Weatherboard & Cladding · Perth, WA
Specialist weatherboard restoration and repair across Perth. We repair splits, cracks and rot, sand, prime and repaint with premium systems. Free quotes.
Weatherboard & Cladding · Perth, WA
Weatherboard Restoration & Repair across Perth
Weatherboard homes have a character that's hard to beat, and they're some of the most-loved character and heritage homes across Perth. But cladding asks for more upkeep than brick or render. Boards move with the seasons, paint splits and peels along the joins, and left too long the timber underneath starts to suffer. Weatherboard restoration brings a tired, flaking weatherboard exterior back to life: repaired, sanded, filled, primed and repainted with a premium system that protects the boards and looks sharp for years.
At LA Painting & Decorating, restoring and repainting weatherboard homes has been a core part of our exterior work across Perth for 18 years. That covers both traditional timber weatherboards and the fibre-cement weatherboards, such as Hardiplank, found on so many Perth homes, each prepared and coated to suit the material. Whether the paint is peeling, a few boards have split or cupped, or there's isolated rot to make good, we repair the boards properly, prepare them back to a sound surface and recoat with the right system for the material and for Perth's climate. The aim is a finish that holds, and boards that last, rather than a quick repaint that traps the problems underneath.
Tom FarnanPerth, WA“We hired LA Painting to repaint our double-storey house and Colorbond fence, and we're thrilled with the results. They transformed the exterior of our home with precision and care, using high-quality paints that have enhanced both durability and aesthetic appeal. The team was professional, completing the project within the estimated timeframe and budget. Their attention to detail, from surface preparation to final coat, was commendable. Highly recommend LA Painting for their expertise and commitment to delivering top-notch results.”
JarrodPerth, WA“Fantastic service and a wonderful team. Very happy, thank you so much.”
Weatherboards are a different job to a masonry wall, and they can't be treated like one. Timber expands and contracts, it needs the right preparation and flexible coatings to cope with that movement, and the repairs have to be done before the paint, not hidden by it. This is where a specialist makes the difference: done properly, a restored weatherboard exterior is protected and good-looking for years; painted over without the prep and repairs, it splits and peels again within a season.
Restoration is about keeping and protecting sound timber, not replacing it. Where a board is structurally gone, that's a carpentry job, and we'll flag it honestly and can coordinate it before we coat. If you're after a straightforward repaint of an already-sound exterior, our exterior painting service may suit, and for stained or natural timber rather than painted boards, see timber restoration & staining. We'll always tell you which one your home needs before we quote.
A look at recent weatherboard restoration and repainting work. Real paint jobs by LA Painting & Decorating across Perth. See all our recent work
Why LA Painting & Decorating
Weatherboard homes are a specialty of LA Painting & Decorating, not a sideline. Here's what that means for your home.
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On timber the preparation is everything, and it's where most weatherboard repaints fail. We scrape, sand, repair and prime properly every time, because it's the only way a finish holds on boards that move.
Weatherboards behave differently to masonry, and restoring them well takes specific experience. With 18 years on weatherboard homes across Perth, we know how the timber moves, which repairs hold and which coatings cope with it.
As a Dulux Accredited Painter we specify premium, flexible exterior systems built to move with timber and stand up to Perth's UV, rather than whatever's cheapest on the shelf.
We'll always tell you what can be saved and what genuinely needs replacing, rather than over-quoting a full re-clad or painting over problems. Keeping your original boards is usually possible, and better.
Clean lines, feathered repairs that don't telegraph, and a consistent finish across the boards, trims and features, so the home reads as one, not just the easy walls.
Fully licensed, insured and accredited, and focused on a restored exterior that still looks sharp years down the track, backed by a workmanship warranty and a 4.9-star record.
Warning signs
Weatherboards give you plenty of warning before they fail, and catching it early keeps the repairs small. Here's what tells you a weatherboard home in Perth is due for restoration.
Peeling and flaking, usually starting along the board edges and joins, is the classic sign a weatherboard exterior is due. Timber movement and moisture work the old coating loose, and once it's lifting it exposes bare timber to the weather. It has to be scraped back and the timber prepared before recoating, or the new paint peels away with the old.
Cracks and splits opening up along the grain of a board let water straight into the timber. Some are cosmetic, but splitting that's widening, or that keeps reappearing after filling, points to timber that's drying out and moving. Left unsealed, those splits are where rot usually starts.
Boards that have cupped, bowed or pulled at their fixings have moved with years of wet and dry cycles. Minor movement is normal and can be prepared and recoated, but it's a sign the timber has been exposed and is worth restoring before the movement gets worse.
Weatherboard paint fades and chalks under Perth's UV, going flat, patchy and powdery to the touch. A washed-out, chalking exterior has lost both its colour and much of its protection, and any recoat needs the chalk removed first or it won't hold.
Soft, spongy or crumbling timber, most often low on the wall, around windows or where water sits, is rot taking hold. Caught early and isolated, affected sections can be cut out, treated and made good as part of a restoration. Left to spread, it becomes a board-replacement job.
Staining, dark patches and timber that stays damp long after rain all point to water getting into the boards, usually through failed paint, splits or gaps. A sound coating sheds water; a failing one lets the timber soak it up, which drives peeling and rot.
Gaps opening at the joins and around trims, windows and corners let wind-driven rain behind the boards. These need filling and caulking as part of the prep, both to keep water out and to give a neat, continuous finish.
Any weatherboard left bare where the paint has gone completely is unprotected and weathering fast. Bare timber greys, splits and starts to break down, so re-establishing a sound, coated surface over it is the priority in a restoration.
What we do
Whatever state your boards are in, from a bit tired through to split and flaking, there's a restoration path for them. Here's how we bring weatherboard homes back across Perth.
The heart of what we do: bringing a tired, flaking weatherboard exterior back to a sound, protected, freshly painted finish. We repair and prepare the boards properly, then recoat the whole exterior with a premium system. Done well, it restores the look and re-protects the timber in one go, for a fraction of the cost of re-cladding.
Splits, cracks, cupped boards and loose fixings are made good before any paint goes on. We refix, glue, fill and make sound the boards that can be saved, so the surface is stable and continuous. Getting the repairs right first is what stops the same faults telegraphing back through a new coat within a season.
Where rot or damage is isolated, we cut out, treat and make good the affected timber rather than replacing whole boards. Caught early, this keeps the repair small and preserves the original cladding. Where the timber is structurally gone, we're honest about it and can coordinate board replacement before we coat.
Old flaking paint is scraped and sanded back, edges are feathered smooth and the boards are brought to a clean, sound surface. On timber this is the stage that most decides how long the finish lasts. It's slower and more involved than most people expect, and it's never where we cut corners.
Bare, repaired and end-grain areas are primed and sealed with the correct timber primer so the topcoat adheres and the timber is protected. Bare timber and exposed end grain drink up moisture, so priming them properly is essential to a repaint that holds. The right primer is a core part of a lasting weatherboard finish.
Once the boards are repaired and prepared, we repaint the whole exterior, from the weatherboards through to the trims, fascias and features, in a premium flexible coating system. Everything is finished to one consistent standard, so the home lifts as a whole. A flexible system is what lets the finish move with the timber instead of cracking over it.
Why it happens
Timber is a living material that moves, and the coating on it is what takes the weather. Understanding why weatherboards break down is what makes a restoration last.
Perth's intense, year-round UV is hard on a painted timber exterior. It breaks the coating down from the surface, fades the colour and dries the timber underneath, and the walls that catch the most afternoon sun always show it first.
Driving winter rain, reticulation and general damp all work at weatherboards. Once the coating is worn or split, water soaks into the timber rather than running off, which drives peeling, swelling and eventually rot. Moisture is behind most serious weatherboard damage.
Timber expands and contracts with every wet and dry cycle, and that constant movement is what opens splits, lifts paint along the joins and works fixings loose. It's why weatherboards need flexible coatings and more regular attention than masonry.
Every coating has a service life, and on timber it's shorter than on brick or render. Even a quality exterior system gradually fades, hardens and loses its grip over the years, and many weatherboard homes are simply due for restoration well before the owner realises.
Weatherboards that are never washed or touched up hold dirt and moisture against the timber and let small problems grow. A split that's sealed early is nothing; left for years it becomes rot. A little maintenance goes a long way on timber.
A lot of weatherboard paint fails early simply because it was rolled on over a poorly prepared or already-failing surface. Paint over dirty, chalky or unprepared timber can't grip, so it peels within a season. Preparation is the single biggest factor in how long a weatherboard finish lasts.
Between the UV, the summer heat, the winter downpours and, near the coast, the salt air, Perth is one of the tougher climates in Western Australia for a painted timber exterior. It's exactly why the preparation and the coating system matter so much on weatherboards.
How we do it
A lasting weatherboard finish is a sequence, not a coat of paint. Every weatherboard home we restore follows the same seven stages, from the first inspection to the final walkthrough.
We inspect the whole exterior, check the condition of the boards and the existing coating, and identify any splits, movement, rot or damage that need repair first, so we know exactly what your home needs before we quote.
We work through the timber board by board where needed, sounding for rot and checking fixings, to separate what can be repaired and kept from anything that genuinely needs replacing. This is where we're honest about restoration versus replacement.
Splits, cracks and cupped boards are refixed, glued and filled, and isolated rot or damage is cut out, treated and made good, so the surface is sound and continuous before any paint goes on.
Flaking paint is scraped and sanded back, edges are feathered, gaps are caulked, and the boards are cleaned and brought to a stable, sound surface. On older character homes, be aware that lead-based paint can sit under the old coats and needs identifying and handling safely before any sanding begins. On timber this preparation is what the whole finish depends on, so it's never rushed.
Bare, repaired and end-grain areas are primed and sealed with the correct timber primer, so the topcoat adheres evenly and the timber is protected against moisture. The right primer is what stops bare timber drinking up the coating and failing early.
We apply the chosen premium, flexible exterior system in the correct number of coats, at the right spread rate, for full, even colour and a protective film that moves with the timber and lasts in Perth's conditions.
We walk the finished exterior with you, check the coverage and consistency, tidy the site, and make sure you're happy, because the job isn't done until the whole home reads as one clean, even finish.
Which do you need?
Most tired weatherboard homes can be restored rather than replaced, and knowing the difference saves you money and disruption. In short: restoration repairs, prepares and repaints sound and isolated-damage boards, while replacement is a carpentry job for timber that has structurally failed.
Questions
In most cases, yes. Splits, cracks, cupped boards, loose fixings and isolated rot can be repaired, made good and repainted rather than replaced. As long as the timber is largely sound, restoration keeps your original boards and costs far less than re-cladding. Only structurally failed timber genuinely needs replacing.
A properly repaired, prepared and repainted weatherboard exterior, using a premium flexible system, will typically look good and stay protected for many years, often around a decade depending on the exposure and the product. On timber, preparation and the coating decide it far more than the colour. Cheap paint over poor prep is what fails early.
Usually repairing. Most tired weatherboards are sound timber with a failed coating and a few damaged boards, which is exactly what restoration is for. Replacement is only needed where boards have structurally failed or rotted through, and we'll tell you honestly which applies before we quote.
Yes. As well as traditional timber weatherboards, we restore and repaint fibre-cement weatherboards such as Hardiplank, which are common across Perth. The preparation differs from timber, since fibre cement doesn't rot or move the same way, but the goal is the same: a clean, sound, well-coated surface that holds up to the weather. We match the system to whichever material your home has.
Mostly timber movement and UV. Timber expands and contracts with wet and dry cycles, and Perth's sun dries it out, so the boards move and the paint and timber split along the grain. Splits that are sealed and repaired early stay minor; left open, they let water in and lead to rot.
Isolated rot can be cut out, treated and made good as part of a restoration, preserving the rest of the board and the surrounding cladding. Where rot has spread through a board or its structure, that section needs replacing by a carpenter first, which we'll flag and can coordinate before we coat.
Premium, flexible exterior systems made for timber, with UV-stable pigments for Perth's sun and enough flex to move with the boards without cracking. As a Dulux Accredited Painter we specify the right primer and topcoat for your boards and exposure rather than a generic paint.
It varies with the exposure and the quality of the last job, but many weatherboard homes in Perth are due every seven to ten years, sooner than brick or render because timber moves and weathers faster. Peeling along the joins, splitting and chalking are the signs it's time.
Properly, and it's the most important part. Flaking paint is scraped and sanded back, splits and damage are repaired, gaps are filled and caulked, and bare and repaired timber is primed and sealed before the topcoat. Skipping any of this is why so many weatherboard repaints fail early.
Many Perth weatherboard homes built before the 1970s carry old lead-based paint under later coats. It isn't a reason to avoid restoration, but it does need to be identified and handled safely during sanding and preparation. If your home is one of Perth's older character or heritage homes, it's worth raising before any prep work starts so it's managed properly.
Most weatherboard homes take several days to a couple of weeks, depending on the size, the amount of repair and preparation, and the weather. The prep and repairs take the time they take, and we won't rush the parts that decide how long the finish lasts. You'll get a realistic timeframe with your quote.
It depends on the size of the home, the condition of the boards, how much repair and preparation is involved and the system chosen. Rather than quote blind, we inspect the exterior and give you a clear written quote for free, with no obligation.
Give them an occasional wash to keep dirt and salt off, and deal with any splits, chips or peeling early rather than leaving them. Small touch-ups and catching problems while they're minor dramatically extends the life of the finish and the timber underneath.
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