There's no honest one-size number, because the price is driven by the things that vary most between homes — the size of the house, how much prep and repair the surfaces need, whether it's a colour change, and whether scaffolding is required for two-storey or steep sites. A tired weatherboard exterior that needs stripping back costs more than a sound surface that just needs a wash and recoat. Rather than quote a misleading ballpark over the phone, we come to your property, assess what the job actually needs, and give you one fixed, itemised quote — prep, repairs, paint system, and number of coats all set out — before any work begins.

As a general guide, most Auckland exteriors need repainting every 7 to 10 years. Homes that cop a lot of sun or sit near the coast can be closer to 5 to 7 years, while sheltered homes with a quality paint system and regular washing can stretch toward 10 to 12. Timber weatherboards and stained surfaces generally need attention sooner than plaster or fibre-cement. The real driver isn't the calendar — it's the condition: once you see chalking, fading, flaking, or bare timber, the coating has done its job and it's time.

Painting itself isn't licensed building work in New Zealand the way plumbing or restricted building work is — there's no register a painter is legally required to be on. That's exactly why the bar between painters varies so much, and why prep, the paint system used, and lead-safe practices on older homes matter more than a logo. What does carry legal weight is health and safety: working at height and disturbing lead-based paint on pre-1980s homes both fall under WorkSafe rules, and that's where a proper operator separates from a cheap one.

Because prep is what makes the paint last. Washing, scraping back failed coating, sanding, filling, re-caulking gaps, and priming bare areas is most of the labour on any quality job — and it's the part that decides whether your finish holds for a decade or starts peeling in three years. A quote that looks cheap has usually had the prep stripped out of it. You'll see the same surface fail early, and you'll pay to do it again.

It can be. WorkSafe New Zealand advises treating any home built or last painted in the 1980s or earlier as having lead-based paint unless testing proves otherwise. Lead isn't a risk while the paint is sound and left alone — the danger comes from the dust created when it's sanded, scraped, or water-blasted. We use lead-safe prep methods on older homes: contained dust, correct gear, and proper clean-up, so the repaint doesn't put your household at risk. For rentals, the obligation to assume lead is present sits with the landlord.

Yes, most of the time. Exterior work rarely disrupts day-to-day life, and for interiors we work room by room, move and cover furniture, and use low-odour, low-VOC paints where there are kids, pets, or anyone home during the day. We'll talk through the plan at the quote so you know which rooms are out of action and for how long.

Exterior painting is weather-dependent — paint needs dry surfaces and the right temperature to cure properly, so the warmer, drier months from roughly late spring through autumn are the prime window. Winter exteriors are possible in dry spells but get booked around the weather. Interiors can be done year-round. If you're planning an exterior repaint, it pays to book early before the summer rush fills up.

We use premium systems from Resene and Dulux, matched to the surface and how exposed it is — a coating that suits a sheltered interior wall is the wrong choice for a coastal weatherboard taking full sun and salt. The right system applied over proper prep is what gives you the 7 to 10 year exterior life. Your quote names the exact system so you know what's going on your home.

Yes. We batch exterior and interior repaints across landlord portfolios regularly. If you've got several rentals due, we can assess them together, flag the ones closest to failing, schedule the work around your tenancies, and give you a single scope covering the lot. One call, one company, one point of contact — and lower per-property cost than booking them separately.