House painting in the East Coast Bays

Parade of Homes estates and 1960s houses

The North Shore Heritage review records state-sponsored Parades of Homes in Mairangi Bay in the 1950s and 60s, including the 1963 Maxwelton Braes estate. It says 1960s architecture is still evident on the seaward side of East Coast Road, around Mayfair Crescent and Wisteria Way in Mairangi Bay and Waiau Street in Torbay.

The review notes that while some of these houses used weatherboard and timber joinery, many used brick, concrete and concrete block with aluminium joinery. That matters for painting: brick and block take a masonry paint and their own prep, and painted brick that is flaking needs a different approach from timber.

• Painted brick and block: cleaned, loose paint removed, cracks repaired, masonry paint system.
• Weatherboard: washed, scraped, spot-primed and two finish coats.
• Aluminium joinery: usually left as it is, so walls and trims are chosen to suit its colour.

From baches to permanent homes

The review says the Browns subdivided their Browns Bay land in 1916 and most sections were bought for holiday baches, which went on being built along the bays into the 1950s. After the bridge opened they were gradually replaced by permanent homes, and the last decades of the century brought infill and large new houses on many coastal sites.

It also notes that East Coast Bays subdivisions often ignored the grid, following unstable ridges and steep gullies with crescents, cul-de-sacs and irregular sections, with houses set well back. Sloping sites and split levels can make access the biggest planning question on a repaint here.

Salt air along the bays

Seaward streets in the bays may fall inside the building standard’s sea-spray zone while ridge-top streets may not; it is decided for each site. How exterior paint ages has the detail.

We look at each house on site before quoting. Weatherboard homes are covered in more detail on weatherboard and villa painting.