Painting weatherboards, villas and bungalows

Which weatherboard profile does your house have?

Most older North Shore houses have one of three profiles. Bevel-back boards overlap like steps and suit simple bungalows and state houses. Rusticated boards have a curved rebate along the top and are typical of villas. Vertical channel boards turn up on later and renovated houses. Each fails in a different place, so each needs a slightly different prep plan.

On bevel-back boards, watch the bottom lap and the nail heads. Rusticated boards collect dirt and moisture in the curve of the rebate, so they need a careful wash and a brush worked into the hollow. Channel boards show their age at the joints and the cut ends, where end grain drinks water.

Why villas and bungalows take longer to paint

A plain bevel-back wall can be rolled and brushed at a steady pace. A villa front cannot. Fretwork brackets, turned verandah posts, finials, scribers at every corner and double-hung sash windows all have to be cut in by hand, and most of them carry many decades of paint. That detail, not the wall area, sets the hours on an old house.

• Layers of old paint. Villas and bungalows from before the 1940s have been repainted many times. Built-up paint cracks across the grain and needs scraping back to a firm edge.
• Lead in the lower layers. WorkSafe advises treating any building from the 1980s or earlier as having lead-based paint, so the scraping is done wet and every chip collected. See lead paint in older homes.
• Sash windows. Sashes need painting without gluing them shut, which means working the meeting rails and leaving them to dry before they are moved.
• Repairs. Rotten sill ends and split scribers are found during prep and replaced or filled before any primer goes on.

Published Auckland figures put villas at the top of the exterior price range. The cost guide sets out those ranges and what pushes them up.

Should weatherboards be water blasted before painting?

No. BRANZ Bulletin 633 rules out water blasting on weatherboards: the pressure forces water between the boards and around window sashes, and it chews into soft timbers such as cedar. It is also not a recommended way to remove paint. A gentle wash with a brush and a mild cleaner does the job without wetting the framing.

After washing, the boards need to dry out properly before any primer or paint goes on. On a south wall in spring that can take longer than people expect, and it is one reason a repaint is planned around the forecast rather than a fixed start date.

Older pre-primed boards and failing paint

Some houses were clad in weatherboards and trims that were primed at the factory before they went up. BRANZ notes that the early quick-drying primers used on those boards keep hardening with age, so the paint on top can lose its grip in sheets. When that happens, patching is not enough and the failing coating has to come off before the boards are repainted.

A simple tape test shows how sound the old paint is. Press a strip of strong tape onto a clean patch, or onto a small cross cut through the paint with a knife, then pull it away. If flakes come off on the tape, that area needs scraping back. If nothing lifts, a wash, a light sand and spot-priming are usually all the old paint needs.

Heritage houses and consent

Repainting is maintenance, which building.govt.nz treats as exempt from building consent when comparable materials are used. The exception is a house that is a scheduled historic heritage place in the Auckland Unitary Plan. For those, the D17 overlay rules say maintenance must not paint a surface that was never painted, use sand or water blasting, or fix scaffolding to the building without consent.

Unsure whether your house is scheduled? Auckland Council can tell you before any work is booked. A two-storey villa repaint may need scaffolding, and on a scheduled place, fixing it to the building is one of the things that can need resource consent.

Asked before a repaint

How often do weatherboards need repainting?

BRANZ says exterior repainting is typically needed every 7 to 10 years. On a weatherboard house the sunny north and west walls, board ends and sills usually give out first. Paint that leaves a chalky mark on your finger, or fine cracks along the lap edges, says the boards are due.

What is the best paint for weatherboards in New Zealand?

A quality acrylic system: primer on bare timber, then two acrylic finish coats. Resene, a paint maker, expects a quality three-coat acrylic system to perform on timber weatherboards for 7 to 10 years, and older oil-based systems for 4 to 6. Low sheen is the usual finish on boards.

Can you water blast weatherboards before painting?

No. BRANZ Bulletin 633 says water blasting should never be used on weatherboards, because the pressure drives water into the gaps between boards and around window sashes, and it can damage soft timbers like cedar. A low-pressure wash with a brush does the cleaning without soaking the framing.

Why does a villa cost more to paint than a newer house?

More edges, more layers and more care. Fretwork, finials, sash windows and scribers all need cutting in by brush, and a century of paint on a villa almost always includes lead-based layers that must be handled with wet methods. Published Auckland ranges put villas at the top end of exterior prices.

Does repainting a villa need consent from Auckland Council?

Repainting is maintenance, and normally that is exempt from building consent. If the house is a scheduled historic heritage place in the Auckland Unitary Plan, painting a surface that was never painted, water blasting or sandblasting, or fixing scaffolding to the building can need resource consent. Check with Auckland Council before work starts.