Repainting a Queenslander: VJ boards, verandahs and timber

Why a Queenslander costs more to repaint: the prep takes longer than the painting

A Queenslander costs more to repaint because the prep is slow, careful work. On our heritage jobs the prep phase often runs twice as long as the painting. Each of the jobs below adds hours that a modern rendered house doesn't need.

None of that shows in the finished photo. It's the part that decides whether the paint lasts. For the general causes of failing paint, see why exterior paint peels.

Lead paint: test the old layers before anyone sands

Assume an older Queenslander has lead paint until a test says it doesn't. The Queensland Government says a home built before 1970 has probably got lead-based paint on it. A Queensland Government heritage note on paint removal goes further. It says buildings put up before the 1960s will have one or more layers of lead-based paint, and that some paints used on houses built before 1950 were up to 50 percent lead.

The danger is the dust. The Queensland Government says lead poisoning can happen when sanders and grinders are used to remove paint, and that the greatest threat is to small children, pregnant women, breastfed babies and pets. The same heritage note says dry sanding, especially with a power sander, spreads contaminated dust, and heat removal can give off toxic fumes.

On a Queenslander we test before anything gets disturbed. If the result is positive, the ground gets sheeted, sanding is done wet, and the waste is collected. Our guide to lead paint in pre-1970 homes covers testing in more detail.

Fibro sheeting needs its own check, such as under the eaves or on a later addition. Queensland's asbestos guide says a home built before 1990 is likely to contain some asbestos, and that you should never assume a tradie can pick it by sight. Have it tested by an accredited lab. If it has to be painted, wet the surface, sand lightly by hand and never use a power sander. More in our guide to painting asbestos eaves and fibro.

VJ boards and verandah detail: sanded by hand

VJ boards, bullnose verandah boards and turned balustrades need hand sanding. A Queensland Government heritage note on surface preparation says disc and drum sanders, flap wheels and rotary strippers are generally only suitable for flat surfaces. Use one on a profiled board and the crisp edges and grooves get worn soft.

The same note says to try hand scraping with a paint scraper or putty knife on small areas before reaching for a machine, and that hand sanding with wetted glasspaper round a wood block suits removing a thin film of paint from timber. It says blast cleaning with high pressure air or water is likely to damage a heritage place and shouldn't be used. Heat guns need care too, because they can scorch timber or start fires in dust inside walls.

Thick paint is its own problem on an old house. The Queensland Government's painting maintenance note says repainting a sound paint system again and again can build up so many layers that they hide the detail and are more likely to peel. Thick old paint also gets hard and brittle. As the timber swells, fine cracks called crazing show up in the top layer. The note's fix is hand scraping or hand sanding, then repainting to keep moisture out.

Old oil paint underneath: match the primer or the new coat can peel

If your Queenslander has old oil-based paint under the newer coats, that changes what goes on next. The Queensland Government painting maintenance note says quality solvent-borne paint should generally go over an existing oil-based system, and water-based paint over a water-based one. If you're putting water-based paint over several layers of old oil paint, it says to apply an oil primer first, let it dry, then topcoat.

Get it wrong and the layers fight each other. The note says water-based paint over old, chalky oil paint can peel, because it can't get into the chalky surface and grip. Salt that builds up on sheltered spots like eaves, where rain doesn't rinse it off, causes the same kind of peeling between coats.

Here's a quick check you can do yourself. Dulux's cross-hatch test is to cut an X in the paint with a sharp knife, press 10 cm of tape firmly across the middle, and pull it off fast. If any paint comes away on the tape, the loose paint has to be stripped before a new topcoat goes on. Try it in a few spots around the house.

If the house was built before 1970, treat any paint that comes off on the tape as if it has lead in it. Don't scrape or sand until it's been tested.

Timber: fix the rot first, then prime the bare boards

Paint protects sound timber. It won't fix timber that's already soft. The Queensland Government's heritage note on timber repairs says to check outside paint for splitting or cracking, because that can mean water is getting into the timber, and that repeated wetting and drying makes timber break down fast. It also says to look under the floor for rot and termites in the flooring and framing.

The same note's rule is to repair rather than replace, and to match any new piece to the old one in size, profile, species and finish. That matters on a Queenslander, where a new board with a different profile stands out once it's painted.

• Greyed timber. Dulux says to sand dressed timber and remove greyed timber before painting.
• Nail holes. Dulux says to fill them with a flexible, exterior grade wood filler.
• Hardwood. Dulux says to put one coat of its 1Step Prep Water Based on bare hardwood for better resistance to cracking.
• Tannin-rich timber. Dulux names spotted gum, blackbutt, ironbark, jarrah, merbau and meranti as timbers that can carry tannin. New tannin-rich timber gets an oil-based primer or a stain blocker first.
• New boards that stain. The Queensland Government painting note says timber stains from leaching are most likely in new timber in its first 10 to 15 years, and a stain-blocking primer can be used after cleaning.

Heritage listed homes: check before you change colours or strip paint

Check whether your house is heritage listed before you plan a new colour scheme. Sunshine Coast Council says its Planning Scheme 2014 sets out properties and character areas recommended for preservation, and flags them when development is sought. A place on the Queensland Heritage Register is different again. Council says the Queensland Heritage Council must assess any changes to a registered place.

For places on the state register, the Queensland Government publishes a General Exemption Certificate for maintenance work. Its painting note says painting in an existing or previously approved colour scheme can be done at any time, as long as the timber is protected and the historic paint layers are kept. It also says total paint removal isn't covered. If you're planning a new scheme or stripping back to bare timber on a listed house, check with Sunshine Coast Council, or the Queensland Government heritage team for a state-listed place, before you start.

Listed or not, plenty of owners want colours that suit the era. We look for traces of the first scheme in protected spots that have missed decades of sun and repaints. For more on choosing colours, read exterior house colours.

What a Queenslander repaint costs: guide ranges, then a site visit

Our instant estimate doesn't have a Queenslander button. The closest match is a weatherboard home, so these are the weatherboard ranges, standard tier, including GST, rounded to the nearest $100.

Poor condition adds 25 percent to the low end and 40 percent to the high end. Two storeys or hard access adds 20 percent to the low end and 40 percent to the high end. Inside, a full repaint of walls, ceilings and trims on a three-bedroom home sits at $8,000 to $14,000, and high ceilings add 20 percent to the low end and 35 percent to the high end. You can run your own numbers on the instant estimate.

Treat those as guide ranges only. The cost of lead work and timber repair depends on what's under the paint, so we price a Queenslander after a site visit, which on these houses takes about an hour. A full exterior is usually five to ten working days, with access the biggest factor. On a heritage job, plan for the prep to take about twice as long as the painting. See how our high end project painters handle heritage homes, or our Maleny painters page for the hinterland. We cover the whole Sunshine Coast.