When one business does both, there is nobody to blame but us. We know exactly what went on the wall, how long it cured, and what the surface actually needs, because we put it there.
Preparation is the whole job
Paint does not fix a wall, it reveals it. Every flaw you leave in the surface is still there afterwards, and gloss makes it more obvious rather than less. A quality paint applied over poor preparation will look worse at six months than a mid range paint applied over a properly prepared wall.
So the bulk of the labour on a good paint job happens before any colour goes on. Washing down to remove dirt, chalking and mould. Scraping and sanding anything loose. Filling and making good. Priming or sealing wherever the substrate needs it, which is not everywhere but is not optional where it is.
If a painting quote is noticeably cheaper than the others, preparation is almost always where the difference is, and it is the part you cannot see until it fails.
What a full house paint involves
The order matters and skipping steps shows up later.
- Full wash down, and mould treatment where there is mould rather than just painting over it
- Scrape, sand and remove anything flaking or drummy
- Fill cracks and holes, then sand back flush
- Mask windows, frames, gutters, paving and anything not being painted
- Prime bare, patched, chalky or previously unpainted surfaces
- Two top coats, cut in by brush and rolled or sprayed to suit the surface
- Remove masking, clean down, and walk the job with you before we leave
Choosing colours that still look right in five years
Two things go wrong with exterior colour in Sydney, and both are avoidable.
People pick from a small card under indoor light. A colour reads dramatically brighter across a whole wall in full sun, and lighter colours in particular can go from soft to glaring. Always get sample pots and paint patches at least A4 sized on the actual wall, then look at them in morning light, at midday and late afternoon before committing.
The other is heat. Deep charcoals and near blacks look superb and they push surface temperatures on a west facing wall very high, which accelerates thermal movement and shortens the life of the coating underneath. If you want dark, it can be done, it just needs the right product rather than whatever was on special.
Render and paint from one trade
If your walls are being rendered anyway, having the same business paint them removes the most common source of trouble on a job like this.
We know exactly when the render went on, so we know when it is genuinely ready for paint rather than guessing. New render keeps releasing moisture and stays highly alkaline for weeks, and painting it too early causes blistering, efflorescence coming through the film, and a chemical reaction that leaves the paint soft or patchy. There is a full explanation of the timing on our guide about how long render takes to dry.
There is also no gap in the program waiting for another trade to become available, and no argument about whose problem a defect is.