Project of the month - May

Just spotted in a weekend SMH’s Domain a whole page article about the property we painted in it's preparation for the sale.

This an amazing house at Bronte with private beach access recently went through 1.5milion renovation. How gorgeous is this facade with 3 levels high shutters!!!

Source: McGrath

How to paint ceilings without damaging walls & furniture

Want to paint ceilings and worry that your walls or belongings can get damaged? Can’t move all furniture away? No need to stress out about!

This is what the preparation for a ceiling panting should look like. We seal with plastic drop sheets & tape all walls and cover all furniture. Obviously this is in addition to the canvas drop sheets that cover all floors. Only after everything is safely covered we would start repairs and painting.

I’m not going to hide – it is time & labour consuming work. But once we safely cover everything your walls and furniture will be protected even from tiny paint over-splash from a roller.

We always use new plastic drop sheet. We never reuse them, as over-splash from previous work would get on your furniture and can stick to it, or just create dust and dirt around your house. New drop sheets ensure your house will stay clean.

Feel confident your ceiling painting will be quick and safe? Concact Ol’ Painting for no obligation quote.

Project of the month - August 1

Looking today at this gorgeous and spacious Surry Hills terrace it is hard to imagine that just few months ago this was a tiny dilapidated house! It was just redesigned and renovated by talented Jonathan Clarke from Urban Interior Design.

I do not recall such a spacious & brilliantly designed terrace (and I have painted a couple hundreds of them!). Helping to transform this tiny dark house was transformed into such a retreat was amasing. I’m still not sure where the light & space came from. Looking from the street you would never guess how large the house is inside - 3 high ceiling levels, 3 bedrooms (one with a study), 3 bathrooms, a dressing room, large kitchen, dining & living, & lots of light!

Courtyard is my favourite part of the house! How gorgeous are these manicured trees and antique mirrored French doors & shutters that Jonathan searched and selected in France himself! Some people just so talented!

National Treasure. Project of the month - August

The best thing about our work is that we get to meet some incredible people and learn some fascinating stories. But this is perhaps the best of all!

We did some project for a lovely family. As we helped them to move furniture to a new place the lady told us a story of her grandad. On 9 July 1900 on his property in UK and in this very chair was signed the Commonwealth of Australian Constitution Act! This it a true national treasure!!!

Most of furniture and the table a family donated to museums. But they kept this chair. I can't wait to hear the rest of the story tomorrow!

Project of the month - June 2

We are spraying metal window frames. Again!
I have 2-3 jobs like this every month – units, houses, offices, train stations...

Spray painting it’s an excellent way to give your tired old metal window frames a fresh look! And it cost much less then getting new windows. We use airless spray and 2 pack epoxy paint for extra durability.

Spraying itself does not take that much time. If you prepare everything all house windows can be sprayed in just few hours.

But preparation is a killer! We spend days masking windows of this house (it has lots of windows!). But preparations are not the place to rush and is a very-very careful work. Everything exposed will be painted; everything not sealed off completely will get over-splash. So bit, but bit everything that isn’t getting painted has to be covered up. If it gets too frustrated – just take a deep breath and go back to work. But after everything is sprayed and covering paper is removed – you get a grate painted finish!

Project of the Month - June 1

We painted this Mosman house inside out last year during extensive renovation.

But this time we were call to paint a new fence. For the best results we used a combination and spray painting and brush and mini-roller application and 3 coats of paint. Thanks to the glorious weather the job was finished by the end of a day!

Project of the Month - May 2

Lately we have done a lot of wallpaper removal, like in this harbour view Lane Cove apartment.

The bad thing about wallpaper – you never know what it covers! Often there are patches, damages or uneven surfaces underneath of it. This unit had very rough porous concrete walls that never were painted before. They required full skimming to fill in those pores before painting.

Project of the Month - May 1

As strange as it sounds, from time to time we are asked by other painters to do some spray painting job for them. This Northwood residence was one of such projects.

Spray painting is highly skilled job. A majority of painters would not take it - it is easy to mess up and very hard to fix. So they may call a skilled spray painting specialist like Ol' Painting to do a spraying part of their project.

Normally it takes at least one day to safely cover all surfaces that are not going to be sprayed. But after this an entire house can be sprayed in few hours! Overall it is a great time saving and an excellent end result!

Project of the Month - March 2

Just finished work at this Bronte penthouse. It was more then just a regular painting job – we removed & disposed old decorated cornices and skirtings throughout, re-rendered walls were cornices were, and painted the penthouse inside out.

Project of the Month - February 2

This month my display project is a Federation house in Stanmore. As with many period homes, a detail timberwork is a house main feature. We mainly panted woodwork – windows, doors, architraves, skirtings, and picture rails. But this was quote a large job.

Project of the Month - February 1

Some properties are blessed with the most gorgeous views!

This Mosman house is facing my most favourite place in Sydney – Chinaman Beach. Actually I discovered this beach last years when we worked on interior painting in this same house. This time we did some small exterior work. What a nice few days of work!

Project of the Month - November 2

This must be the longest projects i was involved in!

This Mosman house just went through 16months of major renovation and extension. The owner was pregnant when we started the project. And now her daughter already big enough to run around the house!

Of cause we did not worked continuously here. We were just coming from time to time for a week or so to do a section of the house between other traders. Glad to see it finished!

Project of the Month - November 1

This waterfront apartment block on Bondi Beach is undergoing a major refurbishment inside/out. Most of outside work is finished and scaffolds are coming off in a next week.

Project of the Month - October 1

This is a very-very typical project. We have at least one of those every week.

This house went through a quick upgrade before it was rented out. Just a usual things – get rid of pink and paint in neutral colour, paint kitchen cupboards to bring them back to life, refresh porch and front windows. Little things like this can be done quickly and they really change the house appearance.

Project of a Month - AUGUST 2

BEFORE

AFTER

Our second terrace makeover this month. This one is in Paddington.

Dulux colour consultant picked a gorgeous grey for walls. But balcony railings were specified in dark charcoal and this was making house look very serious and official. The owners did not like it. So we paint it back in white. It is much better this way. It makes the house look light and funky. It really suits the lovely young family living here!

Project of a Month - AUGUST 1

BEFORE

AFTER

This sad looking Stanmore terrace has just received a facelift. You always hear that painting can change the whole look of a house – here’s a proof. It looks charming after brickwork was painted and rusted ironwork repaired and repainted?

Tip for DIY’ers:
It takes 3-6 coats to paint the brick wall, depending on a brick quality. The first coat usually almost completely gets absorbed in a brick. So you can use a paint of almost any colour (be reasonable) as long as it is an undercoat or a self-priming exterior paint. Use your left-over paint or buy mis-tinted paint from a paint shop for a fraction of a price.

Project of a Month - JUNE 1

We were called to re-paint this Cremorne house after previous traders messed up the job. It was not that straightforward.

House was painted with Murobond Paints. As I mentioned in this article, the common problem I found with smaller brands is that tinting is not very consistent. Each drum of paint had slightly different colour (sometimes quite different!). Keeping colour consistent along the building’s long facades was a big challenge!

Project of a Month - APRIL 1

Ol’Painting just finished work on this 4-levels townhouse in Lane Cove North. Painting was a part of pre-sale preparation. Carmen Mearns from LJ Hooker Lane Cove has a great eye for showing a property full potential. She should be an interior designer!

Project of a Month - MARCH 1

Ol’Painting just painted this semi-attached house at Double Bay. It had some minor cracks which is common for new houses. Also paint had aged quite significantly for its age. It seems that a lower quality paint was previously used.

At Ol’ Painting we only work only with the premium quality paints. I wrote in this article the benefits of the premium quality paint. I am very confident my paintwork will last much-much longer then the original!

Project of a Month - JANUARY 2

WALSH BAY - TODAY

TODAY - Walsh Bay Waterfront

THEN - Walsh Bay Shore 2-3 during construction

THEN - our team. I'm no the left.

This sunny apartment at Sydney’s Walsh Bay had to be quickly repainted before a new tenant moves in.

I’m very sentimental every time I’m asked to do painting on Walsh Bay waterfront. My last job before I started my Ol’ Painting business was as a foreman at Sydney’s Walsh Bay development. I supervised lead pant removal at Shore 2-3 and new painting at Shore 6-7. At one stage I had to give a final polish EVERY SINGLE NAIL of the exterior walls of Shore 2-3! Took me five days to complete!

I’m very proud that I was engaged in transformation of this precinct! Walsh Bay is one of my favourite places in Sydney.