Everybody quotes a rate. Nobody tells you what the number means on a real house.
Almost nobody knows the paintable area of their own house, so a rate means very little. So let us do it the other way round. Here is a real house, and the three ways we usually see families spend the same budget on it.
The house: a single storey four bedroom family home in Durbanville, roughly 220 square metres under roof, plastered walls, some face brick detail, timber and aluminium windows, a tile roof, and a double garage. It has not been painted in about nine years. That is the most common house we quote.
Version one: a full exterior, done properly
| Item | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Exterior walls | Wash, crack repair, primer and two full coats |
| Textured and porous areas | Extra coats so porous surfaces do not flash |
| Preparation over and above rate | Crack cutting, filling, rust treatment on steel, damp patch make-good |
| Trim, fascias, barge boards, gutters, downpipes | Enamel system, three coats on timber |
| Windows and doors | Timber frames prepared and enamelled, aluminium cleaned and masked |
| Garage doors and steel | Degrease, rust treat, primer, two finish coats |
| Access | Scaffolding to gables and double volume entrance |
| Protection and clean-up | Sheeting, masking, plant protection, daily clean, final make-good |
| Contingency | Held for what opens up once scraping starts |
It is about fourteen to eighteen working days on site with a crew of four. Around 180 to 220 litres of material. Roughly sixty per cent of the labour hours go into preparation before any finish coat is opened.
Version two: the same budget spread across the whole house
A lot of families would rather do everything at once. The same budget can cover a full interior plus a partial exterior.
- Full interior repaint, walls and ceilings throughout.
- Interior trim, doors, skirtings and cupboard fronts in an enamel system.
- Exterior street-facing elevations and the entrance.
- All trim, fascias and gutters outside.
- Protection, access and clean-up.
- A contingency for what opens up once scraping starts.
That is a house that looks transformed from the street and from inside, with the weather-facing rear and side elevations deliberately deferred to next year. It is a legitimate way to phase a budget and we quote it that way often. What it must not become is a job where the deferred elevations were the ones that actually needed the work.
Version three: when the roof is the real problem
This is the version we most often end up recommending, and it is the least glamorous.
- A full liquid rubber system on the tile, metal or non-asbestos fibre-cement roof.
- Parapet, flashing and penetration detailing, priced on the roof itself.
- Damp affected wall areas diagnosed and sealed on the outside face.
- Then the exterior repaint of the elevations that were being damaged, with what is left.
What moves the number most
| Factor | Effect |
|---|---|
| Condition of the existing paint | The biggest single variable. A chalking, flaking wall can double the preparation hours before a drop of finish is opened. |
| Double storey and access | Scaffolding, safety and slower working. Expect a meaningful uplift over the same area at ground level. |
| Colour change | Going light over dark, or a strong colour, means three coats instead of two. |
| Texture | Rough plaster, bagged brick and Marmoran drink paint. Coverage rates drop hard. |
| Amount of trim | Timber windows, barge boards and balustrades are slow, hand-worked and where the hours hide. |
| Damp and rust | Both must be resolved before decoration, and both are unknowable until scraping starts. Hence the contingency. |
The paint is the cheapest part of a paint job. You are buying labour hours and a decision about how many of them get spent before the colour goes on.
What we would do on your property
We measure the house, assess the surfaces, and give you one fixed price for the whole job, with the option of a phased version if the budget needs it. If the roof or a damp problem is going to undermine the repaint, that goes in the report before anything else, along with what it costs to deal with first.
The inspection is free and it comes back to you in writing with photographs.
Common questions
No pressure
If you would like a second opinion on your own property, we will come and look.
The inspection is free, you get the findings in writing with photographs, and you are under no obligation to do anything with them.