Heritage Villa Repaint & Lead Paint Removal — Napier
This Napier villa is a classic weatherboard heritage home, verandah detailing and all, and it had reached the point of needing a full exterior refresh. The old paint was flaking back, and like a lot of villas its age it had old lead-based paint underneath that needed removing safely before anything else could happen. So we took it right back and brought it up properly: outside, inside, and the roof as well.
Bringing the villa's exterior back
Removing old lead paint safely
Villas of this era were often finished in lead-based paint, which you can't just sand or strip back without thinking about where the dust and old chips end up. We removed it safely using our paint shaver, a grinder with built-in dust extraction that lifts the old paint off and contains it as it goes, rather than spreading it across the site and garden. With the lead paint gone and the weatherboards back to clean timber, we primed, filled and gapped the lot, then laid down two topcoats in a fresh light grey with white trim.
Restoring the original timber windows
The villa's original timber windows were well worth saving, so rather than replace them we restored them. Each one got a full chemical strip to take off the old built-up paint, a light sand, an oil-based primer and two finishing coats, bringing back the crisp detail while keeping them sealed and weatherproof. Restoring them instead of replacing them is what keeps the villa's character intact.
Respraying the roof
The roof got done too. Being right on a main road, we had edge protection (roof-edge safety rails) put up first, then Jesse sprayed it over two days: a coat of galvanised primer on day one, and two topcoats the day after. A roof is one of the places we do spray, because on long runs of steel it gives a better, more even finish than a brush ever could.
Keeping out-of-town owners in the loop
The owners were living in Auckland through the whole job, so we kept them in the loop with video calls and progress updates at every stage, the same way we'd look after any out-of-town owner.
Got an older villa, or a home with lead paint that needs handling properly? We'd love to take a look.
