How Long Does It Take Professional Painters to Paint a House?

By Painters Green Point | Atlantic Seaboard Painting Specialists

Duration questions usually have an assumption buried in them - that painting time is a function of surface area. On a Green Point property it rarely is. The programme is set by preparation, by access, and in a block by the building's own rules about when anyone is allowed to work.

Typical Project Timelines

These assume reasonable surface condition and workable weather. Add time for repair work, and add more for anything above two storeys.

• Single room interior - 1 day, occasionally 2 if the ceiling and woodwork are included
• One-bedroom apartment interior - 2 to 3 days
• Three-bedroom apartment or house interior - 4 to 6 days
• Single-storey house exterior - 4 to 7 days
• Double-storey house exterior - 7 to 12 days
• Roof painting - 2 to 5 days depending on pitch, material and access
• Multi-storey block facade - typically 4 to 10 weeks, phased by elevation. This is a programme, not a job, and is driven almost entirely by the access method

One structural point about blocks: the work is usually sequenced elevation by elevation so residents are never fully enclosed and short-let units stay lettable. That lengthens the calendar but reduces the disruption dramatically, and for owners letting units it is almost always the cheaper option overall.

What Can Slow a Project Down?

• Weather - not just rain. Green Point's summer south-easter can shut down spray application on an otherwise perfect day, and winter fronts stop exterior work entirely for days at a time.
• Damp and repairs found on stripping - the most common cause of overrun. Damp walls must dry before coating, and there is no way to accelerate that honestly. A wall that has been wet for years can take weeks.
• Concrete repair - spalling from chloride attack on reinforcing has to be cut out, treated, patched and cured before any coating. This can add weeks to a coastal block and is frequently not visible until the scaffolding is up.
• Building rules - permitted working hours, lift bookings and managing agent notice periods routinely add days at the front of an apartment job.
• Approvals - City sign-off for pavement scaffolding, trustee or AGM approval for a scheme's spend, and heritage consent on buildings over 60 years old all sit on the critical path if started late.
• Colour changes mid-job - a decision changed after the first coat is up costs a full coat of labour and material.
• Recoat times - a painter who ignores them to finish early is trading your coating's service life for a few days on the calendar.

The useful question to ask a contractor is not how fast they can finish. It is what would have to happen for the programme to slip, and how they would handle it. Anyone who claims nothing could slow it down has not run many jobs on this coastline.