We cleaned up and painted the external walls of a bungalow in Tarring, Worthing.

The bungalow has had a number of extensions and the new and old pebble dash render was showing it’s age. The customer had not had the house painted in many year.

We worked hard over several days to clean down the pebble dash exterior, tape up windows, doors and brickwork and then painted a couple of coats of exterior masonry paint to bring this bungalow back up to a new standard.

Bungalow house painting worthing – prep

• It’s important to clean down the render, especially if you are re-painting an ageing paint job. Depending on the condition of the surface cleaning can be as simple as a quick wash and brush, through to jetwashing with chemicals to remove algae and grime.
• Repair any broken render. If you are not confident in doing this, there are specialists that you can call in.
• CHECK THE WEATHER – you will need a couple of dry days with outside temperatures above 5-10 degrees celcius (depending on the paint that you are using)
• Do I need to stabilise the surface? If the render is newly laid up and not yet been painted then yes, it is recommended to apply a stabilising solution. These typically dry within 4 hours.
• Once the surface is clean and dry, it’s time to cover up any windowsills, brickwork, security lights, windows, decking, paving, downpipes etc. Take your time and ensure every possible surface that could get paint on it by accident, is covered. This includes the floor. We will even lay down sheet wood tom work on to avoid getting paint on decking or pathways.
• We’ve found a masonry roller to be the best tool for laying down masonry paint, especially on pebble dash render. A good quality masonry roller with get in all the gaps. You will need a heavy duty pole arm though as when the masonry roller is full of paint it can weigh a kilo or more. We’ve had numerous cheap roller arms snap on us.
• A roller will get the bulk work done but you will need brushes for pointing in around features. We have completed entire house painting jobs with just a brush but it takes a lot longer than using a roller and brush combo.
• Should I use a spray gun? We recommend not using a spray gun due to the unpredictable weather in the UK, too much wind and it’s not practical. There are some kits that come with a large shield applicator to prevent wind blowing the paint around but we’ve not experimented with these. A roller is more reliable.
• You will likely need to apply two coats of exterior paint, depending on the product you will want to wait 4+ hours between coats but not more than a couple of days to ensure a good bond.
• Clean down by removing masking tape, don’t leabve this up for weeks as it will not come off cleanly.
• If you’ve got any paint on fixtures and fittings, then now is the time to clean it off carefully before it sets rock hard.
• Step back and appreciate your hard work

The bungalow had a first loft conversion, so we made sure to get up high and give the gable end a new coat of paint.

How much does it cost to paint a bungalow exterior uk?

The cost to paint a bungalow exterior varies depending on the size, condition of the surface and whether scaffolding or a scaffolding tower is required. A rough guide is £15-30 per meter square.

Sometimes prep alone can take a day if there is render to repair, lot’s of grime to remove, fixtures to remove, pots and planters to move, rubbish to clear up and lots of windows and features to tape up.

A 2-3 bedroom bungalow with an ageing exterior paint job requiring two coats of top coat might cost £100-£150 in paint and perhaps 3 days labour. A total cost of £800-1500 could be expected.