A small weatherboard home, situated in a lane way of South Melbourne, needed some exterior painting to its facade to help maintain a pristine appearance for pedestrians to admire.
Scope of work
The existing double hung timber windows and timber front door were removed due to deterioration and poor insulation properties and were replaced with double glazed aluminium windows and door. As the new windows and door did not need painting, all that was required was to repaint the weatherboards and front verendah posts to the face of the house and to re-coat the front porch decking.
Colour Scheme
All colours were to match the existing colour scheme and the colours are outlined as follows: the colour applied to the weatherboards was a colour match but it was very close to Colourbond Classic Cream and the colour applied to the verendah posts was Vivid White. Both surfaces were coated using Dulux Weathershield exterior acrylic paint in low sheen. As for the decking on the front porch, the colour chosen was a natural clear exterior oil finished in gloss. The product used for the decking was Feast Watson Traditional Oil.
Preparation
Walls – The weatherboards were in very good condition to start with as were the verendah posts. The owner has regularly maintained the exterior surfaces and all that was required was to wash the surfaces to be painted with sugar soap and to apply no more gaps caulking to the corners of the weatherboards. There was also silicon around the new windows and door that needed to be undercoated in enamel primer to assist with top coat adhesion. Since the existing paint was painted in acrylic paint, I only needed to apply two coats of Dulux Weathershield to all weatherboards and verendah posts.
Decking – The front porch decking was also in excellent condition and it only required a light sand of all the Merbau boards before a wash with a deck cleaner and rinse with clean water. After two days of dry time, I applied two coats of Feast Watson Traditional oil to the entire deck.
Here are some images of the completed work.
Final Thoughts
Working with clients who regularly maintain their homes results is a Win-Win situation for both them and myself. They win because the cost of preparation is significantly reduced with regular attention as i highlighted earlier with just having to wash and/or lightly sand surfaces. I win because I get to enjoy and focus on the finishing product, that is applying the paint. A great little project to work on!
