Exterior Painters · Coventry
Exterior Painters in Coventry for House Exteriors
Thinking of repainting the outside of your house, and unsure what it involves or what it will cost?
Godiva Decorators puts Coventry homeowners in touch with Ryan, a local exterior painter. He paints render, brick, timber, fascias and doors, and you deal with him yourself. This page covers what a repaint includes, what moves the price and when the weather allows the work.
- What does exterior painting include?
- What affects the cost of exterior house painting?
- When is the best time to paint a house exterior?
- What should an exterior painting quote include?
Call 024 7542 6652 today and speak to Ryan, who visits, quotes and does the work.
How It Works
How Godiva Decorators Works
Godiva Decorators works with a local exterior painter based in Coventry. When you call, you speak to Ryan. He arranges the visit, the quote and the work with you.
1
Call and speak to Ryan
He is the decorator who does the work, not a call centre.
2
Tell him about the outside of the house
Mention the walls, the woodwork and any cracks or peeling paint.
3
He visits and sends a written quote
The quote lists the surfaces, the preparation and the coats before you book.
4
You agree the work directly
You settle the dates and the final walkthrough with Ryan.
Why Choose Us
Why Choose Godiva Decorators
Preparation before paint
Cleaning, repair and priming are listed in the quote, not trimmed to hit a price.
A price you can compare
Ryan writes down the elevations, surfaces and coats before he gives a price.
Cover on every job
Ryan is fully insured, with public liability cover on every job. Ask for proof when you get your quote.
Knows Coventry houses
Ryan paints rendered semis in Canley and Victorian terraces in Earlsdon.
What’s Included
What Does Exterior Painting Include?
Exterior painting covers every surface on the outside of a home. Some people call it outside house painting. Your quote should say which of these are in and which are out.
Masonry and rendered walls
Many post-war Coventry homes in Canley and Finham have rendered walls. Ryan checks for structural cracks, hollow areas and poorly bonded sections before he quotes. Cracks are filled with flexible exterior filler, then the wall is primed and given its finish coats. The detail on brick, stone and render is on the masonry painting page.
Windows and timber woodwork
Timber windows, fascias and soffits all need preparing before paint. Earlsdon’s Albany Road terraces have Victorian softwood sash windows. Ryan strips back to sound timber, patches any rot, primes and applies exterior gloss or satin. Frames and sashes have their own page on window frame painting.
Fascias, soffits and gutters
These protect the roof line, and water gets in when they fail. Ryan repaints timber fascias where they are sound and says so where they need replacing. uPVC fascias and gutters can be painted with a specialist adhesion primer. He checks their condition before he recommends an approach.
Front door and porch
The front door is the first thing visitors see. It can be painted with the rest of the house or on its own. Colour choice and period detail are on the front door painting page.
Garage doors
A garage door is easy to leave until the paint fails. Ryan prepares and repaints garage doors. The garage door painting page has the detail.
Garden walls and outbuildings
Brick boundary walls, gate piers and rendered outbuildings need the same care as the house. Many Kenilworth and Styvechale properties have large brick and stone boundary walls. Ryan can paint them in the same job as the house, so the finish matches. Fences are covered on the fence painting page.
Your House
What Kind of House Are You Painting?
A Coventry house is built from different materials depending on its age. Each one is painted differently. Most homes are terraces or semis. At the 2021 Census about 40% of homes were terraced and 30% semi-detached.
Victorian and Edwardian terraces. The council’s appraisal of Earlsdon describes mostly red-brown brick, some roughcast render and painted half-timbered gables, with many original sash and bay windows. Much of the outside painting there is timber.
Post-war and 1960s semis. Canley’s 1940s to 1960s semis and Finham’s 1960s semis often have rendered walls. Render can take in moisture through hairline cracks, so it needs filling, a masonry primer and a breathable, flexible coating.
Georgian, Regency and Victorian stucco. In Royal Leamington Spa, stucco render needs a breathable, lime-compatible coating. Standard masonry paint is not a match for lime render.
Conservation areas. Earlsdon and Chapelfields are conservation areas. The council’s Chapelfields plan says painting or rendering external walls is generally discouraged, and painting brick is hard to reverse. Check with the council before you paint brick in either area. The page on conservation area decorating covers what to check.
Timber on a house built before the 1960s may have old lead paint under later coats. Sound paint is best left alone. If it is flaking, the health and safety guidance is to use wet methods, contain the dust and avoid hot-air stripping. Ask Ryan how he would handle it at the visit.
Cost Drivers
What Affects the Cost of Exterior House Painting?
Two quotes for the same house can be a long way apart. Most of an exterior painting price is time on site, not paint. Anything that adds days adds cost, and most of what adds days is hard to see from the pavement.
Six things move the price most.
How much house there is. The number of walls, the storeys and the amount of masonry, timber and gutters all count. A large detached house is more wall than a mid-terrace.
The condition you start from. Sound, previously painted walls need little. Cracked render, flaking paint, moss and algae need cleaning and repair before any paint goes on.
Which surfaces are included. Walls alone are one job. Adding windows, fascias, soffits, gutters, doors and boundary walls is more. Timber is brush work, and brush work is slow.
Height and access. Where a ladder alone is not appropriate, Ryan uses tower scaffolding or mobile access towers, and setting them up takes time. Larger Kenilworth and Styvechale properties often need them.
The surface itself. Render, brick, timber and uPVC each need a different primer and finish, so a house with all four is more than one job.
Weather and timing. Exterior paint needs dry days. A job that waits on the weather runs across more days.
None of these can be judged from the pavement. That is why Godiva Decorators prices exterior painting in Coventry from a visit, not a rate card. Ryan looks at the house, checks the surfaces and prices the house he is standing at. The quote is free, and it is put in writing before any work is booked.
Get My Free Quote
Tell Ryan about your exterior painting project and get a free quote.
Timing
When Is the Best Time to Paint a House Exterior?
Exterior paint needs dry weather and a temperature above 5 degrees Celsius, both while it goes on and while it cures. Ryan checks the forecast and does not apply coatings ahead of rain. Coventry gets about 698 mm of rain a year, on about 123 days with 1 mm or more (Met Office averages for 1991 to 2020), so an exterior job waits for the right days more often than it runs to a fixed date.
When should you not paint the outside of a house?
Not in the rain or just before it, and not when the temperature is under 5 degrees during application or curing. Walls should be dry first. Elevations that face north or west, or sit in the shade of trees or fencing, take longer to dry and grow moss and algae more. Ryan allows for that in the schedule.
How long does it take to paint the outside of a house?
There is no honest single answer, and be wary of anyone who gives one without seeing the house. The time depends on how many walls there are, the condition of the surfaces, the access and how many dry days the weather allows. Ryan gives a written timeline for your house in the quote, so you know the plan before anything is booked.
Woodwork
Should You Repaint, Repair or Replace Exterior Woodwork?
The state of the woodwork decides the job. Ryan checks it at the visit and tells you which of these applies.
Sound timber
Repaint
Sound fascias, soffits and window frames are stripped back to good timber, primed and repainted. This is the route when the timber is in good shape.
Failing timber
Repair or replace
Ryan patches rot in window frames and sashes. Where a fascia has failed, he advises on replacing it instead of painting over the problem.
uPVC
Paint with a primer
uPVC fascias, gutters and windows can be painted with a specialist adhesion primer and a compatible finish. Ryan advises on how long it is likely to last before he starts.
Order of Work
How Is a House Exterior Painted, Step by Step?
The work runs in one order on most houses. It goes from the top of the building down, with access towers up first where they are needed.
1
Site assessment
Ryan checks every surface: the type, the state of the old coating, the render and any moss or algae.
2
Cleaning and treatment
Moss, algae and loose material are cleaned off. Growth is treated first, because paint over live growth fails early.
3
Repair
Cracks are filled with flexible exterior filler and render is repaired where it needs it. Timber is stripped back to sound wood and any rot is patched.
4
Priming
Bare timber gets an exterior timber primer. Masonry gets a masonry primer suited to the surface.
5
Finish coats
Two finish coats are standard, and exposed walls may need a third. Ryan plans the coats around the forecast.
6
Inspection and touch-up
Once the final coat has cured, Ryan inspects every surface in good light and does any touch-ups before he leaves.
Plan the Work Around the Weather
Ask Ryan for a working timeline for your exterior painting project.
Your Quote
What Should an Exterior Painting Quote Include?
Comparing two quotes for the same house? What each one covers matters more than the figure at the bottom. One may leave out the fascias and gutters. Another may leave out the cleaning or the crack repair.
A quote from Godiva Decorators lists the walls and surfaces first. It also lists the preparation and the number of coats before a price appears. All of it is in writing before anything is agreed.
Normally included:
- The walls and surfaces to be painted, listed one by one
- Cleaning and treatment of moss and algae
- Crack filling and repair of render and timber
- The primer and finish coats, and the number of coats
- The access equipment, whether a ladder or a tower
- The clean-down at the end
Normally quoted separately:
- Replacing fascias, soffits or timber that has failed
- Structural repairs found once the walls are cleaned
- Garden walls, fences and outbuildings, if they were not in the first list
- Garage doors, if they were not in the first list
Usually yours to sort:
- Moving garden furniture, plants and bins away from the walls
- Clear access to the side and rear of the house
- Checking with the council first if the house is in a conservation area
Painting the inside as well? The house painting page covers a whole-house job, inside and out.
Get My Free Quote
Speak to Ryan at Godiva Decorators about a written exterior painting quote.
Questions
Exterior Painting FAQs
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