The questions he gets asked most

It comes down to the size of the place, how many surfaces are in the job and what condition they are in. A house that has been kept up needs a fraction of the preparation of one that has been left twenty years, and preparation is where the hours go. That is why there is no price list on this site.

What you get instead is a proper look at the job and a written quote with the prep, the coats and the products all named, so you can see exactly what you are paying for.

No. Coming out, looking at it and writing the quote costs you nothing and there is no obligation to go ahead. He will also tell you straight, at no charge, if a job is not worth doing yet or if there is a cheaper way to get the result you are after.

Nearly always because of the preparation, and sometimes because of the number of coats.

Two quotes for the same house can be a long way apart and both be honest, if one includes a full wash down, scrape, sand, fill and prime and the other includes a quick once over. Compare the prep line by line rather than the total, and ask both painters how many top coats they have allowed for.

Payment terms and any deposit are set out on your written quote before a brush is picked up. He will walk you through it when he quotes.

Height changes the access, and access changes the hours: ladders, planks or scaffolding, plus the time to set them up and move them. It is all worked into the quote rather than added on later as a surprise.

It depends on what is booked at the time. This is a small operation and it does get booked ahead, particularly through spring and into summer, so the honest answer is that you get a date when you get the quote rather than a general figure that would be wrong half the time.

Send the job through now and he can tell you where you would sit in the queue.

A single room can be a day. A full house exterior with proper preparation is usually a week or more, and it stretches if the weather turns. Your quote will carry the estimate for your job, based on what he sees when he looks at it.

Exterior work stops. Paint applied on a damp surface, or caught by rain before it cures, will not last, and no honest painter will push through it to keep a schedule.

Rain days push the finish date out and they do not change your price. If there is interior work in the same job, that is usually where the day goes instead.

No. Most interior jobs are done room by room with the furniture pulled to the middle and covered, so you keep using the house. He will tell you which rooms are out of action on which days, and low odour paints are available if that matters to you.

Two top coats over a primer or sealer on bare, patched and previously unpainted surfaces. That is the standard, not an upgrade you have to ask for.

Some strong colour changes and some bare timbers need a third. If yours does, it will be on the quote before you agree to it, not raised halfway through.

Wash down, scrape back anything loose or flaking, sand, fill cracks and holes, caulk the gaps and prime every bare or patched area. On exteriors that also covers treating mould, rust and any timber that has gone soft.

All of it is written on the quote, surface by surface.

Trade grade products from the main Australian brands, chosen for the surface and the exposure. A north facing coastal wall does not get the same product as a hallway.

The brand and product are named on your quote. If you have a preference, or a warranty on an existing coating to protect, say so when you enquire.

Yes. 25 plus years of colours going on and coming off houses around Batemans Bay means he can tell you what holds up in this light, rather than what looks good on a chip in the shop.

Colour cards, sample pots and a test patch on your own wall are all worth doing before the order goes in.

Filling, caulking, minor timber repairs, popped nails, loose boards and rust treatment are all part of a proper prep and they are included. Anything structural, rotten or a job for another trade gets pointed out to you at the quote so you can get it sorted first.

No. Cutting in is done by hand with a brush, which is what gives you a clean line between a wall and a ceiling. Drop sheets go down and anything that is not being painted gets covered.

Batemans Bay and the suburbs around it. That takes in Batehaven, Denhams Beach, Surf Beach, Sunshine Bay, Malua Bay, Catalina, Long Beach, Nelligen, Durras, Broulee, Mossy Point and Tomakin.

A bit outside that? Ask anyway.

Yes to both. NSW painting and decorating licence 221238C, ABN 75 412 395 672, and public liability cover. The certificate is yours to look at before anyone starts.

Yes. Shops, offices, motels, unit blocks and townhouse complexes, staged so the place keeps trading and residents keep their access. Out of hours work where the trading day needs it.

No. A single room, a front door, a fence or a driveway is worth asking about. Plenty of the bigger jobs started as someone ringing about one wall.

Contact Andrew from 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. He is on site most of that, which is why the form exists. Send it through at any hour, including at night or over the weekend, and he will pick it up.

Clear access to the surfaces, somewhere to park the van, a tap and a power point. Inside, move anything breakable or precious out of the room yourself. Everything else gets shifted and covered as part of the job.