Whilst the pool maybe shut up for the winter, and no chance of sangria now, and there maybe be a chance of ice, we still have to paint house exteriors in the winter. Painting Essendon between downpours.
Rugged up and thermal wrapped, we’ll paint your house in the depths of the frozen tundra. Winter is coming? John Snow isn’t an employee, sorry, get over it! But we are, and he’s not that dashing anyway!
Painting in Winter – Essendon
Commonly we are asked to paint house exteriors in the winter, and at the same time asked if it’s too cold to paint. No it’s not too cold, for the paint at least. In fact the paint takes longer to dry is a good thing.
Well the sun came out when I was painting the zinc awnings, so they heated up and felt hot to touch! The second coat on one dried too fast and uneven. Ruined. I repainted later, when clouds came over. It’s good to paint in winter.
The only thing that may cause problems is the dew point. That’s when the moisture in the air becomes too much for anything to dry. Usually about 4pm mid winter. We’ve finished for the day by then.
Taking pride in painting your home, a member of the Master Painters Association, Qualified and with many years of Experience. Therefore we can offer assurance of the perfect paint job.
Home Makeovers Project Managers
We can provide a qualified Project Manager to help you seemlessly. From the Colour Consultant, to the Handyman, through to the Painters and the Decorator and finally the Cleaners.
Consequently we can find you an excuse to do something else. Whether it’s a holiday, putting your feet up or just avoiding the DIY list and actually having weekends instead.
Free Weekends with Every Sterling Painters Jobs
Our House Painters Elwood Services offer you the chance to do whatever you want at the weekend, free! That’s right, while you’re at work, we paint your house. It’s a win win.
You instantly win weekends with every paint job that you didn’t have to do. And you win again, because we’re professional painters who like painting. Rather than you, who should be on a long weekend somewhere romantic anyway.
Painters Decorators Melbourne
Painters Terms & Conditions:
Free Weekends – at least one is guaranteed on any job. A typical weatherboard will take three months of weekends for you to paint.
Free Weekends – only available in the Melbourne area. Well your home needs to be in Melbourne at least. You could be in Buenos Aires Tangoing with a Gaucho, drinking Malbec at tres en lan manana, if that’s you bag.
There are two good reasons for painting blank canvas for us at Sterling Painters, the Richmond House Painters.
Number one, to allow something else to shine. You have great undiscovered/famous art pieces, fantastic must have furniture, or the most wonderful parquet floor interlaid with the finest Moroccan handmade tiles.
Number two, to expand the illusion of space. To make small spaces look bigger, boring but functionally very important. Yawn!
The Colour of Paint
Blank Canvas Number One. Display.
Now you’re thinking that you have to paint the blank canvas number one white, or some variant of white, right?
Clean, unspoilt, blank walls of any colour will do. We are not talking feature wall here. Infact the importance is the lack of feature. Be brave and go for it.
Blank Canvas Number Two. Space.
Again this doesn’t mean it has to be painted white. Sometimes it actually helps if it isn’t white. Take the smallest room in the house. Yours is white, right? It looks small, right? Painting these small rooms dark colours gives the illusion that the walls are further away, it helps if the ceiling is painted the same colour too.
Technical Conclusion to Painting Blank Canvas
Both blank canvases have to be featureless. Resulting in even more preperation. We actually think about the use of the room. It’s no good having the most amazing Jackson Pollock if all you’re looking at is the crack in the wall! Again if you’re only six inches away, it should be perfect in everyway. Absolutely faultless.
Paint Details
Colour: Natural White Quarter
Paint Used:
Haymes Inspirations Ceiling Flat,
Dulux Wash & Wear Low Sheen,
Dulux Super Enamel High Gloss.
Colour Consultant
Now if picking colours isn’t your forte, or you’re just not that interested, then maybe our Colour Consultant can help you. She looks at your style and runs with it.
Why would we tell you how to paint your weatherboard house? Surely I’m just about to give the game away! Tell you all the secrets. Make myself redundant.
It’s relatively easy to do, all you need to do is prepare and paint afterall! I’m just about to list every step for you, so it’s even easier now. All you’re lacking now is number one, experience, fine you’re going to take longer but that’s okay, and number two, time.
Time. It’s the crucial thing. Time. Painting a weatherboard house takes time, a lot of time, far more time than you think.
An average single fronted would take 160 hours of prepartion and painting for an experienced exterior painter. If you’re great at DIY, then just add 50% more time to that.
So knowing that it’s going to take you at least 240 hours, 15 weekends to paint your house, I’m safe to let slide a few secrets. Yes, I’m having a latte and avocado smash whilst you’re painting this weekend…. ….and the next!
Weatherboard House Painting Check List
Before you start to paint the exterior of your house, there are a few other things to check.
Do you need to repair anything first?
Rotten weatherboards, windows, doors? Are other things causing problems, guttering that’s leaking?
Fixing a few simple things first:
Rusted metal gates/window parts/nail heads, sand first and then paint with metal primers.
Bleeding knots in the weatherboards, should be primed first.
Nails that need to be reset. Use a nail punch, sand prime and fill over.
Removing Old Paint:
If it’s flaking – get rid of it! Scrape off flaking paint.
Sand all the surfaces to a flat finish, that’s all the weatherboards! Sanding is very important not just in getting to a better surface but to promote better adhesion between the layers. Your paint job will last much longer if you sand everything.
Prime all bare wood
New weatherboards:
Most weatherboards now come preprimed. This is a transit primer designed to keep the boards in good condition in storage and transit and should not be confused with normal primer. All weatherboards must be primed prior to painting.
Exterior Painting Preparation
Don’t paint around door numbers, light fixtures (be sure to turn the power supply off), screens, door handles – remove them! It’s easier, will save you time and looks much better.
Fill holes with an exterior filler, two pack filler for high traffic areas.
Gap under weatherboards, this stops rain and moisture going up the back of the weatherboard. There are gap sealents designed for weatherboards, these have a much bigger stretch, so when your weatherboards move with the weather the gap won’t split.
Painting Weatherboards:
The easiest way to paint weatherboards is by brush. A good 88mm or 100mm brush is ideal.
Try to follow the sun around the house, as this dries any dew and means you won’t be working in the sun.
Start by painting the boards in a horizontal section, then more the ladder to the adjoining section untill you have painting the entire length of the wall. Lower the ladder and repeat the process until the wall is complete.
Remember to keep a wet edge.
Remember ladder proceedures. Always make sure your ladder is set up properly, extention hooks are securely in place, make sure of it’s footing, it should never lean to one side. It’s not too upright. You should never reach too far when painting, you should always have three points of contact to the ladder (use a s hook to attach paint can to the ladder), your free hand is for painting, look out for power lines, never step on the top three runs of a ladder. Check these everytime you move the ladder.
Painting Exterior Trim:
Paint windows, sashes, sills in the same order as the interior ones, working out from the sashes to the frames. Window sills bear the brunt of the weather and accumulated dirt. Give them an extra two or even three coats of paint, remember the underside.
Painting an exterior door, in the same order as interior doors, the panels first, then the middle vertical bar, the stiles, and finally the edges, working from top to bottom.
Always try to paint the top and bottom edge of the door, this will keep out moisture and stop rotting.
Railings and metal fence, use a lamb’s wool mitten applicator instead. The mitten applicator, allows you to grasp the railing, smearing on the paint as you move your hand up and down. Touch up with a brush. This may take three coats.
Wooden picket fences, use a small roller (100mm) with a long handle, touch up with a brush, again this may take three coats.
If you think it’s time to paint your weatherboard, then your friends have thought it for a long time! Time to hire your weatherboard painters.
Now that the BBQ season is just about over, it’s time to get your home painted, and ready for next year. We know it’s a social whirl, and impressions count. Has your weatherboard been letting you down? Does it show you up? Is it still in last years colours?
Shabby chic is not ‘in’ anymore, it’s not the 90’s. Peeling, blistering paint isn’t cool. We know it. Design magazines know it. Your friends know it, and they’ve been talking behind your back about your dated weatherboard house.
Traditional Master Painters
We at Sterling Painters only apply the world famous boutique Dulux Weathershield on weatherboards. Using time honoured techniques handed down generation to generation, father to son, such as sanding and painting. We’ll use buzzwords like small batch, fluid, stone ground and hand finished. We’ll even grow beards and stroke them whilst admiring our handywork.
Soon, you’ll be the envy of your friends. They’ll still talk behind your back, obviouly, but you can be safe in the knowledge that it’s just jealously.
