Wurtulla, Sunshine Coast
Exterior painting in Wurtulla, between the surf and the lake.
The last of the coastal Kawana Waters suburbs to be built. The first houses went up around 1980, so the oldest are now past forty.
- Since 1985
- /Family-run, locally owned
- /Fully insured
- /Dulux + Taubmans accredited
- /Lead & asbestos qualified
Local context
What this work looks like in Wurtulla.
Wurtulla was the last coastal suburb in the Kawana Waters project to be developed, with subdivisions starting around 1980. That means a lot of the street is roughly the same age, and it's old enough now that the timber needs checking before the paint does. Fascias, barge boards and window sills are where it shows. The suburb also sits between the Coral Sea on the east and Pangali Canal and Lake Kawana on the west, so which way a wall faces matters as much as how old it is.
What we watch for
Conditions that change the job here.
Houses on the beach side take onshore salt. Houses on the canal and lake side have water a few metres from the back wall, which keeps it damp for longer. Both get a harder wash and a heavier system on the elevation that faces the water, while the sheltered walls stay on the standard spec. A house from the 1980s may still have fibro eaves, which get an asbestos test before anyone sands, and Queensland's guidance rules out power tools and pressure blasters on sound sheets. The 2021 Census counted 83.9 percent of occupied homes as separate houses and 14.2 percent as townhouses, so most jobs are a single home.
How it runs
What to expect.
On a Wurtulla house around forty years old, we expect to repair before we paint. We walk the fascias, barge boards and sills first, mark soft timber for replacement, and tape-test the old paint on every side. The quote lists each repair apart from the repaint, so you can see what the house needs now and what can wait. At the 2021 Census, 35.2 percent of homes were owned with a mortgage and 28.2 percent were rented, so we get both owner jobs and landlord jobs. Tell us the date that matters and we'll plan back from it. Most single houses take five to ten working days.
Usually included
- Soft fascias, barge boards and sills replaced before painting
- Water-facing walls on both the beach and lake sides specced heavier
- Asbestos test on older eaves, hand prep on sound sheets
- Repairs priced as separate lines from the repaint
- Townhouse complexes quoted with committee colour approval
Forty years on the coast
A house from the 1980s needs repairs as well as paint.
Timber first
Fascia ends, barge boards and sills are where water sits on a house this age. Soft timber is cut out and replaced before paint, because a primer only grips the layer under it.
Water on two sides
The Coral Sea is on the east, and Pangali Canal and Lake Kawana are on the west. Whichever side your house faces, that elevation gets washed harder and a heavier system.
Repairs on their own line
Every repair is priced apart from the repaint. You see what the house needs now, what can wait a season, and where each dollar goes.
How a Wurtulla job runs
Repairs first, colour last.
01
Find the soft timber.
We walk the fascias, barge boards and sills with a screwdriver before we talk about colour. Anything soft goes on the list for replacement.
02
Test before anyone sands.
Older eaves are tested for asbestos. Sound sheets get hand prep only, since Queensland’s guidance rules out power tools and pressure blasters on them.
03
Repair, wash and prepare.
New timber goes up primed. Walls facing the water get a long wash, then scrape, sand, fill and seal, with bare metal primed first.
04
Coat when the walls are dry.
Two coats over sound prep. Dulux warns that rain or dew on a drying coat can damage it, so on a damp morning the water side waits for the sun.
For agents and property managers
Wurtulla rentals between leases.
Just over a quarter of Wurtulla homes were rented at the 2021 Census. We work to the lease date, keep the repair lines apart from the repaint on the invoice, and send the before and after photos for the file.
Common questions
What people ask before booking.
My Wurtulla house is from the early eighties. Will it need repairs before painting?
Probably some. Timber that has carried paint for forty years often goes soft at the ends of fascias, barge boards and sills, where water sits. A primer only grips the layer under it, so soft timber gets cut out and replaced before anything is painted. We price each repair as its own line, so you can see what’s needed now and what can wait.
We back onto Lake Kawana. Is that as hard on paint as the beach side?
It’s hard in a different way. On the beach side, salt arrives on the wind. On the lake and canal side, the water sits a few metres from the wall all year, so the wall stays damp for longer after rain and dew. We spec the water-facing elevation heavier on both sides of Nicklin Way and quote the sheltered walls lighter.
Is Wurtulla part of Kawana?
It’s one of the suburbs of the Kawana Waters project, which started in 1960, and the last of its coastal suburbs to be built. We have a separate page for Kawana itself. This one is written for Wurtulla’s houses, most of which went up from around 1980 on.
Can I repaint my Wurtulla townhouse without the rest of the complex?
Usually only with committee approval. Most complexes have rules on exterior colour, and a single unit painted off-scheme may be asked to paint it back. We’ll check the scheme with your strata manager first. If the committee is planning the whole complex, it often makes sense to wait and join that job.
Do you replace rotten timber, or just paint over it?
We replace it. Soft fascia ends, sills and barge boards get cut back to sound timber, and the new piece is primed before it goes up. Painting over rot only hides it for a while. Bigger structural work, like a sagging verandah beam, goes to a carpenter or builder, and we’ll tell you if we see it.