Outside paint has a harder job than anything indoors. It has to keep rain out of timber and masonry while still letting trapped moisture escape, cope with sun, frost and London grime, and stay put on surfaces that expand and contract through the seasons. When exterior paint fails early, the cause is almost always what was underneath it or the weather it went on in — not the paint.
Voltify Contractors carries out exterior painting on houses, flats and commercial frontages across East and South-East London, including Canary Wharf (E14), Stratford (E15), Bow (E3), Canning Town (E16), Greenwich (SE10), Woolwich (SE18) and Barking (IG11): rendered and masonry walls, front doors, window frames and sills, fascias, soffits, porches, fences, gates and railings. It sits within our painting and decorating services, and this page covers what matters specifically when the work is outside.
Painting inside the property instead? Walls, ceilings and interior woodwork are covered on our interior painting page, where the choices are about finishes and preparation rather than weather and access.
Different Surfaces, Different Paint Systems
An outside wall and a front door can’t be painted with the same product or prepared the same way. The right system depends on what the surface is made of and what is already on it:
| Surface | Typical preparation | Usual coating |
|---|---|---|
| Render and painted masonry | Brush down, remove loose or flaking paint, treat green growth with a fungicidal wash, fill cracks with exterior filler | Breathable masonry paint, smooth or textured |
| Bare brick | Decide first whether painting is right at all — once brick is painted, going back is difficult and costly | Only a breathable masonry system, if painting is agreed |
| Timber windows, doors, fascias and cladding | Scrape and sand back to sound paint, cut out and repair soft or rotten areas, prime bare wood | Exterior primer, undercoat and gloss or satin, or a microporous exterior wood system |
| Fences and sheds | Clean, remove loose material, let the timber dry out | Exterior wood stain or fence treatment rather than gloss |
| Metal railings and gates | Wire-brush rust back to firm metal, prime with a rust-inhibiting primer | Exterior metal paint |
| uPVC doors and window frames | Clean thoroughly and key the surface | Only a paint made for uPVC; ordinary gloss will peel |
Breathability matters most on masonry. A non-breathable coating on solid brick or older lime render can trap moisture in the wall, which then pushes the paint off from behind and can show up as damp inside. Older properties in particular need the coating chosen to suit the wall, not the other way round. Our guide to the difference between interior and exterior paint explains why indoor products can’t simply be used outside, and how to treat in-between surfaces such as porches and front doors.
Weather and Timing
Exterior painting depends on conditions more than any other decorating work. Paint needs a dry surface, no rain forecast before it has set, and temperatures above the minimum printed on the tin — most exterior products specify a minimum air and surface temperature, and won’t cure properly in cold, damp conditions even if they look dry.
In practice that means:
- the drier, milder months from late spring to early autumn are the most reliable;
- early starts may wait for morning dew to dry off, and work usually stops early enough for the paint to set before evening damp;
- walls in full, hot sun can make paint dry too fast and show lap marks, so work often follows the shade round the building;
- a run of wet weather can pause an outside job part-way through, and it is better to wait than paint a damp wall.
Booking ahead for the better months helps, but no one can promise the weather. Our guide to the best time to paint a house exterior explains the conditions to look for and how to plan around them.
Painting a Wooden Front Door or Window Frames
Doors and windows usually take up more time than the walls, and they are where preparation shows most. Flaking paint on the bottom rail of a door or the sills of a window is often a sign that water is getting into the timber — so the soft wood is cut out and repaired first, or the new paint will lift again within a season.
Bare timber is primed as soon as it is exposed. Edges, including the top and bottom of a door, are painted too, because that is where water gets in. Glazing putty is checked and made good around the glass, and opening windows and doors are left to dry open where possible so they don’t stick to the frame.
Access, Height and Permissions
Ground-floor walls, doors and fences can usually be reached from ladders. Upper storeys, fascias and chimney stacks may need a tower or scaffolding, which affects both the price and how the job is planned; access is agreed when the job is quoted. If scaffolding is needed on a pavement, the council normally has to license it.
It is also worth checking before you choose a colour:
- Flats and leasehold properties — the outside of the building is usually controlled by the freeholder or managing agent, and the lease may require their consent for exterior decoration.
- Conservation areas and listed buildings — painting previously unpainted brick, or changing the character of a frontage, may need permission from the local planning authority.
- Terraces and shared walls — neighbours may need to allow access for ladders or scaffolding.
How an Outside Painting Job Runs, From Survey to Last Coat
Every house is different, but the order of work on the outside rarely changes, because each stage protects the one after it:
- Look over the elevations. Walls, woodwork and metalwork are checked for flaking paint, cracks, soft timber and rust, and the access needed for each side is agreed.
- Protect the surroundings. Paths, steps, plants and glazing near the work are covered, and anything fixed to the wall that is in the way is noted before work starts.
- Clean and strip back. Dirt, green growth and loose paint come off first; nothing is painted over a surface that is moving.
- Repair before coating. Cracks in render are filled, soft timber on sills and door rails is cut out and made good, and rusted metal is taken back to firm steel.
- Prime the bare areas. Bare timber, filled patches and treated metal get the primer that suits them before any finish coat.
- Apply the finish coats. Masonry is usually painted top to bottom, then woodwork and metalwork, working round the building with the weather and the shade.
- Walk round together. Missed edges and touch-ups are picked up before the covers come off.
If the work is on a shop front or a block managed for tenants, the same steps apply, but the timing is planned around the people using the building; see our commercial painting page for how that works.
What Affects the Price of Exterior Painting
- Height and access equipment — ladders, a tower or full scaffolding.
- Condition — sound previous paintwork is quick to recoat; flaking masonry paint, rotten timber and rusted railings take far longer to prepare.
- Timber repairs — cutting out and splicing rotten sections of sills and frames.
- Amount of detail — sash windows, decorative mouldings and railings take much longer than plain surfaces.
- The paint system — specialist breathable, textured or uPVC paints cost more than standard masonry paint.
A whole elevation, or a house front that needs a tower, is priced as a quote once the surfaces and access are known. For a small outside job, such as repainting a single front door or a pair of window sills, our documented minimum call-out is £80 for the first hour. That is a minimum charge, not the price of the job; the final cost still depends on preparation, repairs and the paint system. Our guide to interior and exterior paint explains why exterior products and preparation cost more than indoor work.
Getting Exterior Painting Quoted
Send a few photos of the front and any other elevations to be painted, a note of the number of storeys, and close-ups of anything flaking, cracked or soft. Say whether you own the freehold or need consent, and whether the property is in a conservation area if you know.
Small exterior repairs that turn up during preparation — a loose gate, a rotten fence panel, a sticking door — can be dealt with through our handyman and property maintenance service. Contact Voltify Contractors to arrange a quote, or check the areas we cover.
