Exterior painters
Mineral coatings, sandstone, render, harling and joinery. Residential and commercial exteriors painted by a family firm in its 65th year.
We have painted every type of UK building exterior since 1959 — sandstone, render and harling, masonry walls, joinery, fascias and soffits, and industrial coatings — using the substrate-correct, weather-resistant system for the job.
Sandstone to industrial — exterior craft
Sandstone elevations, lime-render terraces, Georgian and Victorian joinery, harled rural properties, council and education estates, hospitality and retail facades. We have painted every type of exterior the UK building stock offers — and we own the access kit (IPAF, PASMA, PAL) to reach all of them.
A different trade, resourced differently
Exterior painting is a different trade to interior decorating, and we resource it that way. Different paint chemistry, different prep, different weather window, different access risk.
A Borthwick exterior job starts with a site survey — substrate condition, dampness check, salts test where the wall is sandstone or lime-render, and a written specification before any coating goes on.
Three substrate families
Masonry. Sandstone, limestone, brick, harling, render.
Joinery. Sash windows, doors, fascias, soffits, eaves, signage.
Industrial. Metalwork, ironmongery, factory and warehouse exteriors.
Each family has its own paint chemistry, its own prep regime, and its own failure modes. We resource them separately.
Coatings — breathable, industrial, traditional
For breathable substrates we work with mineral systems — Keim and Beeck — specified by Conservation Officers on listed and Conservation Area buildings.
For industrial and commercial exteriors we work with PPG Trade Elite, Dulux Trade and Sikkens.
For sash windows and exterior joinery we still use traditional oil-based primer and undercoat where the timber demands it, with modern water-based topcoats for environmental compliance.
Preparation is where exteriors live or die
Jet washing, gutter clearing, render-repair patching, sandstone repointing prep, salt washes, biocide treatments where rendering shows organic growth.
This is where exterior jobs go wrong if it gets skipped. A perfect topcoat will fail in two seasons if the prep is short. We do not skip prep.
Access and accreditations
IPAF and PASMA-trained operatives, in-house scaffold tower, MEWP and cherry-picker hire, edge protection and full RAMS. PAL licence for commercial signage and large-format work.
CHAS, SafeContractor, SMAS, PDA, SDF, PPG Trade Elite. £10 million public liability cover. Annual independent re-assessment.
What we paint outside
Sandstone and lime-render elevations
Mineral paint systems (Keim, Beeck). Breathable, Conservation Officer-approved on listed property.
Sash windows and exterior joinery
Sash windows, doors, fascias, soffits and rainwater goods. Strip, repair, prime and hand-finish — heritage colours, modern water-based topcoats, full reinstatement.
Harling and render
Render repair prep, masonry paint application, harling refresh on rural and Highland-style stock.
Commercial and retail facades
Hotel, restaurant, shopfront and signage repaints. Off-trading-hours work, programme-managed.
Industrial coatings
Factory, warehouse and metalwork systems. PPG Trade Elite specification, intumescent and corrosion systems.
Council and education estates
School blocks, social housing schemes, public-sector estates. CHAS and SMAS-gated commercial workflow.
Access work
IPAF and PASMA in-house. Scaffold towers, MEWPs, cherry pickers. PAL licence for commercial signage.
Pre-paint prep services
Jet washing, gutter clearing, biocide, salt wash, render repair, sandstone consolidation prep.
Exterior painting is a different trade
Exterior painting is not interior decoration done outdoors. Different paint chemistry. Different prep workflow. Different weather constraints. Different access risk. We resource exterior work as its own discipline, with its own crews, its own kit and its own programme.
Most exterior jobs that fail in the first two seasons fail because the prep was short. Sandstone with unresolved salt rise, render with a hairline crack left unrepaired, joinery painted over loose primer. We diagnose the substrate first and write a specification that addresses the substrate — then we paint.
Our exterior work covers Victorian and Edwardian sandstone, Georgian stucco terraces, lime-render rural property, industrial metalwork, commercial signage and large-format retail. IPAF, PASMA, PAL and £10 million public liability cover.
Common questions
What time of year should an exterior job be done?
For most masonry and joinery, dry conditions and ambient temperatures above 8°C give the best results — broadly April to October. Mineral paint systems are more tolerant of weather variation. We book the exterior window in advance and re-plan around the forecast.
Can you paint listed and Conservation Area exteriors?
Yes. We work to Conservation Officer specifications, including mineral paint, lime-based prep and traditional joinery methods. Many of our exterior jobs are on listed sandstone and lime-render buildings.
Do you do scaffold and access yourselves?
Yes. IPAF and PASMA-trained operatives in-house, scaffold tower, MEWP and cherry-picker hire as the job requires. RAMS supplied in advance. PAL-licensed for commercial signage and large-format work.
Do you handle prep work — jet washing, render repair, gutters?
Yes, all of it. Prep is most of the exterior job; the paint is the finish. We jet wash, treat biocide where organic growth is present, repair render, and clear gutters before any coating goes on.
Do you paint render and harling?
Yes. We prep and repair render before any paint goes on — cracks cut out and filled, blown sections hacked off and re-rendered, organic growth killed back with a biocide wash. Harled walls get the same care, finished in a breathable masonry paint that lets the wall dry out rather than trapping damp behind the coating.
What paint do you use on masonry and exterior walls?
It depends on the wall. Sandstone, lime render and other breathable substrates get a mineral system — Keim or Beeck — so the wall can still breathe; these are the systems Conservation Officers ask for on listed and Conservation Area property. Cement render and modern blockwork take a standard masonry paint. We test and specify the right one before we quote.
Do you paint fascias, soffits and guttering?
Yes — fascias, soffits, bargeboards and rainwater goods are part of most exterior jobs. We clear and clean the guttering as part of the prep, repair any rot in the timber, and finish the lot to match the rest of the exterior.
How long does an exterior repaint last, and how do you make it weatherproof?
On a properly prepped exterior with the right system, expect roughly 7–10 years on masonry and 5–7 on joinery, depending on how exposed the elevation is. The weather resistance comes from the prep and matching the coating to the substrate — not from one “weatherproof” product. We survey the wall, fix what is failing, and specify accordingly.
UK exterior work
We paint exteriors throughout the UK with offices in Edinburgh, London, Glasgow, Perth, Stirling, Dundee and Fife. Heritage sandstone work in Scotland; Georgian stucco and Regency terraces in London; render, harling and lime-based exteriors across rural property.
- Edinburgh
- London
- Glasgow
- Perth
- Perthshire & Kinross-shire
- Stirling
- Central Scotland
- Dundee
- Fife
- East Lothian
Accreditations & memberships
Public liability insurance to £10 million.