Shelly Beach, Sunshine Coast
Exterior painting in Shelly Beach, between the two headlands.
A small pocket of mostly big family homes between Moffat Head and Caloundra Head. Second storeys, seaward walls and scaffold set most quotes here.
- Since 1985
- /Family-run, locally owned
- /Fully insured
- /Dulux + Taubmans accredited
- /Lead & asbestos qualified
Local context
What this work looks like in Shelly Beach.
Shelly Beach is tiny. It covers about half a square kilometre between Moffat Head to the north and Caloundra Head to the south, and the 2021 Census counted 925 people. The houses are big for the size of the place. 81.7 percent of occupied homes were separate houses, and 40.9 percent had four or more bedrooms. That shapes the exterior quote. A big house means more wall, often a second storey, and an owner who has usually been there a while, with 45.3 percent of homes owned outright.
What we watch for
Conditions that change the job here.
Both headlands face the open sea, and a house with a view of the water has walls that face straight into the salt. Those walls get washed harder and a heavier system, and Dulux recommends washing coastal paintwork every six months to keep it. Bare galvanised iron and Zincalume, like balustrades and flashings, get a metal primer first, as Dulux specifies within one kilometre of the sea. Second storeys and high gables mean scaffold, and on a sloping block the setup takes planning. If you want a dark colour, Dulux says dark colours take on more heat and UV, so it needs a dark-colour product and extra coats.
How it runs
What to expect.
We walk the house with you and price it elevation by elevation, so the seaward walls and the sheltered walls don't share a price. The quote says how the high work is reached and whether scaffold is in, because on a two-storey house that line moves the total more than anything else. Our guide range adds 20 to 40 percent for a second storey, and 15 to 30 percent for dark colours that need extra coats. Most full exteriors run five to ten working days, and a big two-storey house takes the long end.
Usually included
- Seaward walls priced and specced apart from the sheltered side
- Scaffold for second storeys and high gables, as its own line
- Metal primer on bare balustrades and flashings near the sea
- Dark-colour products and extra coats where the scheme needs them
Big houses, small pocket
More wall, more height, and the sea on one side.
The seaward side
Walls that face the water take salt and wind first. They get washed harder and a heavier system, while the sheltered walls stay on the standard spec.
The second storey
Two-storey houses need scaffold. The quote says how the high work is reached and what it costs, because that line moves the total more than any other.
The colour choice
Dulux says dark colours take on more heat and UV. If you want one, it needs a dark-colour product and extra coats, and we’ll price that in up front.
How a Shelly Beach job runs
Access planned first, then the walls.
01
Walk every elevation.
We go round the house with you and mark which walls face the sea, which are sheltered, and how high each one goes.
02
Plan the scaffold.
Second storeys, gables and sloping ground decide the setup. It goes on the quote as its own line, with the days it adds.
03
Wash and prepare.
Every wall is washed. Loose paint is scraped back, cracks are filled, rust comes off the balustrades, and bare metal is primed before any topcoat.
04
Two coats, top down.
We work from the top of the scaffold down, so drips never land on finished paint. A daylight walkthrough comes before the scaffold comes down.
For agents and property managers
Shelly Beach sales and leases.
About a quarter of Shelly Beach homes were rented at the 2021 Census. We schedule to the lease end or the photo day, deal with the tenant direct on access, and send the before and after set for your file.
Common questions
What people ask before booking.
My Shelly Beach house is two storeys. Why is scaffold on the quote?
Because the second storey has to be reached safely, and on most big houses scaffold is how we do it. The quote says how the high work is reached and what the scaffold costs, so it’s in writing before we start. Our guide range adds 20 to 40 percent for a second storey, and most of that is access and the extra days.
Which walls on a Shelly Beach house wear out first?
The ones facing the sea. Salt and wind land on them first, and that’s where you’ll see fading, chalky paint and rust spots on metal before anywhere else. We price those walls with the heavier system and leave the sheltered walls on the standard one, so you don’t pay the seaward rate on the whole house.
We want a dark grey for our Shelly Beach house. Is that a problem?
It can work if you go in knowing the cost. Dulux says darker colours take on more heat and UV, which breaks paint down faster, and its guarantee doesn’t cover fading. A dark-colour product like Weathershield ColourGuard reflects some of the heat, and our guide range adds 15 to 30 percent for the extra coats a dark colour needs.
How long will a big Shelly Beach exterior take?
Most full exteriors take us five to ten working days, and a big two-storey house runs toward ten. Scaffold goes up first and comes down last, and the weather decides the rest. At Sunshine Coast Airport, March averages 12.5 rain days and September 5.4, so a spring start usually loses fewer days.
Our balustrades are rusting at the base. Can you fix that?
If the metal is still sound, yes. We take the rust back, prime the bare metal with a metal primer, and recoat. Dulux asks for that primer on galvanised iron and Zincalume within one kilometre of the sea, and in Shelly Beach the sea is never far away. If the base has rusted through, that’s a job for a fabricator, and we’ll say so.