When it comes to painting Gold Coast properties, there are many benefits for updating the exterior of the home.  A fresh coat of paint can add value, enhance street appeal and preventing weathering however it can also be a nail-biting experience for those homeowners who are concerned about paint and colour selection.  In this article we provide some handy hints and tips from a professional Gold Coast painter to help you successfully navigate the maze of decisions faced when choosing the right paint for your house exterior.

Best Colours for Painting Gold Coast Home Exteriors

Before you decide on a colour scheme, take an inventory of the parts of the house exterior that will not be painted.  This may include the roof, wooden doors, brickwork, garage doors, steps, decks and other adjacent structures such as fences.  While it is not necessary to match the new paintwork to these items, it is important to ensure a harmonious combination.  A good tip when co-ordinating paint colours with existing brickwork or a stone feature wall is to pick out a tone from the bricks or stones and use that as one of the accent colours. Some paint manufacturers also produce specialty paint ranges that are specifically designed to co-ordinate with Colorbond steel roofing and guttering.

When undertaking exterior painting Gold Coast homeowners will find it advisable to limit the number of colours used to no more than three or four.  Any more than this can look too busy.  It also pays to bear in mind that not all colours work best on the outside of the house, so sticking to a muted or neutral palette will generally be a safer option. 

Taking cues from the environment surrounding the house including neighbouring properties and natural features can often be a good place to start when choosing colours for painting Gold Coast homes. Beachside buildings can look great adorned in crisp whites and blues or sandy neutrals that reflect the colours of sea and sky, while hinterland properties will look more in harmony with nature wearing a livery of earthy or rustic tones.  

 The style of the house should also come into play when choosing your colours.  Painting Gold Coast federation style homes, or the ‘Queenslander’ style of dwelling that is very popular in inner Brisbane suburbs, will require a different choice of palette to that of more modern Gold Coast houses with rendered facades and bold architectural lines. Careful colour selection can provide a contemporary or classic edge for an older home and downplay undesirable features, while highlighting the architectural features of a modern home in a bold accent colour can add often add real wow factor. 

From an environmental perspective, homeowners may want to consider painting Gold Coast homes in white or light-coloured paints.  Light coloured paints are more effective at reflecting heat, and in the hot subtropical climate of South East Queensland a home that employs natural cooling strategies will be far more energy efficient and economical than one that does not. If you have a small home, white and light coloured paints offer the added advantage of making the wall space look larger.

When undertaking painting Gold Coast homeowners can choose to paint fascias and gutters in either the same colour or a contrasting colour scheme.  Downpipes should blend in with the colour of the wall they are fixed to in order to avoid becoming an unwanted feature.

Many paint manufacturers produce free colour charts that can provide inspiration for those looking exterior colour schemes and ideas. It is also a good idea to collect pictures and clippings of colour schemes you like, or make your own pinterest page collating pictures from various online sources.

Best Products for Painting Gold Coast House Exteriors

Thanks to the subtropical South East Queensland climate, homes in this region are typically exposed to the extremes of hot sun, flooding downpours and high humidity in the summer season.  All of these things are the enemy of paint! Painting Gold Coast homes in anything other than top quality, 100% acrylic paint is therefore not recommended. A good quality acrylic paint will repel water and resist rust as well as the growth of mould and mildew.  It will also provide a better return for your investment by maintaining surface adhesion, wearing evenly and resisting fading, cracking or peeling.

It’s also important to remember that no matter how great the paint you choose to use is, without good surface preparation prior to painting it will not be able to provide the years of protection and good looks that it was designed to give. Good surface preparation may well take longer than the actual painting, so when hiring Gold Coast painters make sure you find out exactly what level of preparation is included in the quote and choose a professional who will not neglect this component.

Painting Gold Coast and Brisbane house exteriors can seem like a daunting task, but by being mindful of colour choice, proper paint selection and adequate surface preparation the rewards of a well-balanced and long-lasting paint job will be enjoyed for many years to come.