forty-six Google ratings averaging 4.7, and the reviews keep describing the same two-part job: paint the house, and fix the wood underneath first. Niklaus Painting & Construction works out of 4 Franklin Street in Pepperell, and its Massachusetts home improvement contractor registration is active. The owner, Stephen Themelis, turns up by name in review after review — quoting the job, checking the work, answering the phone. The company says it has served Pepperell since 1997 with family roots in town going back to 1964, while its BBB file records the corporation as starting in 2003; worth asking which is which. The rot-and-repaint work is where the detail lands. A September 2025 customer with an 1869 house wrote that the crew replaced rotten clapboards and trim, scraped the rest, back-primed the replacements and used "cases of caulking" to seal joints before painting. In April 2026 another described the same standard on the restoration of a 1790 New England farmhouse: on time, difficult surfaces prepped, neat lines, thorough cleanup. Clean sites come up constantly — one October 2025 reviewer said the crew left the place cleaner than they found it. They do more than paint. A March 2026 homeowner had a full bathroom remodel run by Stephen, who handled the scheduling and recommended subcontractors — plumber, electrician, countertop fabricator — that the homeowner then contracted with directly. Pin that down before signing: on a remodel, ask which trades sit inside his contract and which you hire yourself. Other recent jobs include whole-house painting with new windows in May 2026, a front-stair rebuild with deck and bulkhead painting in July 2026, and, in a May 2025 review, a bakery remodel with shelves and counters. The written history is loud and current — fourteen reviews since February 2026, none negative — and it is also concentrated: nearly all of it dates from 2025 onward and nearly all of it sits on Google. The BBB has the company on file but is not accredited and says it lacks sufficient information to issue a rating. If you own an older house that needs real prep before paint — clapboards, trim, siding, a deck gone soft — this is the crew reviewers describe doing that work carefully and cleaning up after themselves. The state registration is active, and the BBB also lists a construction supervisor licence, CS-082361, for the company. Get the scope in writing and settle the subcontractor question early.