Exterior painting that respects the weather here

Exterior painting in Tyrone and Fermanagh is a preparation and weather job more than a colour job. Martin paints the outside of houses and small commercial buildings: rendered walls, pebbledash, masonry, fascias, soffits, bargeboards, doors, windows and garden walls.

What the work involves

• A look at the wall first. Paint will not hold on a wet or crumbling surface, and he would rather wait than trap water in it
• Washing down, including the green growth that sits on shaded and north-facing walls
• Scraping loose paint, filling cracks, and priming bare patches
• A masonry paint suited to render and pebbledash, and a proper system for exterior wood
• Paths, planting and glass protected, and the place left tidy

Why jobs move with the forecast

Omagh sits under the Sperrins. Enniskillen, Kesh and the lough shore stay damp. Newtownstewart and Gortin take weather off the hills. A wall can look dry at lunchtime and still be holding last night's rain. The useful rule is that the surface has to be dry, the coat has to get time to cure, and a wet fortnight means the job moves. Late spring through early autumn is the realistic window. Winter is often the wrong week even when the diary is free.

Exterior paint for damp Northern Ireland weather sets out what is worth specifying, and when a wall should be left alone.

What helps a quote

Say which town you are in, whether it is the walls, the woodwork, the doors, or all of it, and whether the old coat is peeling or just tired. Photos on WhatsApp help him see the height and the condition before he travels.

There are no exterior photographs in the gallery yet. The rooms on our work show the standard of finish he works to, and exterior jobs go on the Facebook page when they are photographed.