Painter in Doncaster East, VIC
Doncaster East, around Tunstall Square
Doncaster East is a suburb of houses from the 1960s, 70s and 80s, many on sloping blocks, along with a growing number of rebuilds and townhouses. Painting here is often bringing a house of that era up to date: lighter walls, painted timber, a refreshed exterior. The streets around Tunstall Square and Doncaster Road, and along Blackburn Road, carry a lot of this work, and most of it is for owners who have been in the house for years.
Many blocks slope, so driveways are steep and houses can be split level, with the low side a full storey higher than the front. Ladders are footed and levelled on the slope, and decks off the living area are reached from below. Most streets are quiet with room to park, and gardens are established, so shrubs and garden beds are covered and tied back before an exterior starts.
The houses of this era are brick veneer or clinker brick, often with timber or cedar cladding on part of the house, timber or aluminium windows and wide eaves. Inside, raked ceilings, exposed beams and stained or varnished timber are common, and they have darkened with age. Painting over varnish or stain needs the right primer, or the new paint peels, and some owners choose to keep the timber natural and freshen it instead.
What we do here most
What Doncaster East keeps needing
Most jobs here are a house from the 1960s to the 80s being made lighter, without losing the timber that gives it its character.
Interior painting
Varnished doors, trims and panelling painted lighter
Houses of this era here often have varnished doors, timber architraves and timber panelled walls in the family room. Painting straight over varnish peels, so each surface is cleaned, sanded and primed with a primer made to hold on it before the top coats. Some owners keep one panelled wall natural and freshen it instead.
Exterior painting
Cedar cladding faded on the sunny side
Cedar or other timber cladding on houses here weathers unevenly, silver grey on the sunny side and dark under the eaves. The boards are cleaned, repaired where split, and either restained to keep the grain or primed and painted. Once the condition is clear you choose which, and the eaves and fascias are done at the same time.
Plastering
Cracks where the split level steps down
In split level houses, the walls where one level steps down to the next often crack along the join, because the two parts of the house move slightly differently. The cracks are opened, filled with a flexible filler and taped where needed, then sanded flush and painted so the line does not show. If a crack keeps reopening, we tell you rather than hiding it.
House repainting
A 1980s house repainted inside and out
Houses of this era often still carry their original colours inside and out: cream walls, brown trims and dark timber. A full repaint works through the exterior timber and any brick that was painted before, then the rooms inside, in an order that lets the family stay. The colours are written down for later touch ups.
If it is urgent
If water comes through a ceiling in Doncaster East
- 1Check what sits above the stain: a valley gutter, a box gutter or a skylight in a raked ceiling are the usual sources in houses of this era. Put a bucket under any drip and switch off the power at the board for any light fitting near the water.
- 2Leave a wet raked ceiling alone, keep people out from under it, and do not climb onto a sloping roof in the rain. Do not paint over the stain until it has dried.
- 3When you call, tell us which room, whether the ceiling is flat or raked, and whether the leak has been found. Say whether the house is split level and how steep the driveway is.
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Which parts of Melbourne do you work in?
Melbourne's eastern and inner south-eastern suburbs, from Box Hill, Blackburn and Doncaster through Balwyn, Kew and Camberwell to Richmond, Toorak, Malvern, Prahran and Caulfield. All 25 suburbs are listed on the service areas page. If yours is not there, ask anyway, because the list is where the work goes most often rather than a fence.
Do you do plastering as well as painting?
Yes. Cracks, holes, water damaged patches and loose ceiling sheets are repaired and sanded before the paint goes on, so the repair and the painting are planned as one job rather than two trades working around each other. Most repaints in older houses need some of this, and it goes on the quote as its own line.
Can you fix rotten timber or a sticking door while you are here?
Yes, carpentry and fixing is one of the services, and it usually goes alongside the painting. Rotten weatherboards, soft window sills, loose skirting, sticking doors and broken fence palings are the common ones. Mention them when you call so they are in the quote rather than found on the day.
Do you do insurance repair work?
Yes. Painting and plaster repairs after a leak, a storm or an impact are one of the services. If you have a claim number or an assessor's report, send it with your enquiry and the quote is written against the same items, which makes the two easy to compare.
Do you give a written quote before starting?
Yes. You get it in writing before any paint is bought, listing the rooms or walls, the repairs, the preparation and the number of coats. If something changes once work starts, such as rot under a window sill, it is written down and you decide before it is done.
What do you need from me to quote?
Which rooms or which sides of the house, roughly how big they are, and a few photos taken in daylight. Point out anything flaking, cracked or stained, because preparation changes a quote more than size does. For outside work, say whether the house is single or double storey.
Can you help us choose colours?
We can talk through what tends to work on the house you have and how a colour behaves on that surface in that light. A sample patch on the actual wall is the most reliable way to decide, and it is worth doing before a full tin is bought. The final choice is always yours.
Do I need to move the furniture out first?
No, though clearing small and fragile things off shelves and walls helps. Larger furniture is moved to the middle of the room and covered, and floors are covered before anything is opened. Tell us about anything that cannot be moved, such as a piano or built in shelving.
What hours do you work?
Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 5:30pm. If you live in an apartment or a townhouse with set hours for trades, tell us when you call and the work days are planned inside them.
How long does a room or a house take?
It depends on the preparation more than the painting, so the honest answer comes with the quote rather than before it. A bedroom with sound walls is a different job from one with cracked plaster and a stained ceiling. Outside work also depends on the weather, because paint needs dry surfaces and mild days to go on well.
What happens if it rains during an outside job?
Work on the outside stops while the surfaces are wet, because paint put over damp timber or render does not hold. The day is moved rather than pushed through, and inside work can sometimes fill the gap. We let you know as soon as a day has to move.
Is old paint on an older house a problem?
It can be. Paint on houses built before the 1970s may contain lead, and that changes how it should be prepared, because dry sanding it spreads the dust. Tell us roughly when the house was built and we will talk it through before anything is quoted.
Everything we do here
Services in Doncaster East, VIC
These are the eleven things we do across Melbourne, done here to suit houses from the 1960s to the 80s, raked ceilings and timber on sloping blocks.
Also nearby
We work in these suburbs too
Local, and on the phone
Painting work in Doncaster East
Call or email and tell us whether the timber inside and out is painted or stained. That decides the primer, the preparation and how long the job takes.
0431 639 501Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 5:30pm
Not urgent? Send us the job instead