Exterior Painting & Decorating

Exterior painting that lasts

An exterior repaint is a protective job before it is a cosmetic one. The coating is what stands between the fabric of the building and the London weather, and if it is applied over failing paint, damp render or decayed timber, it will fail early no matter how good the product is. So the specification starts with what is underneath.

Modernus repaints exteriors across Central and South West London, led by two founders who each have 15+ years of hands-on experience — stucco and rendered facades, Victorian terraces, sash windows, front doors, railings and boundary walls. Every job is quoted in writing after a site visit, and we are fully insured for public liability.

Every part of the elevation

• Rendered and masonry facades, prepared, repaired and fully recoated
• Timber sash windows, frames, sills and glazing beads
• Front doors, porches and entrance surrounds
• Cornicing, string courses and moulded render detail
• Railings, balustrades, gates and external metalwork
• Soffits, fascias and rainwater goods
• Boundary walls and garden structures

How we prepare an elevation

Strip back to sound material

Failing and flaking paint is removed back to an edge that holds. What is underneath then gets inspected rather than simply overcoated — overcoating a problem is how an elevation ends up being repainted twice in five years.

Repair the substrate

Cracks in render are raked out and filled. Timber showing decay — most often the bottom rails and cills of sash windows, where water sits — is cut out, repaired and made good before priming. Corroded metalwork is prepared back and treated.

Clean and prime

Surfaces are washed down to remove atmospheric soiling and organic growth, which is the usual reason a new coating lets go early on a London facade. Bare and repaired areas are then primed with a product matched to the material beneath: render, timber and metal each need a different one.

Work with the weather

Exterior coats are scheduled around conditions so nothing is applied to a damp surface or left unable to cure before nightfall. It is the least visible part of the programme and one of the most important.

Access, scaffold and neighbours

Most exterior work in London needs scaffold or tower access. We arrange that through scaffold contractors we have worked with for years, so the access is specified and booked properly as part of the programme rather than left to chance on the first morning. Pavements, planting and neighbouring properties are protected for the duration.

Parking suspensions and local-authority licences sit outside what we handle — those are arranged by the client or their agent. It is worth starting them early, because the lead time on a suspension is often longer than people expect and it can hold up an otherwise ready programme.

Where we take this on

We repaint exteriors throughout Central and South West London, including Chelsea, Kensington, Notting Hill and Fulham, along with Putney, Wandsworth, Wimbledon, Richmond, Kingston and Sutton. See the full services overview or ask for a quote.