Painting Done
Properly — Inside
and Out
Over 20 years of painting across Cairns and Far North Queensland. Interior, exterior, roofs, decking, commercial and strata — prepared correctly and finished to last in the tropics.
Paint doesn't fail here for the reasons it fails down south
A paint job that would last a decade in Melbourne might give you four or five years in Cairns. Intense UV breaks down the binder that holds the coating together. Wet season humidity keeps surfaces damp long enough for mould to establish. Salt carried inland from the coast attacks metal and works under the film. Timber moves constantly as it soaks up moisture and dries out again.
None of that is a reason to accept a short-lived finish. It's a reason to specify for the conditions — the right primer for the substrate, a topcoat rated for tropical UV, and enough preparation that the coating has something sound to grip.
Most premature paint failure we're called out to look at isn't a paint problem at all. It's a preparation problem, or a moisture problem nobody diagnosed. That's the same principle behind the waterproofing side of what we do: find the cause, then fix it. Painting over a symptom just buys you twelve months.
What kills paint in the tropics
- UV breakdown — chalking, fading and loss of gloss on north and west walls first
- Mould and mildew — black speckling in shaded, humid areas and under eaves
- Salt air — rust bleeding through on metal, blistering near the coast
- Moisture behind the film — bubbling and peeling driven from the substrate side
- Timber movement — cracking along joints and end grain on decks and trim
- Poor preparation — the most common cause, and the only one that's avoidable for free
Interior Painting
Repaints, new work, single rooms through to whole houses. Walls, ceilings, doors, architraves, skirtings, cabinetry and feature work. We turn up when we say we will, cover and protect everything before a lid comes off, and leave the place clean at the end of each day.
What's Included
Preparation is where an interior job is won or lost. We fill and sand, spot-prime patches so they don't flash through the topcoat, cut in by hand rather than relying on tape alone, and apply the number of coats the colour change actually needs — not the number that gets us off site fastest.
Where We Use It
- Full interior repaints before selling or after buying
- Rental turnarounds and end-of-lease repaints
- Bathrooms and kitchens using washable, mould-resistant coatings
- Ceilings, cornices and water-stain sealing
- Doors, frames, skirtings and built-in cabinetry
- Feature walls and colour changes over dark existing coats
Mould on interior walls is a symptom, not a stain. If it keeps coming back after painting, something is putting moisture into that wall — a failed seal, a leak, or ventilation. We'll tell you which, because painting over it again is a waste of your money.
Exterior House Painting
The exterior is the part of your house doing the actual work — taking the UV, the wet season and the salt air so the inside stays dry. It's also the part where cutting corners on preparation shows up fastest, usually within two summers.
How We Approach It
Every exterior starts with a wash. Chalked, dusty or mould-affected surfaces will not hold a coating no matter what goes on top. From there we scrape and sand back failing areas, treat any rust, repair render cracks, prime bare substrate with the correct primer for that material, and apply two full topcoats of an exterior-grade system rated for tropical exposure.
Surfaces We Paint
- Weatherboard, fibre cement and cladding
- Rendered and bagged masonry, blockwork and besser
- Fascias, barge boards, eaves and soffits
- Metal — gutters, downpipes, railings, gates and fencing
- Garage doors, security screens and shutters
- Queenslander exteriors, including lead-safe practice on older homes
North and west-facing walls always go first. If your house is fading unevenly, that's normal and it's the sun, not a defect. It does mean those elevations may need recoating sooner — worth knowing before you're quoted for a full repaint you may not need yet.
Roof Painting & Restoration
A tired roof drags down the look of an otherwise well-kept house, and on a concrete tile roof it's also doing structural work — the coating is what stops the tiles absorbing water and growing lichen. Restoration is a fraction of the cost of replacement and takes days rather than weeks.
The Process
High-pressure clean to strip lichen, moss and chalked coating. Re-bed and re-point ridge capping where the mortar has failed. Replace broken or slipped tiles. Apply a sealer to stabilise the surface, then two coats of a roof-grade membrane. On metal roofs we treat rust back to sound material and prime before topcoating.
Worth Knowing
- Concrete tile, terracotta and Colorbond — each needs a different system
- Heat-reflective coatings can noticeably reduce roof-space temperature in FNQ
- Re-pointing ridge caps is usually the difference between a repaint and a repair
- We check gutters, valleys and flashings while we're up there and tell you what we find
Painting a roof will not fix a leaking roof. If water is getting in, the coating is not the problem and a repaint will hide it for a season at most. We do the waterproofing side of this trade as well, so we'll tell you straight which one you actually need — see roof membranes.
Decking, Timber & Outdoor Structures
Timber in Far North Queensland has a hard life. It swells through the wet, shrinks through the dry, and takes UV from directly overhead. A deck coating that isn't matched to that movement splits and lifts, and once water gets into the end grain the boards go grey and furry underneath.
What We Do
Strip or sand back failed coating, clean and neutralise the timber, replace or refix anything that's gone soft, then recoat with a system chosen for the exposure — oil for a natural look that's easy to maintain, or a film-forming decking paint where you want colour and maximum coverage. We'll explain the trade-off rather than just picking for you, because they need very different upkeep.
What We Cover
- Decks, verandahs, patios and pool surrounds
- Pergolas, gazebos and outdoor entertaining structures
- Timber fencing, gates, screens and privacy panels
- Stairs, handrails and balustrades
- Exposed beams, posts and structural timber
- Front doors and timber joinery
Decking oil and decking paint are not interchangeable. Oil soaks in, weathers gradually and is easy to top up. Paint sits on the surface, lasts longer, and when it eventually fails it has to be stripped rather than recoated. Which is right depends on the timber, the exposure and how much maintenance you want to do.
Commercial, Strata & Body Corporate
Commercial painting is as much about scheduling as it is about coatings. Tenants need access, businesses need to keep trading, and residents need to get to their cars. We plan the work around that — in stages, out of hours or over weekends where it makes sense — and keep building managers informed as we go.
How We Work
Documented preparation and product specification so the body corporate has a record of what was applied and where. Coordination with building managers and committees. Clear staging so no one is cut off from their front door without warning. Fully insured, with the paperwork to prove it.
What We Take On
- Unit blocks and townhouse complexes — common areas, stairwells, breezeways
- Offices, shopfronts and retail fitouts
- Car parks, line marking preparation and services identification
- Hotels, motels and short-stay accommodation between bookings
- Industrial sheds, warehouses and factory interiors
- Repaint cycles and maintenance schedules for strata managers
Painting and waterproofing on the same job, from the same team. On strata work these two trades usually turn up separately and blame each other when something fails. We do both — so the balcony gets waterproofed and painted as one scope, with one point of responsibility.
The Part That Decides How Long It Lasts
Anyone can roll paint onto a wall. What separates a five-year finish from a fifteen-year one is what happened before the first coat — and it's the part that gets skipped when a quote comes in suspiciously cheap.
Pressure Washing
Chalk, mould, dirt and salt residue all stop a coating bonding. Every exterior job starts here, at a pressure appropriate to the substrate — enough to clean, not enough to drive water into it.
Mould & Mildew Treatment
Mould has to be killed, not painted over. We treat affected areas so it doesn't grow straight back through the new coating within a season.
Render & Crack Repair
Hairline crazing, cracked render and damaged masonry filled and made good. Structural cracks get identified as structural rather than filled and forgotten.
Rust Treatment
Metal ground back to sound material, treated and primed with the right etch or rust-inhibitive primer. Painting over rust just hides it while it keeps spreading.
Timber Repairs
Rotten fascia, soft window sills and damaged trim replaced or made good before coating. There is no paint that fixes wet timber.
Sealing & Priming
The right primer for each substrate — bare timber, fibre cement, masonry, metal, patched plaster. Mismatched primers are behind a large share of premature failures.
Beyond Standard Paint
Some surfaces need a coating system rather than paint — higher build, chemical resistance, or performance a standard acrylic can't deliver.
Protective & Industrial Coatings
High-build and chemical-resistant systems for plant, tanks, structural steel and industrial environments where standard paint won't survive.
Epoxy Floor Coatings
Garages, workshops, warehouses and commercial floors. Seamless, easy to clean, resistant to oil and traffic. Flake and non-slip finishes available.
Heat-Reflective Systems
Roof and wall coatings that reflect solar radiation rather than absorbing it — a measurable difference to roof-space temperature in an FNQ summer.
Anti-Mould Coatings
Fungicidal systems for bathrooms, laundries, shaded southern walls and anywhere the humidity keeps winning.
Fencing, Gates & Screens
Colorbond, timber and wrought iron. Rust treated properly, then coated in a system that handles coastal exposure.
Pool Surrounds & Wet Areas
Coatings specified for constant moisture, chlorine exposure and bare feet — non-slip where it matters, and compatible with the waterproofing underneath.
What to Expect on a Painting Job
No vague hourly rates, no scope that grows once we're on site, no chasing us for an answer.
Free On-Site Quote
We come and look properly, check the condition of every surface, and give you a written fixed price. No charge, no obligation.
Colours & Products
We'll help with colour selection and explain which product suits each surface and why, including what it will cost you to maintain.
Preparation
Wash, scrape, sand, fill, repair, treat and prime. This is the majority of the work on most jobs, and we don't shortcut it.
Coating & Clean-Up
Full coats, correct spread rate, and a walk-around with you at the end. Anything you're not happy with gets fixed before we invoice.
We quote a fixed price, not an estimate. If we've missed something in our own scope, that's on us, not on you. The only time a price changes is if you ask for extra work — and we'll agree that with you in writing before doing it.
Painting FAQ
Need a Painter in Cairns or FNQ?
Interior, exterior, roof or deck — we'll come and look, tell you what actually needs doing, and give you a fixed written price. Free quote, no obligation, no sales pressure.