Commercial & Shopfront in Sydney's inner city, inner west & eastern suburbs
Small commercial work: shops, stores and offices, and the tenancies behind them. The craft is the same as a house — sound prep, clean lines, tidy site — but the constraints are different, because the space has to keep working while we're in it. We work ordinary hours rather than overnight, so the answer is staging: we split the job by area and agree up front what has to be usable by the time you open. $5 million public liability, White Card held.
What's included
Ideal for shops, stores, offices and end-of-lease make-goods.
- Shopfronts, façades, awnings and entry surrounds
- Interior repaints for offices, studios and tenancies
- Make-good repaints at the end of a lease
- Pre-opening fitout painting alongside the other trades
- Plaster and surface repairs as part of the same job
How we approach commercial and shopfront painting
Look at it while it's trading
We quote on site during your ordinary hours, because that's the only way to see what actually gets in the way — foot traffic, stock, where a ladder can and can't stand, and which surfaces are touched a hundred times a day.
Agree the staging before anything starts
Which areas, in what order, and what has to be usable by the time you open. We work ordinary hours rather than overnight, so staging is what keeps you trading — and getting it agreed up front is what stops the scheduling problem becoming yours.
Protect the space, not just the floor
Stock, fittings, signage, glazing and shopfront joinery get masked and covered properly. On a trading site the protection has to go up and come down each day rather than live there for a week.
Prep to the surface, not to a routine
Commercial surfaces are a mix — render, plasterboard, steel, timber joinery, previously coated shopfront frames — and each one wants a different clean, sand and primer. The prep is where a commercial repaint is won or lost.
Coat it and keep it usable
Topcoats laid so the area can go back into use to the schedule we agreed, and cut in clean against glazing, signage and floor junctions where the eye goes first.
Walk it with you before we leave
Checked together, on site, in the light the space actually has. Anything that needs another pass gets it before we call the job finished.
What changes the result
- A trading space sets the schedule, and the schedule sets the price. Work broken into small out-of-the-way stages takes longer in total than the same job done in one clear run — it is often still the right call, but it is worth deciding deliberately.
- Commercial surfaces get touched constantly, so sheen matters more than it does at home. A flat finish on a doorway or a counter front will show hand marks within weeks; something scrubbable holds up.
- Previously coated shopfront frames and awnings are the common surprise. What is under the last coat decides the prep, and on a façade that has been repainted several times that is not always obvious until it is sanded.
- Signage, glazing and floor junctions are where a commercial repaint is judged. They are also the slowest part of the job, because they are all cutting in by hand.
- West-facing shopfronts and awnings take the same UV and salt punishment as any exterior in inner Sydney, and an exterior-grade system is not optional on them.
- Fitout work runs alongside other trades, so the paint sequence depends on theirs. We'll say plainly what has to be finished before we can start rather than coat over work that isn't ready.
Where we do this
We cover three parts of Sydney closely rather than the whole city thinly. Each area page covers the housing there and what it means for the work.
Inner city
Terraces, warehouse conversions and apartment blocks, on streets where access and heritage colour matter as much as the coating.
See the areaInner west
Federation semis, weatherboard cottages and bungalows — timber-heavy homes where the prep decides how long the finish lasts.
See the areaEastern & coastal
Rendered houses and deco apartment blocks facing the water, where salt and UV decide how long an exterior coating lasts.
See the areaQuestions about commercial and shopfront painting
Do you work after hours or overnight?
No, and we'd rather say so plainly than take the job and disappoint you. We work ordinary hours, Monday to Friday. What we do instead is stage the work by area: we agree up front which parts get done when and what has to be back in use by the time you open, so you keep trading through it. For a lot of shops and offices that works out better than an overnight rush anyway — there's no pressure to call a wet coat finished because the clock ran out.
Are you insured, and do you have a White Card?
Yes to both. We carry $5 million public liability cover and hold a White Card (Construction Induction Card), which is what a building manager or centre management will usually ask to see before letting anyone on site. We also hold NSW Fair Trading contractor licence 486 083 C, which you can check yourself on the public register. Certificates come with the quote — ask and we'll send them ahead of it.
How big a job do you take on?
Small commercial — shopfronts, cafés, studios, offices and single tenancies. That is what we do well and it is what we say we do. If your job is bigger than that, we'd rather tell you at the quote than find out halfway through, and we're happy to say so.
Can you do an end-of-lease make-good?
Yes, and it's worth getting the lease out first. Make-good clauses vary a lot — some specify a full repaint in a particular colour, some only require damage repaired and the space returned clean. We'll quote to what the clause actually asks for rather than to a standard repaint, so you're not paying for more than you owe.
We're fitting out a new space — when should the painting happen?
After the surfaces are built and repaired, and before the fittings, floor coverings and signage go in. Painting too early means coating over work that still has to be cut into; too late means cutting in around joinery and fittings, which is slower and never as clean. If you tell us the other trades' dates we'll slot in where it makes sense.
Other services
Interior Painting
Walls, ceilings, trims and doors — clean cut-ins and a flawless roll, room by room.
Learn moreExterior Painting
Weatherboards, render, eaves and trims — prepped properly to hold up to Sydney weather.
Learn moreHeritage & Restoration
Period terraces and detailed joinery handled with the care older homes deserve.
Learn moreFeature Walls
One considered wall — deep colour, clean edges, and a finish that carries the room.
Learn morePlastering & Repairs
Cracks, holes and patchy walls made good — a sound surface before a drop of paint.
Learn moreThinking about commercial and shopfront painting?
Send through the details and we'll arrange a time to look at it and price it properly.