He likes taking something “that could potentially be a nasty situation and transforming it so they can use the space again and feel good about it,” he said. “I like the customer’s reaction — that’s really the big thing at the end, especially when they’re out of town and they come back and they go, ‘Wow, it’s done and I can use my space again.'”

O’Grady started the company last year but had worked in the painting business with his father in Illinois since high school. He graduated in 2012 and spent five years in the Marine Corps.

He has been coming to the Upper Peninsula for two weeks in the summer and two weeks in the winter since he was a small child, then moved here permanently in 2023 with his wife and daughter. He really likes the change of seasons the area offers.

“Especially for painting. I like that this weather forces me to do interior work when it’s too bad outside. And when I start getting sick of interiors, the weather gets better and I go to exteriors,” O’Grady said.

A deck that Michael O’Grady of Northwoods Painting Services LLC of Crystal Falls, did in August. He also does interior and exterior painting and gutter and window cleaning but said decks are his favorite jobs. (Contributed photo)

O’Grady does interior and exterior painting, gutter and window cleaning, but deck staining is his favorite. “Every painter has something he really likes. With my dad, he really likes interiors, especially bathrooms with all the nooks and crannies,” he said.

O’Grady said price increases have been crazy since COVID-19, but there has not been much in changes over the years as far as equipment. Regulations have placed limits on oil-based paints, but he believes water-based latex paints have made great strides and he pushes for coatings with low volatile organic compounds, or VOC, that are better for people’s health. For some jobs he will still use an oil-based paint, such as in an industrial setting or something like an outside door.

Sometimes customers just need help in the middle of a project. “A fifth of my calls are people who start a project and can’t finish it or don’t want to finish it and got in over their heads and buy all these materials because didn’t know what they were supposed to buy,” he said.

O’Grady has no major plans to expand the size of the company, but he is expanding his territory and is willing to travel an hour and a half for a job.

“I’m just trying to keep it local. Trying to keep the quality up. I don’t need to hire 10 guys and do subpar work,” he said.

O’Grady is fully insured and offers free estimates. He can be reached at 906-284-1256, mike@northwoodspaint.com, on the website at northwoodspaint.com or on Facebook.

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Marguerite Lanthier can be reached at 906-774-3500, ext. 85242, or mlanthier@ironmountaindailynews.com.