Painter Warns: high and hard-to-reach work too

Warns lies a little inland from Stavoren, in the last stretch of Friesland before the IJsselmeer. A little further on is the Rode Klif, where the Battle of Warns was fought in 1345. That cliff is also a good reason to look up: not much stands between your house and the south-westerly here.

On most houses the paint at eye level is still decent, while the high work is already much further gone. Gables, dormers and roof edges are the places we look at first.

What sits high up is seen less often and therefore dealt with too late. A dormer has small seams, cheeks and a roof edge that catches everything. On a gable with timber cladding or barge boards, it often starts with paint that comes off in sheets.

In a spot like that a half solution is money wasted. First it must be sanded, repaired and primed. Only then is it worth applying the top coat. If the boards are too far gone, we replace them. You can see that in our timber cladding and barge boards.

Scaffolding gives a fixed working platform and is pleasant for work lasting several days, such as a whole facade with preparation. We have our own equipment, so you see a fixed price for putting it up and taking it down and not a daily rate. A cherry picker is handy when the job is short, or when the spot is hard to reach.

On the harbour crane in Stavoren we used a cherry picker and scaffolding together. On a family home it is simpler, but the trade-off stays the same. More can be found under painting at height.

Wind makes exterior work at height harder. Working on scaffolding on the west side isn't equally good every day, and paint needs dry weather with 5 to 30 degrees and a maximum of 85 percent humidity. That is why we prefer not to plan high work at the edges of the season.

On top of that, much of the preparation also needs dry wood. Starting a day later is always better than painting on wet wood.

So we plan work at height such that the windward facade is done when it is calm. The sheltered side can sometimes still be done when it blows too hard on the west. That way we keep working without risking the quality.

You don't have to climb the ladder yourself. A photo from the ground, zoomed in on the roof edge or dormer, often says a lot. Also send a photo of the whole facade, so we can estimate the height, and add whether there is a garden, barn or conservatory in front.

Also mention the year of construction and the last paint job. During the site visit we look at the surface and discuss the colours. If we need to look higher, we arrange that.

Height doesn't make a job expensive in itself, the scaffolding and the preparation do. Nationally, hired equipment costs at least €50 per day, and a market indication for exterior painting is from €35 per m2. New fascia boards are available from €55 per running metre.

These are not MJA prices. With us you get a fixed price after the site visit, including the fixed price for the scaffolding. Then you know where you stand.

With a quote, look at what happens with the scaffolding: is it a fixed item, or does the meter keep running by the day? If the weather turns, that can make a big difference at height. With us the price for putting it up and taking it down is fixed.

We are based in Mirns, not far from Warns, and work throughout Friesland for private customers and small businesses. Owner Mohamed Ajubi is your point of contact. We are a member of OnderhoudNL, a recognised training company, and we work with Sikkens and Sigma, among others. On Google we have a 4.8 from 25 reviews.

Want to know how your roof edge or gable really stands? Request a site visit via the quote request, or call 06 3006 0558. At handover we walk through the work together, including what is hard to see from the ground.