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Matching paint colours.

8/4/2025

Paint matching. Colour matching. Matching existing colours.

You have a painted wall or a door or a window and you want to MATCH ITS COLOUR on another wall or door or window.
Or you want to touch up just a tiny bit of it.

Cant be that hard could it?
Sadly, yes. It is hard.

But fear not. After years of getting colour matching wrong, I can now tell you how to get it right (or less wrong). I’ll refer to your wall/door/window as the ‘surface’ (we painters call it the ‘substrate’ just so you know).

WHAT COLOUR DO I (REALLY) HAVE?
There are basically 4 ways to match the colour of paint you have.

You have the can that the surface was previously painted with. ie. Left over paint.
You know the name of that colour. From either an interior designers notes, your notes, or a manufacturers colour card you’ve kept.
You do a test with small sample pots on the surface.
You take a sample off the wall and have a paint store match that.

All 4 methods have pros and cons. So lets go through each one below.

1. YOU HAVE LEFT OVER PAINT

Yay! You can use that. Happy days!

Hold on!

IS IT FRESH?
You can use left over paint if it is FRESH and THE CAN IS NOT RUSTY.
Basically you’ve got about 1 - 2 years of life in any already opened can. After that it starts to lose its essential binding and sticking properties.
And often the rim rusts polluting the paint every time you open the can.

If your left over paint is old, smelly or rust contaminated, you shouldn’t use it. But you can use the ‘formula’ to make a new batch.

CAN YOU SEE THE FORMULA?
Printed on a small piece of sticky paper and slapped on the top or side of the can the paint formulas can be used to reproduce the colour in the can.

That formula can be taken to a paint store and mixed fresh.

Also MOST paint stores can match formulas from other manufacturers.

DOES THE OLD SURFACE STILL MATCH?
Before you get anything mixed though, you need to check your SURFACE hasn’t changed colour!

The colour on your surface may have changed, weathered, faded or even gotten darker!
(Strangely oil based paint, often used on trim, actually darkens over time, especially if its behind furniture and out of the sunlight. I know. Its nuts!)

Take a some of the left over paint (even if its rusted or off) and dab it in an out of sight area of your surface. Then let it dry. Wet paint looks lighter because it reflects more light.

If after drying It looks like a good match take the can to Bunnings or Inspirations or Dulux Trade Centre and get them to match the mix.

2. YOU KNOW THE NAME OF THE PAINT COLOUR

You know the name of the colour. From either an interior designers notes, your notes, or a manufacturers colour card you’ve kept.
Take the name or colour card to the paint store to have them mix it up.

MOST paint stores can match formulas from other manufacturers.

IS THE OLD NAME STILL THE SAME COLOUR?
Bizarrely, some older colour ‘names’ are recycled but with different colours! So your old

And a surprising number of names have replaced with new, less um … troublesome names.
(I’ll miss ‘Congo Capture’)

3. YOU DO A TEST
If you have a white or cream colour and/or you have a vague memory of the colour name you can buy tiny testing pots. Using these testing pots on the surface you can eliminate your way to a good match.

I do this a lot because I have a whole bucket full of of these tiny colour testers.

Testing is a good low cost way to confirm what you might remember or have been told.

But the test pots are limited in colour range to the most popular whites, creams and greys.

4. YOU TAKE A SAMPLE
Taking a sample is often pretty invasive. You either chip a bit out of the wall or carve a bit of wood off the window or door. Try to get at least 2cm x 2cm of clear flat surface.

You take this sample to any of the paint stores and they have a clever machine that matches the colour. They then dab a bit on the edge of your sample, dry it with a blower and you can decide on the match.

Don’t worry if the new paint is a bit shiny. Modern wall paints are made that way for ease of wiping. Just turn the sample in the light and make sure the dab matches. When it does buy the amount of paint you need.

And of course you’ll have those holes left in the surfaces where you dug out a sample for colour. I fill walls with Selleys Spakfilla and wooden trim with Turbo Builders Bog (both from Bunnings).

COLOUR MATCHING NOTES

AND SOMETIMES …
You have an out of fashion colour like purple. I was surprised to hear that tints (the strong dies they add to the base colours in cans) were not all the same, all the time. There used to be a particular purple tint, until people went off purple and now it’s discontinued.

ALWAYS PAINT CORNER TO CORNER/EDGE TO EDGE
Having done your best to get the best colour match one last trick is to paint corner to corner/edge to edge.

Don’t paint a small section in the middle of your surface.
Instead paint at least a full wall or the full length of a piece of timber or better yet the whole door or window. This hides any tiny differences between old and new.

IT’S NOT AN EXACT SCIENCE
As a professional house painter I’ve used all four methods of matching colours.
Each has its own early obvious benefits and draw backs. Chopping a sample out of your new plantation shutters is not a good idea. Paint dribbled over the formula sticker is a non starter. Colour names change. Some colours are just really hard to match.

* Take your time.
* Don’t buy litres of paint until you’re pretty sure its the right colour.
* Be prepared for ‘some’ variation.
* Paint corner to corner.

Good luck.

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Why is my newly painted door peeling in 2025?

3/12/2022

You (or you painter) have just finished painting your doors. They look great. But whats this? A small area has been knocked and some new paint has come right off.

You pinch the edge and more paint peels off! Then more! Then More! Oh no! Whole sheets are coming off!

What is going on???

I’m going to bet that you (or your painter) applied regular water based paint over a door that was previously painted with oil based paint.

*(If you have peeling paint on ceiling or peeling paint on walls I have a blog here that talks about that.)

It always starts with the doors because they get the hardest treatment. But the windows will follow shortly then the skirting boards.

This is a trap that many home renovators fall into because they just don’t know.

So here’s the golden rule:
Oil based paint CAN go over water based paint.
Water based paint CANNOT go over oil based paint.
(And not surprisingly oil CAN go over oil. Water based CAN go over water based.)

How you SHOULD paint trim - doors, windows, skirting etc.

1. TEST the current paint surface to see if its oil or water based. Rub a splash of acetone (available at Bunnings) or Nail Polish remover (same stuff) with a dark coloured rag. If the acetone seems to melt the paint which comes off onto the rag the door surface is painted in water based paint.

(Watch out though, because sometimes a tiny bit of old oil based paint might come wear off).

To double check sand part of the door. Water based paint often comes off like grated cheese. But oil based paint will come off as a fine powder.

So if you have existing oil based paint on your doors you can paint NEW oil based paint over the top if you want. But oil based paint really smells and most people don’t love it.

If, like most people, you want paint water based paint over an old oil based door, this is what you do next.

2. SAND & WASH the door. I use a ‘sanding sponge’ dunked in sugar soap and water, rinsing regularly. This roughens the surface without creating dust which could well be full of lead. It also cleans away a lot of dirt and oil. Tip the rinse bucket down the toilet regularly too.

3. WIPE If you want to be really keen (as I do) you let the sanded door dry then wipe down with a damp rag to get rid of the last bits of super fine paint dust.

Sanding and scrubbing is important but priming is vital!

4. PRIME - Your door now needs to be painted with a primer coat. There are water based primers and superior oil based primers. Both are designed to grip to the old oil based surface and allow the new water based paint to grip to the primer.

I’ve written a whole thing about primers and sealers here.

So now you’ve done the test/sand/scrub/prime process you can FINALLY apply your exciting new colour to your doors (and windows, skirting, picture rails, stair banisters etc)

BUT if you or your painter has not gone through this process, and water based paint film is starting to peel off an oil based door I have some bad news.

The new paint has to be completely stripped off. And a final insult is that 95% will come off easily while the rest sticks like mad. Its a long, messy process.

A relative of mine had an apartment painted by a guy who did the job for at least half what I would have charged. AND he did the work in about a third of the time I would have taken. I was suspicious when I heard how fast he was. The doors started peeling after 2 weeks.

I’ve seen many home owners make the ‘water over oil’ mistake but I get really angry when so called professionals do it. They are ALWAYS the cheap guys. And the homeowner can’t understand why one quote was so much lower than the other … until the paint peels off.

Fixing this sort of stuff up costs MUCH more than doing it properly in the first place.

It can be patched up but a new paint job shouldn’t need constant maintenance days after it’s finished.

So if you are hiring a painter make sure they carry out the above steps and are sure they know what they are dealing with.

Was this info helpful? If so, please leave a 5 star rating. Its easy and fast. No review needed.

When do I need to paint with Primers and Sealers in 2025?

31/10/2022

Most people love colourful paints but the real stars are the primers and sealers, holding everything together and stopping the flashy top coats from emotional and physical collapse.

Primers and sealers ‘hang on’ to bare wood/Gyprock/brick/cement/plaster etc. AND THEN give top coat paint something to grip onto.

This is how a painted interior works:

There is a SUBSTRATE - A wooden door, a Gyprock ceiling, a brick wall, a plaster repair etc.
There is a TOP COAT (or ideally two top coats) - All the wonderful coloured paints that we see in the colour chips at Bunnings.
BUT … between them there needs to be sandwiched a layer of something: something that GRIPS the SUBSTRATE and also itself has a surface that the TOP COAT can grip to. This something is a PRIMER or a SEALER.*

*To complicate matters an old existing top coat can act as this gripping something if it is sound, but beneath it, and years of other top coats, there will eventually be a primer gripping to the original substrate.

* ALSO water based paint WON’T stick to old oil based paint.

Think of it this way. Any surface that doesn’t have sound, clean, existing paint needs some sort of primer or sealer before the tops coats go on. Without the right primer or sealer the top coat will start to peel.

Unfortunately cheap/bad painters often skip the priming stage because, hey its unseen! and the top coat just doesn’t last.

I’ve seen stair rails (water based paint over oil) fail within days and ceilings peel within months (ceiling paint over raw plaster).

So, what follows is a list of the primers that I have used and my opinions of them. It includes some that have a few drawbacks and some that I consider to be essential.

PRIMERS FOR TRIM
(WOODWORK - DOORS, WINDOWS, SKIRTING BOARDS, PICTURE RAILS ETC.)
Most existing or historic trim is painted with an oil based top coat. But most people now want a brighter, lower odour/VOC water based repaint.

PROBLEM! Water based paint does not stick to oil based paint. It just peels right off. I’ve had to fix numerous ‘water over oil’ stuff ups!

SOLUTION! Water based top coat paint WILL stick to an oil OR water based primer.

Oil based primers - Clean up in turps

Dulux 1Step® Oil-Based Primer, Sealer & Undercoat is a fast-drying prepcoat suitable for the complete preparation of interior and exterior surfaces.

Sticks to everything but STINKS. I mean really bad chemical smell. It’s also oil based so you (or I) get the added fun of a smelly turps clean up.

This primer is old school and it works very well but here are modern alternatives that are much less smelly that stick just as well.

Zinsser® Cover-Stain® Oil-Base Primer
Sticks as well as the Dulux 1Step and still smells but not nearly as bad. Also has the added advantage of blocking stains that soak through water based paints and primers.

Zinsser® Odourless Oil-Base Stain Blocker
Just as good as Coverstain at gripping and stain blocking BUT has a lot less odour / VOC’s. To be clear this primer is not absolutely odourless but compared tho other oil based primers its ‘almost’ odourless. A huge improvement and still super effective.

Water based primers- cleans up in water.

Dulux maximum strength adhesion primer
A fairly new primer that flows well and has a very clean white colour. Dulux makes some big claims about adhesion (stickiness) and for a water based primer its probably the best BUT … water based primers still don’t stick as well as oil based.

ZINSSER 1-2-3 Undercoat, Primer, Sealer
A good all purpose primer that leaves a very nice surface to paint over. But its still water based and … see above.

Sealers for raw substrates

Unpainted surfaces like Gyprock, plaster patching or repairs, old plaster walls and ceilings, brick or concrete walls need a sealer before a top coat can go on. Here are the sealers I use.

Zinsser Peel Stop
This is a white watery sealer that dries clear. I use it on ALL my plaster repairs and crack filling jobs after they dry. It’s very good. It dries quickly, washes out in water, and top coats stick to it. (I have cheated and used PVA glue also know as Bondcrete which looks the same. It works well but dries shiny and the top coats don’t stick very well, which sort of defeats the purpose!)

Taubmans Tradex Ultra Prep White Undercoat
A good inexpensive sealer/primer that I put on new cement render repairs and new Gyprock. Taubmans claims it can do lots of other priming work but I prefer to use the other specialist products mentioned here.

Specialist primers

Zinsser Interior and spot exterior primer - Shellac based, cleans up in Methylated Spirits
Super adhesive, BIN primer is the one for stubborn bleed through stains, nicotine stains, sap and weird timber bleed problems. I find it a bit hard to work with but not impossible. Also its alcohol based and the fumes can literally make your head spin. A specialist primer but great at what it does.

DULUX METALSHIELD - Oil based, cleans up in turps
Metalshield is what needs to go on metal surfaces like metal gates, bars, railings etc. Its good for steel, aluminium, galvanised metal, even fibre glass. Pretty smelly but protects from bumps and knocks pretty well.

ZINSSER WATERTIGHT Mould & Mildew-Proof™* Waterproofing Paint - Oil based, cleans up in turps.
WATERTITE mixes oil based resin with portland cement! Its very thick and is best rolled rather than brushed on. It has mould killing properties and holds back a certain amount of moisture. I’ve use this on the OUTSIDE walls of bathrooms where leaks have soaked through. Sticks like crazy but a bit hard to use because its so darn thick.

Dulux PRECISION Stain & Mould Blocker - Water based, Cleans up in water.
Dulux PRECISION Stain & Mould Blocker is designed to inhibit mould and mildew growth. I have a whole mould removal process and this primer is part of it. I’ve found it really helps to kill and prevent mould from returning.

So …

My favourite ‘stick to anything’, ‘low odour’, primer is Zinsser® Odourless Oil-Base Stain Blocker.
My favourite all purpose sealer is Zinsser Peel Stop.

Was this info helpful? If so, please leave a 5 star rating. Its easy and fast. No review needed.

Are you looking for an expert interior painter in the lower north shore? Maybe I can help.

Top 6 Dulux wall colours my clients have used … and why.

29/8/2022

TOP 3 WARM WHITE WALL COLOURS

DULUX HOG BRISTLE QUARTER
is a good traditional cream colour. its warm but not too ‘buttery’. My client chose this for the walls of a 1920’s Californian Bungalow. Hog Bristle Quarter works well in older houses but ESPECIALLY well when the trim (doors, windows, picture rails and skirting) are the original dark varnished wood.

DULUX NATURAL WHITE
is a lighter, brighter cream. Its almost white but still has some warmth. We used this colour in another older house that was dark and needed some brightening up help. Vivid white would have been brighter but is too stark and modern. Natural White is perfect for brightening older homes.

DULUX WHISPER WHITE
is a cream with a drop of black in it. A great cream that gives colour without being too yellow or brown. Good for nearly any home; old or new.

TOP 3 COOL WHITE WALL COLOURS

LEXICON QUARTER
is a very popular white. it has the tiniest drop of black to make it a cool white. Lexicon Quarter is very good for modern homes and renovations. Yet can be used in older homes but the trim really needs to be Vivid White (Vivid White is pure white, nothing added).

WHITE ON WHITE
is similar to lexicon Quarter but is more noticeably a ‘very light grey’. Great for new homes or older homes that have been renovated and the owner wants to modernise the old parts.

VIVID WHITE
Pure white. as white as they can make it. Vivid White is good for sunny bright modern homes. Its also good if you have large pieces of art or furniture that you want to pop out from the walls. theres a reason galleries use vivid white.

Was this info helpful? If so, please leave a 5 star rating. Its easy and fast. No review needed.

Are you looking for an expert interior painter in the lower north shore? Maybe I can help.

9 reasons to hire Interior House Painters near Mosman.

2/7/2022

Interior house painters near me?
Interior House Painters Sydney?

A lot of Mosman home owners think that all painters are pretty much alike. I mean, how hard can it be? But painting a house interior is hard … to do properly.

And like so many things in life using a SPECIALIST works better than using a GENERALIST. That is, when you have an interior that needs painting hire a specialist INTERIOR PAINTER.

Also hire a different kind of specialist painter if you have an apartment stairwell, a wooden exterior, a factory wall, some kitchen cupboards, a kids school, a newly built house, a church …
You get the idea.

I’ll be the first to admit that we painters don’t help. Most of us have marketing that claims we can paint anything that doesn’t move. But don’t let bad marketing get in the way of the brilliant paint job you want.

I will guarantee that each of the ‘we can paint anything’ painters has an area that they are very good at because thats what they MOSTLY DO. Your job as a Mosman home owner is to make sure YOUR PAINTER is an expert in YOUR PAINTING TASK, whether they highlight that in marketing or not.

The best way is to read some painters Google reviews.
Google Reviews

Here you will find satisfied customers raving about, not painting in general but, their specific painting needs. The more they talk about interiors (or whatever you want) the better. You have dug out that painters speciality! Well done!

OK But WHY is hiring a specialist painter so important?

1. INTERIOR HOUSE PAINTERS HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF THE CRAFT
House painting is a craft. Its a combination of physical movement and an intimate knowledge of the materials used and an understanding of the materials being painted. The more the same materials are worked on, the better the painter becomes.

Meet The Tidy Painter.
2. INTERIOR HOUSE PAINTERS HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF LOCAL BUILDING TYPES & MATERIALS
Over time building designs change. So a specialist interior painter who works on a lot of say, older homes, like the ones found in Mosman, becomes an expert in working with those construction designs.

The same is true with your homes materials. Just one example in older Mosman homes is ceiling material. 100 years ago it was mostly wet plaster reinforced with horse hair - from horses! This stuff cracks over time but seldom falls. Its quite different to current Gyprock ‘plaster between 2 layers of paper’, and must be treated very differently.

3. INTERIOR HOUSE PAINTERS KNOW THE RIGHT PAINT TO USE
Unfortunately some painters have a ‘bulk deal’ when it comes to paint and only use one brand to get a discount. A good specialist interior guy should use the paint that is BEST for each application. I use Dulux for walls and ceilings but an American brand Zinsser for a lot of priming needs. Its essential to be flexible and use whats Best!

Best paint brands in Australia?

4. INTERIOR HOUSE PAINTERS HAVE THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT

Example: I have 7 different kids of ladders. They are all designed to do different jobs INSIDE a Mosman home, working around whats there, reaching high ceilings, and not damaging anything. I don’t have any scaffolding because it is a CONSTRUCTION tool and would wreck your furniture or floors.

5. INTERIOR HOUSE PAINTERS HAVE THE RIGHT CREW
I work alone (mostly in Mosman) so as to take up minimal space in your home. In the past I’ve hired mostly women who seem more careful with interiors. I’ve seen exterior guys come inside to clean brushes and make a huge mess in the clients laundry, because they thought they were on a dirty building site.

6.INTERIOR HOUSE PAINTERS SPEND MORE TIME ON PREP
EVERY client I’ve EVER had is surprised by how long my interior painting preparation takes. Much more than a quick sand. Real prep. includes removing hardware, removing curtains, filling holes and cracks, washing, scrubbing, de-glossing, mould scrubbing, mould killing, primer painting etc. And each process must be left to dry out before the next can happen.

6 ways to fix wall cracks and ceiling cracks
7.INTERIOR HOUSE PAINTERS SPEND MORE TIME ON PROTECTION
Your home interior is NOT a building site. It must be protected from furniture moving, the prep process, the painting process, people and ladders moving around. Interior protection usually includes masking tape, cardboard floor protection, canvas drop sheets, plastic furniture wrapping.

8.INTERIOR HOUSE PAINTERS SPEND MORE TIME ON PAINTING
Older Mosman homes just take longer to paint. All those plaster bits, picture rails, detailed timber, and other nooks and crannies take far longer than a smooth modern room. And oil based trim paint is notoriously slow to dry - try 16 hours per coat!

9.INTERIOR HOUSE PAINTERS SPEND MORE TIME CLEANING UP
A good and experienced Interior painter doesn’t just pack up tools and leave when the painting is done. No, your home interior needs to be returned to being at least as clean as when the whole process started. Personally I try to leave it cleaner, but thats just me.

So hopefully I’ve convinced you that not all house painters are the same. And that a specialist Interior house painter is needed for the interior of YOUR Mosman Home. To find out more click the big red button below:

Who can fix Wall cracks in Mosman?

23/5/2022

Who to call for wall cracks?
Who repairs wall cracks?
Who fixes wall cracks?
Who to call to check cracks in walls?

You’ve noticed wall cracks in your Mosman home and you’re not happy. But who to call?

The first thing to do is get a general idea of how bad the situation is. Cracks (whether in walls or ceilings) are either structural or visual.

Structural Cracks - more serious - usually outdoors (sometimes indoors)
Thick cracks wider than 3 mm
stepped cracks
cracks getting longer
cracks getting wider
sinking concrete or foundations
dampness

If you think you have structural cracks you need an to get an engineer to assess that problem and recommend what to do next. Someone like
https://cornellengineers.com.au/cracks-and-gaps/

There are also specialist foundation repair companies but you need to be sure that your foundations are actually the problem and not something else. The engineer will tell you this.

Visual Cracks - easier to fix - usually indoors
Thin cracks less than 3mm wide
Short cracks
Cracks in old ceiling (plaster and lath) can be quite long
Thin cracks radiating from interior doors and windows

Visual cracks that are not getting worse are usually caused by very subtle movements over time, either within a year or two of construction OR more likely in Mosman, when a building gets quite old.

The hard part is to find a person to fix these cracks so that will last. Most plasterers find these jobs too small to bother with. And most Mosman painters give a quick fill then get painting.

But at The Tidy Painter (thats me) I have a whole proper crack filling system that gives the best chance of success FOLLOWED by a great paint job.

Here are two links giving a bit more detail on how I do this:

HOW TO FIX CRACKS IN WALLS AND CEILINGS
https://www.mosman-handyman.com.au/blog/6-ways-to-fix-wall-cracks-ceiling-cracks-2021

WALL-CEILING-CRACKS
https://www.mosman-handyman.com.au/wall-ceiling-cracks.html

So if your Mosman home interior needs painting but also has visual cracks that need fixing, we should have a chat. Click the big red button below!

Can someone recommend a reasonably priced painter in Mosman?

29/3/2022

Mosman prices? Reasonably priced Painters? Confused?

No one likes the idea of being ripped off. Thats why hiring a tradie or painter can be such a challenge. Obviously you want someone who knows what they’re doing AND someone who’s polite and pleasant.

But … you ask yourself, is this price super-high just because I live in Mosman? I just want a reasonable price! The trouble is that ALL painting quotes seem far too much!

This is because ALL paint jobs involve much more labour than most people expect. And more time equals more money. So the sense that you are being overcharged is inevitable.

The solution most Mosman people find, is to get 3 quotes and choose the middle one. Thats what my wife and I used to do all the time and the results were … not great to be honest

From the outset, you’ve compromised. All that 3 quotes show you is what 3 different painters would charge. So what?Was the most expensive the best? Was the cheapest the worst? Why 3 quotes? Why not 4 or 10No wonder so many people get 3 quotes then do nothing!

How to find a REASONABLY PRICED MOSMAN PAINTER who is also a GREAT Mosman painter.
Why not try some or all of these suggestion sto get the right guy AND the right price.

1. Accept the Golden Rule - even in Mosman. You (generally) get what you pay for with your reasonably priced painter.

Very cheap painters are almost guaranteed to be very bad. And very good painters are never cheap. There are of course a few exceptions to look out for.

Exception A. The good painter who gets too busy and hires a D team but still charges for an A team. This is why you should meet the guy doing YOUR paint job.

Exception B. The Good painter who is fully booked but will try an absurdly high quote and see if you bite.

Both approaches are unethical in my opinion. Thats why fully researched past client reviews are so important.

2. Don’t hire the middle quote. Hire the BEST quote.
Hire the Mosman Painter … Who seemed to GET you and your issues, Who listened, Who could communicate, Who had great reviews, Who seemed like you could bear having around the house for weeks. Theres your BEST painter.

3. Set a budget for your reasonably priced painter.
Very few people do this and I find it surprising. If you’ve found a painter you like the look of why not start the conversation with your budget?

“We want these 3 bedrooms and a lounge room fully painted. And our budget is $6k. Can you make that work?”

A lot of painters will have a few suggestions to make this happen. Just don’t spring the budget on the poor guy AFTER he’s spent 8 hours writing up a quote. Your chances of success are much lower then.

4. Choose your timing well for your reasonably priced painter.

November to December is ALWAYS busy and booked out. Don’t leave finding a painter too late or you’ll have to accept a dud or pay much extra.

But WINTER is often slow so the very best painter may have an opening AND be willing to work to your budget (see above).

5. Be prepared to wait for your reasonably priced painter.

Good specialist painters are often booked months in advance, especially in Mosman. It really pays to be prepared to join the que and wait. You will get a much wider range to choose from.

I hope these tips help you find not only a reasonably priced Mosman painter but also a GREAT Mosman painter. Good Luck!

Who are the 5 best painters in Mosman in 2025?

28/2/2022

Who are the 5 best painters in Mosman in 2024?

You want your Mosman home interior painted. And you want the top painter or team for the job. But who is the best?

If you look online, a number of hire-a-tradie sites list the top painters or best painters in Mosman. But a quick look shows these lists are pretty random - basically anyone who pays to be bumped up the list!

Also there are a LOT of painters around so finding the one who is just right for your needs is pretty hard.

So let me help.

I’ve found there are 3 attributes that add up to getting a top painter (and one that best fits the needs of your Mosman home perfectly).

1. Best Painter Reputation. You want a painter (or team) that past clients rave about.

There are many online review sites but Google is still the best. Its the best because its so hard to rig. Trust it. You want all 5 or 4 star reviews. And you want a guy who has done a lot of work in Mosman.

Also read what people have said. If a lot mention politeness or punctuality you know thats a common benefit and can expect it for yourself.

You want plenty of reviews. Just remember a big painting company will do lots of jobs and get lots of reviews A small painting companies do fewer jobs and so get fewer reviews. Its quality not quantity.

Friends Neighbours? Have they had a great painter? Consider their recommendations. Just make sure its for similar work (more on that later) and its the same guy/people doing your work. You don’t want the D team (or worse a subcontracted team) from an otherwise good company.

Local FaceBook groups - Mosman Living etc. People love giving recommendations here but the same caveats as above apply.

2. Best Painter Specialisation. You want a specialist for YOUR problem/task/job.

Great painters have a specialisation. They may be quiet able to do lots of things but you want your guy to be an expert at YOUR task. In Mosman thats often dealing with older Federation style homes, rather than modern simpler ones.

For example there are great interior painters, great exterior painters, great strata painters, great handyman painters, great high rise painters. You get the idea.

3. Best Painter Personality. Or put another way you want a GOOD FIT.

No one likes conflict or disharmony or lack of communication. So its really important to be comfortable with your chosen painter. Thats why its vital to meet the guy who will be in your home for weeks on end, and see if you can actually talk to each other.
Reviews mentioned above help get a feel as well. Eg. polite, tidy, quiet, communication etc.

To save you months of work, I’ve put together a list of painters who meet ALL 3 attributes including their specialities. Some I know, some come personally recommended, and some have great reviews from Google and Social Media.

1. Mosman Interior Painters - Tony Richardson - The Tidy Painter

Specialising in painting interiors, and fixing cracks often found in older Mosman homes. Being a one man band, Tony is able to work on one or two rooms at a time with minimal interruption to the home owner.

www.mosman-handyman.com.au

2. Mosman Exterior Painters - Luke Sunners

I’ve worked along side Luke. He is hands on and runs a cheerful busy team.
0412 052 112

3. Mosman Exterior Painters - Rob van der Ent

Father and Son duo. I’ve worked along side and recommended to one of my best clients who was very happy.
0414 391 609
www.facebook.com/RobertJvanderEnt

4. Strata Painters - Tony Isgrove’s

A big company with full time employees (no sub-contractors). Expertise in Strata and other large jobs or jobs that require lots of hands on deck.
9437 1997
https://paintanddecorate.com.au/

5. Small Painting /Handyman jobs - Mosman Handyman - Daniele Menna

I haven’t met Daniele, but i’ve heard many good reports. Great for painting a door, a ceiling, or touchups … and of course fixing things!
0435 306 311
https://hipages.com.au/connect/danielemennahandyman

So these 5 guys are, I believe, the best SPECIALIST Painters for Mosman in 2022. If you have any suggested additions please drop a note in the comments section.

Good luck with your Mosman painting project!

What are the 4 Mosman wall colour paint trends for 2025?

31/1/2022

After spending nearly two years staring at your walls (or your colleague's walls behind them in Zoom calls) it's not surprising if you want to make a bit of a colour change to your Mosman home.

Vivid White is probably a bit clinical and sterile these days. And we really don’t want to be reminded of hospitals!

The usual gang of ‘off white’ paint colours are still fine and you cant really go wrong with them. See my page that makes choosing colour from this list super-easy here LINK.

But if you want to change your Mosman home (without too much change!) here are some paint colour suggestions. All are neutral but not so pale as in previous years. Think neutral colours with a bit more 'oomf'.

And its nice to see Dulux's veteran paint colour, 'Hog Bristle Half' still providing a nice subtle ‘biscuit’ sort of colour. Hog Bristle (full, half and quarter) has been around for years!

Mosman Paint Colour 1 - click on the orange link below
DULUX STOWE WHITE

Mosman Paint Colour 2 - click on the orange link below
DULUX NEW PENNY

Mosman Paint Colour 3 - click on the orange link below
DULUX HOG BRISTLE HALF

Mosman Paint Colour 4 - click on the orange link below
DULUX CLAY PIPE HALF

Now if you prefer to go a little more adventurous with some ‘strong’ paint colours have a look at this video. You might not want the whole house painted in Dark Brown, but any of these colours would make a great feature wall. And feature wall colours are really easy to change if you get sick of them! Also theres some really interesting mood boards

This colour trend video doesn’t give Dulux colours but once you see something you like (or the Pantone Number) its pretty easy to match.

So have a look and if I can help paint your Mosman home interiors in any of these trendy colours I'd love to help!

What do most painters charge hourly?

8/1/2022

HOW MUCH DOES A PAINTER COST PER HOUR?

You want to get your home painted. It’s reasonable to wonder what the going hourly rate is for those painters.

If you’ve done a Google search to find the hourly earnings of a house painter, you’ll probably be surprised by the variety of answers.

Many results are from the USA whose dollar is stronger and whose minimum wage is much lower. American results are NO use to us here. You might as well ask what a painter from Finland charges.

Most Australian “painter cost per hour” entries are from “find-a-tradie-listings” - Oneflare, Hipages, Serviceseeking etc.

The rates given range from $30 to $60 per hour.

At first glance this might seem pretty generous but I'm not so sure.

OVERHEAD
What a lot of folks forget is that even the tiniest painting business has overheads. As a tiny painting business owner I can accurately say that 20% comes off every dollar in overheads - vehicle, fuel, insurance, equipment, Accounting fees, office supplies, GST.

NON BILLABLE HOURS
And no painter can be charging clients all the time. There’s always non billable hours taken up with quoting, invoicing, book keeping, buying supplies, maintaining tools, marketing, and just down time between jobs.

SICK LEAVE
Haha! Don’t make me laugh. The hourly rate has to cover time taken when the painter might be sick. Also painters (and other tradies) have to deal with injury. I spent 9 weeks recovering from a ladder fall. No pay for 9 weeks.

HOLIDAY LEAVE
See above

ALL OVER AUSTRALIA?
Also, strangely, the quoted painters hourly rate is assumed to be the same all over Australia. This is just not the case. The cost of living in central Sydney is very different to rural South Australia so the hourly rate should be different.

SO WHAT DO YOU RECKON, TONY?
You can probably guess that I just don’t think the $30 - $60 per hour figure is in anyway accurate for a painting job in ANY suburb of Sydney.

After expenses the poor old painter is barely making enough money to justify the risk of running a business!

One Hire-a-tradie-list, HireTrades.com.au, has a much more accurate range of figures. They sensibly show the difference between the main cities of Australia.

CITY	AVERAGE LABOUR COST*
Sydney	$74 to $105
Brisbane	$84 to $88
Perth	$82 to $8
Melbourne	$79 to $87
Adelaide	$65 to $75

*Price estimates are based on Rawlinsons’ Australian Construction Handbook 2018, Edition 36

So I think it’s fair to say house painting in Sydney will cost somewhere between $60 and $105 per hour.

But do you really want to hire a painter by the hour? Only if you KNOW how long he will take and if you want to become the site foreman, making sure no one slacks off and costs you money.

For house painting, hourly is not the way to go.

DOES THE HOURLY RATE MATTER?
Not really. What matters is that you have a fixed figure for the JOB that you want done.

A BETTER WAY TO COMPARE PRICES ON A PAINTING JOB IN SYDNEY.

Ok, there are the 3 parts that do MATTER when getting and comparing quotes. It’s amazing how seldom clients get all three parts specified. Without ALL THREE you are flying blind and can’t make an accurate assessment of value.

And worse still without all three you can spend a fortune and not get what you wanted in the first place!

They are:

PART 1 - A full itemised list of what WORK is going to be done.

A quote to “paint a room” could mean almost anything ...

Painting two coats, walls only. No prep.
Painting one coat, walls only. No prep.
Painting walls and ceilings only. No prep.
Painting walls, ceiling, and trim only. No prep.
All of the above with proper proper prep, scrubbing and priming first.
All of the above with detailed crack repairs.
All of the above with mould treatment
All of the above with 3 to 4 coats as needed to give a perfect job.
Or any combination of the above
And what about masking, covering, removing door hardware, moving furniture?

Occasionally I’m asked to explain why my quoted PRICE is different to another painters quoted PRICE. Almost certainly it’s because the WORK I plan to do is different to the WORK they plan to do. But without their fully itemised breakdown we’ll never know why.

PART 2 - A commitment to the NUMBER OF DAYS that your painting job will take.
A low price is pretty useless if the painting job is rushed through at lightening speed. I’ve seen five people painting a bathroom at the same time. Some were plastering, some were drying the plaster with hair dryers, some were painting. It was like a Marx Brothers movie! God knows how long that paint job lasted. But, hey, it was cheap!

PART 3 - The PRICE.
And of course you want to know the price. But you want to know the price IN COMBINATION with work done part and time taken part.

Notice that hourly wage doesn’t come into the equation at all.

What you want to know is:

WHAT WORK IS BEING DONE,
AND WHAT TIME IS BEING SPENT,
FOR THE MONEY BEING QUOTED?

Then and only then can you compare quotes and decide on the best value for YOUR SYDNEY HOME.

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THE TIDY PAINTER'S BLOG

Matching paint colours.

COLOUR MATCHING NOTES

Why is my newly painted door peeling in 2025?

So here’s the golden rule:
Oil based paint CAN go over water based paint.
Water based paint CANNOT go over oil based paint.
(And not surprisingly oil CAN go over oil. Water based CAN go over water based.)

When do I need to paint with Primers and Sealers in 2025?

Oil based primers - Clean up in turps

Water based primers- cleans up in water.

Sealers for raw substrates

Specialist primers

Top 6 Dulux wall colours my clients have used … and why.

9 reasons to hire Interior House Painters near Mosman.

Who can fix Wall cracks in Mosman?

Can someone recommend a reasonably priced painter in Mosman?

Who are the 5 best painters in Mosman in 2025?

What are the 4 Mosman wall colour paint trends for 2025?

What do most painters charge hourly?

Was this info was helpful?Please leave a 5 star rating.

Archives

Categories

THE TIDY PAINTER'S BLOG

COLOUR MATCHING NOTES

So here’s the golden rule: Oil based paint CAN go over water based paint. Water based paint CANNOT go over oil based paint. (And not surprisingly oil CAN go over oil. Water based CAN go over water based.)

Oil based primers - Clean up in turps

Water based primers- cleans up in water.

Sealers for raw substrates

Specialist primers

​​Was this info was helpful?Please leave a 5 star rating.

​Archives

Categories

So here’s the golden rule:
Oil based paint CAN go over water based paint.
Water based paint CANNOT go over oil based paint.
(And not surprisingly oil CAN go over oil. Water based CAN go over water based.)

Was this info was helpful?Please leave a 5 star rating.

Archives