Nambour, Sunshine Coast
Exterior painting on Nambour's character homes.
1920s and 1930s weatherboard with gables, timber arches and staircases worth keeping. All of it prepped by hand.
- Since 1985
- /Family-run, locally owned
- /Fully insured
- /Dulux + Taubmans accredited
- /Lead & asbestos qualified
Local context
What this work looks like in Nambour.
Nambour has the oldest working town centre we paint around, and a good share of its housing is 1920s and 1930s weatherboard. These are the houses with gables, timber arches and a front staircase that someone has cared about. Prices here still bring in first-home buyers, so we see a lot of them being painted straight after settlement by owners who have just spent everything and want the outside to look like they meant it. The detail is what makes these jobs slow.
What we watch for
Conditions that change the job here.
Character detail is most of the labour on a Nambour exterior. Gable brackets, turned balustrades and timber arches all have to be sanded by hand, because a machine or a spray gun flattens and fills exactly the profile that makes the house worth looking at. Pre-1970 paint layers get a lead test first, which is nearly all of the older stock here. The hills around town mean plenty of these houses sit on high stumps, so the front elevation needs staging rather than a ladder.
How it runs
What to expect.
The quote separates hand-prep hours from painting hours, because on a character house the first number is much larger and you should be able to see it. Gable brackets, arches and balustrades all get sanded by hand, and that is days rather than hours. If the house is high-set we price staging for the front elevation at the same time. Tell us your budget up front and we will stage the work across seasons, protecting the exposed timber first and leaving the rest for next year.
Usually included
- Hand sanding on gable brackets, arches and turned balustrades
- Lead testing on pre-1970 layers before sanding starts
- Staging or scaffold for high-stumped houses on the hills
- Under-house lattice, stairs and stump work included where wanted
Where the hours go
Preparation is most of the bill on a character house.
Detail has to be hand sanded
Gable brackets, turned balustrades and timber arches all get done by hand. A spray gun fills the profile that makes the house worth looking at, and once that edge is soft it doesn’t come back.
High stumps need staging
Plenty of Nambour houses sit high on the hills around town, which puts the front elevation out of ladder reach. Staging gets priced with the paint rather than appearing later as a surprise.
The quote splits the two
Preparation hours and painting hours are listed separately, because on a house this age the first number is much larger. You should be able to see that before you agree to it.
How a character job runs
Most of this job happens before a topcoat.
01
Quote in two halves.
We price the hand preparation and the painting as separate lines. On a 1920s Nambour weatherboard the preparation usually runs several days, and hiding that inside one number helps nobody.
02
Test, then sand by hand.
Pre-1970 layers get a lead test before anything is disturbed. Then brackets, arches and balustrades are sanded by hand, which is days of work rather than hours.
03
Repair the failed board.
There is usually some. Rotten sections come out, matching board goes in, and the repairs are primed before a topcoat touches them. The full extent shows only once the old paint is off.
04
Brush the detail, spray the flat.
Detail gets brushed so the profile stays sharp. Long flat runs get sprayed where it genuinely helps. Stairs, lattice and stump work go in if you’ve asked for them.
For agents and property managers
Staging a character exterior across two budgets.
If an owner can’t fund the whole house this year, we’ll stage it. Weather-facing timber and anything losing its coating first, the rest next season, with the split written down so you can put it in front of them.
Common questions
What people ask before booking.
Why can't you just spray a character house?
You can, and it looks wrong. Spray builds material into the hollows of a turned balustrade and softens the edges on gable brackets, so the detail that made someone buy the house starts to disappear. We brush the detail and spray only the flat runs where it genuinely helps.
Do you paint the stumps and lattice underneath?
If you want them done, yes. On a high-set Nambour house the under-house area is a big part of what you see from the street, and leaving it out of an otherwise fresh exterior tends to show. We quote it as a separate line so you can decide.
We just bought and the budget's gone. What's worth doing first?
The weather-facing side and anything timber that’s losing its coating. Paint is protection before it’s decoration, so we’d rather see you protect exposed board now and do the rest next year than spread a thin job over the whole house. Ask us and we’ll stage it.
Can you repair rotten weatherboards before painting?
Yes, and on a house this age there’s usually some. We cut out the failed sections, splice in matching board, and prime the repairs before the topcoat goes on. It’s quoted separately because we often can’t see the full extent until the old paint comes off.