PAINTERS LAKESIDE

• Get a free quote that separates damp treatment from painting, so you can see what you are paying for
• Damp diagnosed before it is quoted — rising, penetrating and condensation damp need different fixes
• Honest advice on which walls need work now and which can wait until the next cycle

What Painting Costs in Lakeside

Lakeside sits low, next to Zandvlei, on a high water table. That makes rising damp the single most common issue we deal with here, and it is the item that most often turns what a homeowner thought was a painting job into a repair job. It is also why a cheap Lakeside quote is often the most expensive one, because painting over damp means paying for the whole job twice.

The housing stock is largely 1950s to 1970s plastered brick, generally single-storey, on flat, accessible sites. Take damp out of the equation and it is a straightforward, reasonably priced area to paint.

Damp work should always be quoted as its own section with the affected area measured. If a quote gives you one figure for "damp and painting" with no measured area, you cannot tell what is being done. Every figure above is a guide for budgeting. A measured quote after a site visit is what you should actually work from.

When to Paint in Lakeside

The water table rises through winter and stays high into early spring, so the base of a Lakeside wall is the last thing in the valley to dry out. Exteriors are realistically an October to April job, and lower walls specifically should not be coated before late October.

There is a useful piece of counter-intuitive timing here. The best time to have damp assessed is the middle of winter, when it is at its worst and its full extent is visible. The best time to fix and paint it is the following summer. Booking an assessment in July and the work in November is the sensible sequence.

• Winter, June to August — the right time to have damp diagnosed. It shows its true extent now and hides in summer.
• Late October to November — lower walls have finally dried. This is when damp repairs and replastering should happen.
• December to February — good for general exterior work. New plaster needs to cure properly before coating, so allow the time.
• March to April — excellent conditions and the last comfortable window before the water table starts climbing again.
• Interiors — any time of year, though rooms should be ventilated properly during and after, which is easier in the warmer months.

Which Paint to Use in Lakeside

Salt and UV are modest concerns here. Moisture management is everything, and the most common mistake is reaching for a waterproof coating to solve a damp problem.

• Never seal a damp wall — a waterproof or sealing coating on a wall drawing groundwater pushes the moisture higher and blows the plaster off. This is the most expensive mistake made in Lakeside.
• Treat at the source — a failed or bridged damp course, raised paving, a blocked airbrick or leaking plumbing. Then remove the contaminated plaster, replaster, and only then coat.
• Walls — a good breathable exterior acrylic. There is no need for a top-tier salt-resistant product this far from open water.
• Interiors on affected walls — a breathable, mould-resistant emulsion. Vinyl-heavy or sealing interior products on a wall that has had damp will trap the residual moisture.
• Bathrooms and kitchens — mould-resistant product plus working extraction. Paint will not fix a ventilation problem.
• Ceilings — check for roof leaks and condensation staining before coating. Stain-blocking primer on water marks, otherwise they ghost back through.

What We Find on Lakeside Homes

What we normally find on a Lakeside survey:

• A tide-mark of damp on the bottom 600mm to a metre of internal walls, with bubbling paint and salty deposits.
• Paving or a patio built up above the damp course level, bridging it and letting moisture straight into the wall.
• Airbricks blocked with soil, plants or a later extension.
• Black mould in bathroom corners and on ceilings, from condensation rather than a leak, and no working extractor fan.
• A previous owner's waterproof coating on the lower wall, with the plaster now blown above it.
• Water staining on ceilings under valley gutters, which needs the roof looked at before anything is painted.

Services We Cover in Lakeside

• Interior painting
• Exterior painting
• Roof painting
• Waterproofing
• Damp proofing
• Plaster repairs

Lakeside Painting Questions

Getting a home in Lakeside painted? Contact Painters Fish Hoek for a free, itemised quote showing the preparation, the number of coats and the actual product going on your walls.

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