Why the prep, not the paint, makes the job

Everyone wants to talk about colour. Almost no one wants to talk about prep. The trouble is, the prep is the part that decides whether your paint job still looks right in three years or starts peeling and patching within one.

Good prep starts with looking at what is actually on the wall. Old flaking paint, gloss that needs a key, filler that has shrunk, dents and cracks, dust and grease. None of it gets better under a fresh coat. It gets sealed in and shows through.

So before any brush comes out we fill and sand, we deal with anything flaking or moving, and we make sure the surface is clean and sound. On exteriors that also means timing the work around the weather so coats go on dry and cure properly, rather than getting rained on overnight.

Then there is cutting in, the edges where wall meets ceiling, trim and corners. Cutting in clean by hand is the difference between a finish that looks crisp up close and one that only works from the doorway. It is slower, and it is worth it.

None of this is glamorous and none of it photographs well, which is exactly why it is the corner most often cut. We do not cut it, because we are usually the same crew who plastered the wall underneath and we are not about to let a rushed topcoat undo that. If you want the finishing done where the prep gets the same care as the colour, that is the painting work we do.