So you’re scheduling a paint job and wondering how to prepare for the arrival of the professional painters. At the onset, a good contractor should specify what is included in their painting services and set proper expectations on both sides.
You should also know the cost of any add-on services. You may decide to take on some extra preparation yourself to save money or hand it over to the professionals to save you time and effort.
If you’re planning on doing some of the work yourself, this list will help you prepare for both internal and external commercial painting. If not, to ensure everything gets done, you’ll know exactly what questions to ask your commercial painting service provider.
General Preparations
- Get a free paint inspection: Brisbane’s climatic conditions of heat and moisture can result in corrosion, seepage, leakage, and drastically shortened life-spans of building structures. Call Surepaint (0449 846 744) today and schedule a free paint inspection report.
- Prepare a risk assessment: First things first, whether you’re contracting painters for internal or external work, conduct a thorough risk assessment of your site. To save time, ask Surepaint to conduct a free site risk assessment. You’ll need the information for your records.
- Make a guidance list: While the scope of the work will already have been discussed, it’s worth making a list for the contractors to use on the day. The most important thing to note is the order of priorities, particularly when you need to use certain rooms or areas sooner. You may also find it helpful to provide clear instructions on colors if there are significant variations between areas.
- No visitors, pets, or children: You don’t want to entertain visitors while a paint job is ongoing. Clear or reschedule visits. At the same time, you want to keep your pets away from harm, or from creating harm or inconvenience during the paint job. Arrange for their temporary care and accommodation until the paint dries and everything is in place. Finally, if you have any children around the house, keep them safe and entertained elsewhere.
- : You don’t want to entertain visitors while a paint job is ongoing. Clear or reschedule visits. At the same time, you want to keep your pets away from harm, or from creating harm or inconvenience during the paint job. Arrange for their temporary care and accommodation until the paint dries and everything is in place. Finally, if you have any children around the house, keep them safe and entertained elsewhere.
Internal Preparations
- Get a free assessment: To keep your property well-maintained, outsource the painting and maintenance work to professionals. If you’re not sure, email us at Surepaint and schedule a free assessment before your paint job, no matter how big or small. This will tell you about your property’s defects and what should be done about them.
- Lessen splatter cleanup: Lessen or altogether prevent cleaning up paint splatters after a paint job. Before the painters arrive, tape down drop-sheets all along the walls and floors. Use painter’s tape around all moldings, door, and window frames, as well as door and window glass areas. Use paper tape on all edges to protect from stray paint.
- Clear the surfaces: Remove everything from the walls before your professional painters arrive – pictures, posters, wall decor, as well as adhesives, nails, or hooks holding them up. You should also remove electrical plug covers, cable and phone outlet covers, and curtains. Remove or wrap fans and light fixtures if the ceiling will be painted.
- Clear the furniture: It’s best to completely move all furniture or equipment out of rooms that are to be painted. However, if that can’t happen, move everything into the center of the room, as far from the walls as possible. Cover anything that cannot be moved.
- Repair internal damage: If there’s any damage to the surfaces to be painted such as mold, holes, cracks, or structural defects, have these repaired before the professional painters arrive. Alternatively, ask Surepaint (0449 846 744) if repairing surface damage can be included in the scope of the work.
External Preparations
- Best color choices: Since it is often hard to identify the best colors for buildings, email Surepaint ([email protected]) for a color designer to provide you with cost-effective services such as Photoshop overlays to help you sign off on color choices before starting the paint job.
- Time it right: Schedule your painting job with latex paint for exterior walls when the weather isn’t too hot or too cold and temperatures are moderate (from 50° to 85° F) in the fall or spring.
- Clean it up: Pressure-wash off any debris, chalk, old paint residues, cobwebs, and dirt on the walls. Use bleach to remove mildew or fungus.
- Warn all neighbors: While it may not be strictly necessary, it is polite to warn neighbors and nearby businesses about your plans for external or internal painting. They will appreciate your consideration.
- Trim the flora: Make sure that any plants or trees that could get in the way of your painting contractors are trimmed back to provide adequate room. Cover leaves of nearby trees and plants with plastic to prevent unsightly paint splatters.
- Test external power outlets and taps: The professional painters may need access to water or power for tools, depending on the type of job. Ensuring that these are all in good working order before they arrive can avoid delays and unnecessary frustration.
- Repair wall damage: As with internal commercial painting, make sure you repair any damage to the external surfaces, such as holes, rot, decay, mold, and other common commercial property problems.
- As with internal commercial painting, make sure you repair any damage to the external surfaces, such as holes, rot, decay, mould and other common commercial property problems.
Three Key Notes
- Go green: As in other highly-urbanized cities, most of Brisbane’s workers, residents, children, and pets spend more than 90% of their lives indoors. Building managers in Brisbane are going green by choosing non-toxic cleaning products, low-VOC paints, natural lighting, and ventilation, and increasing the longevity of paintwork.
- Get a free lead report: If the property was built before 1978, email Surepaint at [email protected] for a free lead testing report. No more worries about lead poisoning!
- Health and savings: Since 2014, Surepaint has been happy to provide property owners and building managers in Brisbane with paints approved by the Australian Asthma Council. You can also ask about heat-reflecting paint for roofs to lower your energy bills.
- Better budget: While standard interior painting jobs may cost you from $20 to $30 per square meter (expect to pay more for textured finishes or effects such as popcorn, comb, or sand swirl), In Brisbane, you can always call 0449 846 744 for a preferred pricing plan from Surepaint. At the same time, you can also ask for advice about the trendiest range of tints, pastels, and accent choices that keep property values high.
Be it either an internal or external painting job, preparation is key to making sure that the painting outcome looks flawless when the job is finished. It also can save time and money as well as substantially reduce the possibility of coating failure and costly re-works. To know more, call us and we’ll be happy to answer questions you have about preparing your house before doing any painting job.
