The more experienced contractors can paint anything – not just residential and commercial buildings, but also religious institutions such as churches, chapels, cathedrals, mosques, temples, and synagogues. Due to their size and architecture, these places of worship are among the most challenging projects for any commercial painter. Several considerations should be considered before commencing this type of project.
Usually, churches have high walls, roofs, and ceilings; also, almost all of them have tall steeples. Any experienced professional painting contractor should be very mindful of the safety considerations when it comes to working at heights. Furthermore, he should be sufficiently experienced and qualified in working at heights, as well as have the proper equipment. With such high buildings, ladders alone may not be enough and safe to reach, and the painting contractor may instead decide to use a scaffolding or an aerial lift. A contractor may own the equipment or may rent them from another company.
The cost of putting up the scaffolding or aerial lift is usually written on the contractor’s bid. The supervisor or facility manager should have made sure, in the first place, that the workers to be involved in the project have enough experience and training, and they should have the valid certification to prove it.
If it’s a particularly old church, the contractors will make sure that they choose the right colors and finish. Yes, commercial painters do not just paint, but they can also do restoration work on certain places such as churches. Choosing the right paint colors and finishes according to the church’s architecture is also another way of honoring its history.
Many churches have certain architectural details such as ornamental trims around doors and stained-glass windows. If they have been previously painted, check if they have damage so that they can be repaired as necessary. If the trims have not been painted for a long time, they are most likely to have been coated with oil paint or lead paint, especially in old churches (before the advent of latex and acrylic paints, only oil paints were used to coat and adorn buildings). When painting over oil paint with latex or acrylic, a bonding primer is normally used to ensure that the topcoat will adhere well to surface without the old oil paint bleeding out on it.
Some churches, especially the older ones, are coated with stain and varnish which are durable and thus may not need re-painting every time. Only the ones who run the church – a priest, a bishop, parish or perhaps a congregation – may specifically ask you to have the woodwork stripped and coated again with a new stain or varnish.
Like in many other exterior painting projects, the exterior of a church requires proper prep work and repair. No matter how good the quality of the paint is, they will make no sense if the surfaces are not cleaned and prepped well. Proper prep work is the key to a successful paint job.
In the case of old churches, they may have sustained damage and deterioration that they may need to be repaired before painting. Smaller damages can be patched with caulk or epoxy to fill them up. But if the wood is rotting beyond repair, it should be replaced with newer material. Old windows panes that have cracks and peeling need to be re-glazed.
Whether your churches are old or recent, vast or intimate, the best exterior painting in Walnut Creek companies know that it is important to have your places of worship painted economically and efficiently – but with results that can be likened to a premium but more expensive paint jobs.