Painters in Hastings — Quality Work That Lasts
Bay Decorating is a husband-and-wife painting team — Nicole and Tim — based in Napier, serving Hastings, Havelock North, and the wider Hawke's Bay region. We specialise in exterior repaints, interior painting, new builds, and heritage villa restoration across suburbs including Mahora, Parkvale, St Leonards, Akina, Frimley, and Havelock North. If you're looking for painters in Hastings who actually care about the work underneath the paint, you've found the right team.
We are the ones who'll tell you honestly what your house actually needs — before we pick up a brush.
Painting Services in Hastings
Whether you've got a weatherboard villa with 40 years of paint layers or a brand-new build that needs its first coat, we handle the full range of residential house painting work in Hastings.
Want to know what your Hastings home needs? Get a free quote — we'll visit, assess, and give you an honest answer.
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Exterior repaints are our bread and butter. We strip back failing paint, treat mould, repair damaged timber, re-putty sash windows, and apply a paint system that's built to handle Hawke's Bay summers and frosts. Every exterior job starts with a thorough condition assessment — not a quick look and a ballpark number. Read more about our exterior painting services.
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From full home repaints to single-room refreshes, our interior painting work focuses on clean prep, sharp lines, and a finish you'll notice every time you walk into the room. We work around your life — covering furniture, protecting floors, and cleaning up at the end of every day.
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New builds are a core part of Bay Decorating's workload. We work closely with builders and developers across Hastings and Hawke's Bay to deliver consistent, on-schedule paint finishes for new residential builds. If you're a builder looking for a reliable painting contractor, see our new build painting page.
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Bay Decorating has painted character homes across Hastings and the wider Hawke's Bay — timber weatherboards, original sash windows, and layers of history under every coat of paint. We've handled everything from classic weatherboards to complex multi-coat restorations. This kind of work needs patience, the right tools, and a genuine understanding of how old homes behave. Our heritage and villa painting approach is built around that.
Why Prep Work Is the Difference
Here's what most people don't realise: roughly 70% of a quality paint job is preparation. The remaining 30% is top coat application. That ratio matters, because almost every paint failure we see — flaking, peeling, bubbling — traces back to poor prep, not bad paint.
Our approach is straightforward. If more than about 60% of the existing paint is failing, we do a full strip-back rather than spot-sanding over the top. We use a paint shaver — a specialist vacuum-attached tool that removes old paint with roughly 5% spillage — which is particularly important on older Hastings homes where lead paint may be present.
Every exterior quote includes sash window re-puttying as standard. Dried, cracked putty lets moisture in behind the paint film, and that's where rot starts. Most painters skip this step entirely or charge it as an extra. We include it because it's not optional if you want the job to last.
We also use the Resene Promise of Quality documentation system, which includes CS1–CS4 condition ratings to assess the state of your surfaces before we start. This means your quote is based on what your house actually needs — not a guess. For Hastings weatherboard exteriors, we typically recommend Resene primers paired with Resene Lumbersider or Resene Sonyx 101 topcoats — systems formulated for the UV intensity and temperature swings common across Hawke's Bay. We primarily use Resene systems for exteriors, and also work with Dulux products where they're the best fit for the job.
For a deeper look at what proper preparation involves, read our guide to proper prep work.
How We Quote and Work
The Quote
When you get in touch, we'll arrange a time to visit your property and do a proper assessment. We check the condition of every surface — weatherboards, fascia, soffits, window joinery, putty — and flag anything that needs attention, including rot or structural issues. We don't paint over problems.
Your quote is fully itemised. You'll see separate line items for water blasting, windows, weatherboards, fascia, and anything else involved. Nothing hidden, no surprises halfway through the job. For a detailed breakdown of what house painting costs in our region, read our guide on house painting costs in Hawke's Bay.
The Work
Once the job starts, a typical exterior repaint in Hastings takes around three to six weeks to complete, depending on the size and condition of the home. For exteriors, we work through the warmer months — summer is the ideal window for exterior painting in Hawke's Bay.
If you're living in the home during the work (most of our clients are), we'll work with you to plan which areas we're tackling and when, so there's minimal disruption to your daily life. We cover everything that needs protecting, and at the end of every day, all paint, tools, buckets, and rubbish are removed. Our gear stays in designated zones — we don't spread mess across your property.
We're insured, and we stand behind every job we complete.
Frequently Asked Questions
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A properly prepared exterior repaint in Hawke's Bay can last 10 years or more. Poorly prepped jobs — where paint is applied over failing surfaces without proper strip-back or treatment — often start breaking down within two to five years. Hastings gets hot, dry summers and cold frosts, which punishes any weakness in the paint system. That's why the prep underneath matters more than the brand on the tin. For more on this, read our article on how often you should repaint.
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Proper prep means addressing every issue beneath the surface before any paint goes on. For an exterior repaint, that typically includes water blasting to remove dirt, mould, and loose paint; sanding or full strip-back depending on the extent of failure; filling cracks and gaps; re-puttying sash windows; and priming bare timber. We assess every surface using the Resene CS1–CS4 condition rating system before deciding on the prep approach. We follow a 70/30 approach — 70% of the job is preparation, 30% is top coat. When more than about 60% of the existing paint is failing, we strip back to bare timber rather than patching over the top.
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Hastings has a lot of homes built before 1978, which means lead paint is a real possibility. We use a paint shaver — a vacuum-attached tool that contains the old paint as it's removed, with roughly 5% spillage compared to open sanding. This keeps dust and debris contained, which is important for the safety of your family and our team. If we suspect lead paint during the assessment, we'll discuss the approach with you before starting.
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The visible difference might not show up on day one — but it shows up within a few years. A cheap job typically means minimal prep: a quick sand, a coat of paint over whatever's underneath, and no attention to window putty, timber condition, or moisture. A quality job means full surface assessment, proper prep, re-puttying where needed, and a paint system matched to the substrate. We've written about this in detail — read about the real difference between a $10k and $20k paint job. You might also find our guide on how to spot the cowboys useful.
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Yes. We stand behind every job and will return to address any issues. We also use Resene products backed by the Resene Promise of Quality — a documentation guarantee that covers paint film adhesion and integrity for the expected life of the product. If a Resene product fails within its stated life, Resene supplies replacement paint to rectify the issue.
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Once a project starts, a typical exterior repaint in Hastings takes three to six weeks, depending on the size of the home, the condition of the surfaces, and weather. Exterior painting is best done in the warmer months — we schedule exterior work through spring and summer to get the best conditions. Interior work can be done year-round. Availability varies depending on our current workload and the time of year, so it's worth getting in touch early if you're planning a summer repaint.
Have more questions? Check our full FAQ page.
Get a Quote for Your Hastings Home
If your home needs painting — or you're not sure what it needs and just want an honest opinion — we'd like to hear from you. We'll visit your property, assess the condition properly, and give you a fully itemised quote with no obligation.
Nicole and Tim, plus our team of five, are ready to help with your next painting project in Hastings, Havelock North, or anywhere across Hawke's Bay.
Get a free quote — or call us directly. We'll get back to you promptly and arrange a time that works.