If you find some crack and the paint start peeling off from your exterior wall,
If you want to repaint the exterior wall of your house, want to know how to treat the fungus on wall, how to treat the crack and how to avoid the odour.
Interior and exterior painting and decorating contractors. Private and commercial work carried out by a team of project managers, design team and tradesmen. Established in HK in 1996.
Painter and decorator offering services including colourwash, plain wall finish, wallpapering and borders or staccu finish.
NE WAY TO tell if your exterior paintwork is due for a touch up - apart from the tell-tale signs of cracking and peeling - is to stand on the street and look at it critically as if you were a potential buyer. If the house looks tired and outdated, or simply unappealing, then a fresh look might be in order.
Repainting a whole house can be a major job. Unlike individual rooms that can be redecorated one by one, the exterior requires total commitment. Apart from the time and expense involved, it is important to choose a colour you can live with because, if you do the job properly the first time, it can last for up to 10 years.
The state of the exterior will give you an idea of the size of the task. If the old paint is peeling, you will have to resign yourself to the tedious business of scraping it off with a wire brush, or blasting it away with a pressure hose before applying the new look.
It is common in Hong Kong, because of the humid climate, to find spots of mildew, green mould or moss on your masonry walls. It is vital to find these spots and scrub them clean, then treat the area with a fungicidal solution or bleach. If you don't kill the fungus, it will soon reappear to spoil the new paintwork. Some people use ordinary household bleach, but solutions sold at paint shops are stronger, costing up to about $45 for a litre.
Because the weather in Hong Kong makes exterior walls flaky, Fanny Lui of Yuen Fat Ho paint shop on Hollywood Road recommends using a base coat of waterproof primer or stabilising solution. If the surface is not too chalky, a primer will do, but if it is powdery you will need to remove the old layers and put on some stabilising solution, otherwise your new paint will soon flake off.
Check for structural cracks that should be filled with a rubber or elasticated filler that expands and contracts with the movement of the building. Do not use regular plaster, of the type you would use inside, because it will only crack again.
The cost of exterior paint varies greatly, from $82 to $110 for four litres of Viva, the cheapest brand, to $170 for five litres of the mid-range Please Coat. Five litres of the premium brands Sandtex and Dulux Weathershield cost $295 to $320 and $350 respectively.
Sandtex comes in a rough or smooth finish. As the name suggests, sand is added to one variety to achieve a Tuscan look. Five litres of paint covers an area of 250 sq ft. If you're weighing up the cost of premium brands, it's worth considering that Sandtex, if applied properly, is guaranteed for 10 years, while the cheaper brands may last only one or two years.
You can apply exterior paint with brushes, rollers or by spraying with compressed air. The latter is normally only done by professionals, since a compressor is required and neighbouring houses make it harder to apply. Either way, take the time to mask with tape and newspaper around the windows or other areas you want to shield from stray paint. If by now you have decided it sounds like too much hard work and prefer to employ someone to do the job, expect to pay from $800 a day for a local painter, or up to several thousand for an expatriate service.
Once your two layers of topcoat are applied, there are other considerations. For instance, if you live near a bushy area you may want to paint on a solution to repel insects. Clear, colourless and odourless, this can be a useful addition around windows and doors and can last for several years.
Or you may want to use a dirt repellant, which costs more than $200 for five litres. Because this should be applied over the whole area, it means one more procedure.
Another optional extra is to apply a waterproofing membrane, which is quite thick and dries like a plastic film, and is sometimes used on balconies and other outside areas.
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