PAINTERS OLYMPUS

• Get a free quote from 5-Star reviewed Olympus painters
• Damp diagnosed by type before we quote — rising, penetrating and condensation need different fixes
• Exposed elevations specified for wind-driven rain, not just for sun

Exposure Is the Defining Factor in Olympus

Olympus sits high and open on the eastern edge of Pretoria, and the homes here take weather that sheltered suburbs lower down simply do not. Summer storms on the Highveld arrive with serious wind behind them, and on an exposed stand that means rain hitting a wall horizontally rather than falling past it.

Wind-driven rain is a different load from ordinary rainfall. It is pushed into the surface under pressure, it finds every hairline crack and every open mortar joint, and it soaks a wall right through rather than wetting the face. On the exposed elevations here — typically the north-west through south-west faces that catch the storm front — that produces damp patches on the inside of external walls that homeowners often misdiagnose as a plumbing leak.

It also explains why the same house can have one elevation failing at year four while the sheltered side is fine at year eight. On an Olympus property the specification should differ by elevation, and a contractor who has not asked which side gets the weather has not looked properly.

Guide Prices for Painting in Olympus

Telling Penetrating Damp From the Other Kinds

Getting this right determines whether you spend money on the correct fix. There are three kinds and they look different.

Penetrating damp shows as isolated patches partway up a wall, not at floor level, and they darken during and shortly after wet weather and fade in dry spells. They correspond to a defect on the outside face — a crack, an open joint, a failed sill, a gap around a window frame. This is the Olympus classic on exposed elevations.

Rising damp shows as a band at the bottom of the wall, typically up to about a metre, with a fairly level tide line and often white salt deposits. It is present regardless of recent weather. It comes from ground moisture and needs a damp course intervention, not paint.

Condensation damp shows in corners, behind furniture, on cold external walls and in bathrooms, usually with black mould spotting rather than staining. It is worst in winter, and it is caused by moisture inside the house meeting a cold surface. Ventilation fixes it. Waterproofing does not.

The reason to be precise is that each has a different remedy and they are not interchangeable. A waterproofing treatment applied to condensation damp achieves nothing at all, and a very common outcome is a homeowner paying for the wrong one twice.

Coatings for Weather-Exposed Elevations

• Fix the defect first. Penetrating damp is a hole, not a coating failure. Cracks cut and filled, mortar joints repointed, window and door perimeters sealed, sills checked for a proper drip edge. Paint over an unrepaired defect is decoration, not a repair
• Exposed elevations: a high-build or elastomeric exterior coating gives a thicker, more continuous film that resists driven rain far better than a standard two-coat acrylic. Worth the extra cost on the weather faces and unnecessary on the sheltered ones
• Water-repellent treatment on porous or facebrick elevations that are taking driven rain. A silane-siloxane repellent lets the wall breathe while stopping bulk water being pushed into it
• Window and door perimeters: the junction between frame and plaster is the single most common entry point on an exposed wall. It needs a flexible sealant properly tooled into a clean joint, not a bead smeared over the old one
• Sills and copings: check that water is actually being thrown clear. A sill without a drip groove runs water straight back onto the wall below it, and no coating survives that indefinitely
• Sheltered elevations: standard premium acrylic. Spending high-build money on a wall that never takes weather is waste that would be better put into the exposed side

Timing on an Exposed Stand

The dry windows are late March to May and mid-August to mid-October. On an exposed Olympus property, wind is the extra variable and it matters more than most people expect.

Wind on a fresh coat causes two problems. It accelerates surface drying so the film skins before it has flowed out, which leaves visible lap marks and reduces adhesion. And it carries dust and grit onto wet paint, which on an open stand near open ground is a genuine issue. Spring days here can be gusty even when they are dry, so an experienced crew works the sheltered side of the house on the windy days and the exposed side when it is still.

There is also a diagnostic argument for the timing. If you suspect penetrating damp, look at the affected wall during and just after a storm, before the repaint. Damp that darkens with the weather and fades afterwards confirms the diagnosis and often reveals exactly where the water is entering — information that is much harder to get once everything is freshly coated.

Painting Services We Cover in Olympus

• Damp proofing
• Exterior painting
• Waterproofing
• Plaster repairs
• Interior painting
• Roof painting

Olympus Painting Questions

Painting a home in Olympus? Contact Painters Pretoria East for a free, no-obligation quote from painters who work in this area every week.

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