This large-scale, multi-family, HOA repaint project, comprised of 17 4-story buildings (280 units) located a few blocks from the ocean, was a significant project for us in 2023.
The community was built in 2007. Most of the substrates have been maintained over the years and were overall in good condition.
The biggest issue was that the stucco substrate was exhibiting particulate matter accumulation banding due to non-uniform surface porosity. This dirt pick-up is due to the paint’s inability to resist dirt anymore. Negative air pressure carries particulates, airborne or suspended in a moisture event, into a porous coating that acts like a filter, only the particulate accumulates as opposed to sloughing off with ambient air movements.
This was a challenging repaint project for us for these reasons:
- The first was that we painted the metal substrates the year prior due to the HOA budget constraints to paint the entire community and its other substrates, so this made this painting project more difficult because the new work was done out of sequence. We had to mask all the metal elements carefully.
- The second challenge was the dramatic color change and keeping track of the multi-color schemes and placement per 4-story building.
- The third challenge was figuring out how to be productive to meet the 4-month project duration, with a deadline to be completed just before Thanksgiving. This was a challenging feat because we could only get so much done with the constraints of how many buildings we were allowed to work on for safety reasons and not overwhelm the residents with limited access while navigating boom lifts, ladders, weather, and color transitions.
The Board of Directors chose us even though we were one of the highest bidders because they were very pleased with our communication, safety precautions, and painting of all the metal railings within the community the year prior.
The Board of Directors were so pleased with our customer service, communication, safety procedures, painting schedule, and our team of craftsmen on site every day for 4 months that they offered to pay for a taco truck on site to celebrate a job well done! They loved us!!!
We finished the project on time and on budget for them. We kept the same price as the initial proposal price, so the Board of Directors and homeowners were very happy. However, the project was considerably less profitable for us, as we had more costs in the material than expected due to the higher-end material costs and multi-color transitions. The labor costs were higher than expected as well due to the color transitions.
The drastic and dramatic difference due to color change and transitions transformed this large community and brought it up to date with paint colors that will be appealing for many years to come.
Scope of Work:
Exterior Preparation & Painting of 17 Buildings & Pool House as listed
Stucco Areas: Spot Prime 436 Multi Surface Primer & Apply 2 Coats of BEHR 4450 MARQUEE Exterior Flat Finish.
- Main Body Stucco
- Pool Area Stucco
- Common Area Stucco
Metal Areas: Spot Prime 436 Multi-Surface Primer & Apply 2 Coats of BEHR 3200 Direct to Metal Semi-Gloss.
- Garage Doors
Wood Areas: Spot Prime 436 Multi-Surface Primer & Apply 2 Coats of BEHR Exterior MARQUEE Exterior Paint.
- Eaves & Fascia
Materials: Materials Used: BEHR MARQUEE FLAT FINISH PAINT
We used 5470 Gallons!!!
The BOD requested the BEHR MARQUEE product be used because one of the Board Members was very familiar with it, and they liked the 10-year guarantee. We also like using this product as we have had very good results on other large multi-family HOA projects where we noticed great coverage and hide, ease of use, and it looks great years later.
Surface Preparation
- Expertly prepare surfaces to produce completed work of a top-quality appearance and durability.
- All surfaces made free of contamination by pressure washing surfaces to be painted utilizing appropriate PSI so as not to damage the substrate.
- Cracks/holes in stucco/t to be patched with appropriate patching material matching existing texture. Allowing patched areas to cure to an acceptable Ph level prior to application of prime/finish coat systems. Large cracks in stucco caulked with Dap Elastomeric Caulking.
- Spot prime all repaired areas using 436 Multi-Surface Primer
Levels of Surface Preparation PCA 5.4.2 Level 2: Standard:
This surface preparation level requires basic cleanliness of surface to ensure the adhesion of new finishes to the surfaces to which they are applied as well as the examination of existing coatings to assess their adhesion.
Specific requests made by the client:
- Use tire booties on lifts when driving on driveways and remove them when driving on asphalt.
- Careful not to get overspray or paint on newly painted metal railings (out-of-sequence work).
- Finish by Thanksgiving so as not to burden the homeowners and their expected guests for the holidays.
Challenging Skill Level Needed
- High reach 60’ ladders, boom lifts and safety due to 4-story buildings.
- Straight line cutting in new color lines due to all the multiple color transitions of the six different colors per building.
- Communication, management, and sequencing skills of large crews while keeping all 280 homeowners happy for 4 months.
- Special scaffolding platforms to reach certain areas where mechanical equipment was.
- It is close to the ocean, so salt and rust are a constant battle. Some days, we couldn't work due to the marine layer bringing the due point too low that moisture was present on the substrates.
Our Highest Priority
- Safety of both employees and homeowners traveling in and out of the community
- Finishing on time so we keep all 280 homeowners happy and ready for their friends and family to gather for the holidays.