Pelican Waters, Sunshine Coast
Exterior painting for Pelican Waters canal homes.
Most of this suburb went up from the 1990s, so the houses are well past their first paint. The canal side and the street side get quoted as two different jobs.
- Since 1985
- /Family-run, locally owned
- /Fully insured
- /Dulux + Taubmans accredited
- /Lead & asbestos qualified
Local context
What this work looks like in Pelican Waters.
Pelican Waters is a canal estate that finally got moving in 1989 with about 20 blocks, and most of what you see went in through the 1990s and 2000s. So a lot of the houses here have stood for twenty to thirty-odd years. They're well past their builder's paint, and the owner usually plans to stay. At the 2021 Census, 56.3 percent of Pelican Waters homes were owned outright and 88 percent were separate houses. That makes the exterior quote here a long-term one. People ask what the house will look like in ten years.
What we watch for
Conditions that change the job here.
The northern and eastern parts of the suburb are mostly canal estate, and the canals run through to the Pumicestone Passage. Water a few metres from the back wall keeps salt and damp against it all year, so the canal elevation gets a heavier system than the street front. Taubmans calls the white powdery salt on render a frequent issue in coastal homes, and paint put over it sits on powder, so it comes off first. Bare galvanised iron and Zincalume near the water, like balustrades and roof flashings, get a metal primer under the topcoat, as Dulux specifies within one kilometre of the sea.
How it runs
What to expect.
We start on the canal side, because it's the elevation that decides the price. We look for chalking, white salt on the render, cracks along the joints, and timber trims or fascias gone soft, then write the prep wall by wall. Access on the water side is often tight between the house and the canal, so the quote says how we'll reach it and whether scaffold is priced. Expect five to ten working days on a single house, longer on two storeys. September is the driest month at Sunshine Coast Airport, at 51.1 mm, so spring is the window most owners ask for.
Usually included
- Canal elevation specced and priced apart from the street front
- White salt brushed and washed off render before any primer goes on
- Metal primer on bare balustrades and flashings near the water
- Fascias and timber trims checked for soft spots on the older stages
- Scaffold on the water side priced as its own line where needed
Two fronts on one house
The canal side and the street side are different jobs.
Water at the back wall
The canals run through to the Pumicestone Passage, and that water sits a few metres from the rear of the house all year. That wall gets the heavier system and more washing than the front.
Salt in the render
Taubmans names efflorescence as a frequent issue in coastal homes. On canal render we brush it off, wash it down and find the moisture behind it before primer goes anywhere near it.
Metal near the water
Balustrades and flashings in bare galvanised iron or Zincalume get a metal primer first. Dulux asks for that within one kilometre of the sea, and the canal side is where it matters most.
How a Pelican Waters repaint runs
Canal side first, because it sets the price.
01
Read the water side.
We start at the canal, where the wear shows first. Chalking, salt on the render, cracked joints and soft trims all go in the notes, wall by wall.
02
Tape-test the old paint.
Cut an X, press the tape down, pull it fast. If paint comes away, it all comes back to a sound edge. If it holds, we wash and sand over it.
03
Clean it back to sound.
Salt is brushed and washed off, cracks are filled and bare metal is primed. Access between the house and the water is planned up front, with scaffold priced as its own line.
04
Book the spring window.
Two coats over the prep. Sunshine Coast Airport averages 51.1 mm of rain in September against 217.5 mm in February, so spring is the window to book.
For agents and property managers
Selling or leasing a Pelican Waters home.
Only 12.6 percent of Pelican Waters homes were rented at the 2021 Census, so most of our agency work here is for vendors. We schedule to the photo day, invoice the owner or the agency, and send the before and after set.
Common questions
What people ask before booking.
Why does the canal side of my Pelican Waters house cost more than the front?
Because it’s doing a harder job. The canal sits a few metres from that wall all year, so it holds salt and damp in a way the street front doesn’t. That wall gets more washing, more prep and a heavier system. We price the walls separately, so you’re not paying the canal rate on the whole house.
There's white powder on my rendered walls. Can you just paint over it?
No. Taubmans calls that powder efflorescence, salts carried to the surface by moisture moving through the wall, and paint over it sits on powder. We brush and wash it off and look for where the water is getting in. If it keeps coming back, that’s a moisture problem to fix before any coat goes on.
How often should I wash a canal-front house in Pelican Waters?
Dulux recommends washing its Weathershield every six months in coastal areas and once a year inland, and a canal house sits in the first group. Low-pressure water takes off dust and salt, and a soft brush with warm water and sugar soap handles grime that won’t shift. It’s the cheapest way to make a repaint last.
Our Pelican Waters house was built in the 1990s. How do you know if the old paint will hold?
We tape-test it, the way Dulux describes. Cut a small X through the paint, press tape over it and rip it off fast. If paint comes away with the tape, the loose paint has to come off back to a sound edge before anything new goes on. If it holds, we wash, sand and coat over it.
Is a Pelican Waters repaint a body corporate job?
Usually not. At the 2021 Census, 88 percent of occupied homes here were separate houses, so most jobs are a straight quote to the owner. The townhouse complexes are the exception, and there the committee approves the colour against the original scheme before we start.