Nestled down a long driveway surrounded by spectacular bush this home provided a quiet and peaceful sanctuary for an active outdoor family. Unfortunately over the years the relentless wind, rain, sun and nature had battered this once grand and was in desperate need of exterior painting.  When the house painters arrived to provide a free quote it was obvious what need to be done to bring this home back to life using specific products that offered protection and good looks it for many years to come. To discover exactly how we did this, find all the details with incredible before and after’s in the article below.

Being situated in the bush the this home had a lot of moss, lichen and dirt growth. Our first process was the house wash which eliminated all organic growth, and cleaned away many years of dirt and grime. We also sanitised the entire surface to ensure all unseeable spores were neutralised and eliminated.

The cladding on this home is rough sawn which means there is very little sanding and preparation required.

With the preparation completed the house painters used a specialist product by Dulux called Weathershield® ColourGuard™ and the colour chosen was Rāwene. Below we outline the reasons why we selected this particular product.

The colour choice for this home was Rāwene which is described as a popular dark charcoal with a subtle bluish undertone. https://www.dulux.co.nz/colour/greys/rawene

When using dark colours it is important to note that there is a limit to what older weatherboards can tolerate. Darker colours tend to “stress” the wood and previous coatings more leading to failure.

When looking at colours they all come with an LVR. This is Light Reflective Value. The light reflectance value of an individual colour indicates the amount of light and heat that individual colour will reflect.

Black has a light reflectance value of zero and absorbs all light and heat. Surfaces low in light reflectance value are generally very dark and can get very hot (such as the black leather seats in a car).

On the other hand, white has a light reflectance value of nearly 100 and keeps a building light and cool. All colours fit between these two extremes.

A colour with a light reflectance value of 60 (which means it reflects 60% of the light that falls on it) will reflect more light than a colour with a light reflectance value of 30 (which means it reflects 30% of the light that falls on it).

Rāwene had a LRV of 7. Typically a colour like this the house painters would recommend paint stripping, and then harnessing the latest paint technology from primer to colour we would be able to achieve the required finish.

With the cladding being rough saw cladding however, paint stripping is not an option. Fortunately Dulux have a specialty product called Weathershield® ColourGuard™ which is batch made and designed for these situations.

Why is this important? Lesser experienced painting companies will have just used standard paint which would have resulted in paint failure. By selecting the right paint for the right cladding the house painters were confidently able to achieve a finish that will last…guaranteed!

Using the latest innovation in dark colour technology the house painters used the Dulux® Weathershield® ColourGuard™ system which has been specifically designed for darker colours and provides superior colour fade resistance.

Dulux® Weathershield® ColourGuard™ utilises specially formulated heavy duty reflective pigments for superior colour durability. As the sun’s rays hit the painted surface, a percentage of visible and infrared rays are reflected so even the darkest colours stay truer for longer. Due to it’s formulation Dulux® Weathershield® ColourGuard™ is limited to just 28 colours.

Rāwene is a popular dark charcoal with a subtle bluish undertone. It works well as a contemporary feature colour on exteriors such as a front door. It pairs perfectly with whites such as Mt Aspiring and Ōkārito as well as soft browns and grieges such as Ōpononi.

To achieve such a dramatic colour change the weatherboards needed to be completely stripped. The house painters are experts in…find out more

Overlooking Little Shoal Bay on Auckland’s North Shore this beautiful home built in 1925 needed some urgent attention to keep it looking good….find out more

The house painters used the latest paint stripping technology, The Paint Shaver Pro, to strip sections of weatherboards of this property in Remuera…find out more