High winds and spray painting don’t play well together – especially when expensive new cars and machinery are close by.

Careful site management was the order of the day when Grant Painters tackled the weathered exterior of the Toyota Parts Building at Bosso St, Paget, on the way to creating a bold new contemporary look.

With a busy car yard on site and heavy new machinery at neighbouring premises, the project demanded careful planning and disciplined site management to achieve a high-quality finish while eliminating the risk of paint drift.

Customer entry into the building also had to be managed, with notices posted on the Auto Corner Mackay social media accounts.

The result was a striking contemporary transformation that restored the building and enhanced its street presence without disrupting day-to-day operations.

A contemporary bold colour scheme replaces a weathered, lighter look (below).

What we did

Exterior surface preparation: As with any long-lasting coating system, thorough preparation was critical.

The exterior was pressure cleaned using a diluted chlorine solution to remove mould and contaminants, particularly on the lower sections of the building where growth was most prevalent.

Corroded screw heads and other affected metal components were mechanically prepared before being spot-primed with a two-part aluminium epoxy mastic to arrest the issue and provide a sound substrate for the new coating system.

The building was then finished with a premium exterior low-sheen acrylic paint system, delivering a durable, modern appearance designed to withstand Mackay’s harsh coastal conditions.

Managing the Wind

According to Grant Painters’ site foreman Karl Petri, the greatest challenge wasn’t the building itself – it was everything around it.

“With a large number of new vehicles on site and expensive machinery at the neighbouring property, preventing overspray was absolutely critical,” Karl said.

“In Mackay, light morning breezes typically strengthen by late morning, so our workable spray window was only until about 10am.”

To take advantage of the calmer conditions, we began work as early as 4am each day, completing the spray application before winds increased.

“Starting before sunrise allowed us to maintain quality while ensuring there was no risk of paint drift onto surrounding vehicles or equipment.”

Additional preparation included grinding back corroded fixings in the aluminium eaves before spot-priming all rusted areas, ensuring the longevity of the coating system.

Completed by a two-person crew over approximately one and a half weeks, the project demonstrates how careful planning, technical expertise and disciplined site management enable Grant Painters to deliver outstanding results – even in challenging industrial environments.