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- Garage doors, gates and steel spray finished, not brushed
- Aluminium and galvanised surfaces primed correctly so the coating actually holds
The Metalwork Is the Face of the House
Boardwalk is newer cluster and estate housing, and the homes here share a design language: clean plastered elevations, a prominent double garage facing the street, steel or aluminium gates, and often steel balustrades, pergola frames or window surrounds as a design feature.
That changes where the money should go. The plaster on these homes is relatively young and in good condition, so the wall painting is straightforward and not especially expensive. What determines whether the house looks properly done is the metalwork — and metalwork is where quotes differ enormously, because a brushed garage door and a sprayed one cost different amounts and look nothing alike.
On a home where a large garage door occupies a third of the street elevation, brush marks are not a small compromise. They are the first thing anyone sees, and no amount of good wall painting compensates for them.
Guide Prices for Painting in Boardwalk
| Job | Guide price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Garage door, prepared and spray finished | R2,800 – R6,500 each | Single or double, depending on size |
| Garage door, brushed and rolled | R1,400 – R3,200 each | Cheaper, with visible applicator marks |
| Driveway gate, sprayed | R3,200 – R8,000 | Depends on size and access |
| Steel balustrades and pergola frames | R320 – R680 per metre | Full anti-rust system |
| Palisade fencing | R220 – R450 per metre | Per running metre, both faces |
| Aluminium frames, etch prime and specialist coat | R280 – R520/m² | Recoating existing frames |
| Exterior walls, cluster home | R26,000 – R46,000 | Walls and eaves, standard acrylic |
| Interior, 3-bed cluster | R19,000 – R33,000 | Walls, ceilings, prep and two coats |
Why Metal Needs Spraying and the Right Primer
Two separate points, both of which get skipped on cheap quotes.
Finish. A garage door, a gate or a steel balustrade is a large smooth surface read at close range and in raking light. Brush and roller marks are visible on it in a way they are not on a textured wall. Airless or conventional spraying lays down an even film with no applicator marks, which is what makes the difference between metalwork that looks factory-finished and metalwork that looks repainted. Spraying needs proper masking of everything nearby — walls, paving, cars, plants — and that masking time is why it costs more. It is worth it on prominent surfaces.
Primer. Different metals need different primers and using the wrong one guarantees failure regardless of how good the topcoat is. Bare or rusted steel needs an etch or zinc phosphate primer. Galvanised steel — most gates and many garage doors — needs a primer formulated for galvanising, because ordinary primers do not adhere to a zinc surface and the coating peels off in sheets within a year or two. Aluminium needs an etch primer for the same reason. Powder-coated aluminium that is being recoated needs abrading and a dedicated adhesion primer.
If a quote does not name the primer for each metal surface, ask. It is the single most reliable indicator of whether the metalwork has been thought about at all.
Specification for Boardwalk Homes
- Garage doors: clean, degrease, abrade, prime to suit the substrate, then spray two finish coats. Doors should be taken off their tracks or fully masked, and the operating mechanism protected from overspray
- Gates and palisade: sprayed where access allows. Where a gate cannot be sprayed in place without overspray onto neighbours or vehicles, it may need to be removed and done off site, which should be stated on the quote
- Steel balustrades and pergola frames: full anti-rust build-up rather than a topcoat refresh. Welded joints and the undersides of horizontal members are where corrosion starts
- Aluminium window frames: only recoat if you accept it is now a maintained finish. Etch primer plus a specialist system is required; standard enamel will not hold on aluminium
- Walls: standard premium exterior acrylic. The plaster on these homes is generally in good condition and does not need an upgraded system
- Overspray protection: on a cluster property with neighbours close by, masking and screening is not optional. Confirm it is included and that the contractor carries public liability cover
Timing Spray Work
The dry windows for Pretoria East apply — late March to May and mid-August to mid-October — but spray work has an additional and stricter constraint: wind.
Overspray travels. On a still day it is controllable with masking and screening. On a gusty spring day it drifts, and on a cluster property in Boardwalk that means it lands on the neighbour's car, their paving or their windows. Any competent contractor simply will not spray in significant wind, which means spray days have to be picked rather than scheduled, and the programme needs some float in it.
Temperature matters too. Sprayed films are thin and even, and they need surface temperature above roughly 10°C to form properly. That rules out early mornings in deep winter and late afternoons once the temperature starts dropping. Practically, spray work happens in the middle of the day.
Order of work: walls first, metalwork last. Doing prominent sprayed metalwork before the walls means it gets splashed, masked over and handled during the rest of the job.
Painting Services We Cover in Boardwalk
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