Painters Simon's Town

Painters in Simon's Town, Cape Town South Peninsula

Get a free quote covering older solid-wall buildings as well as modern homes
Kommetjie-based, roughly twenty-five minutes away — regular work throughout Simon’s Town
Breathable systems specified where the wall construction calls for it, not by default

Simon’s Town Painting Prices

Simon’s Town has a wider spread of building types than anywhere else in the far south — nineteenth-century solid-wall buildings along the main road, mid-century naval housing, and modern homes on the slopes above. The construction type matters more than the size when it comes to what a repaint costs.

Job	Typical Simon’s Town scope	Indicative price
Interior repaint, 3-bedroom home	Walls and ceilings, two coats	R20 000 – R35 000
Exterior repaint, modern single storey	Salt wash, prep, two coats	R33 000 – R55 000
Exterior repaint, double storey	As above plus scaffolding	R57 000 – R94 000
Older solid-wall building, exterior	Breathable mineral system, two coats	R42 000 – R78 000
Removing failed impermeable coating	Strip back to sound substrate	R280 – R520 per m²
Lime plaster repair	Cut out, render, match existing	R520 – R880 per m²
Rising damp treatment	Injected course plus salt-retardant replaster	R1 100 – R1 700 per linear m
Roof painting, tile or IBR	Clean, rust treat, prime, two coats	R125 – R185 per m²
Sash and timber window restoration	Strip, repair, prime, finish	R2 800 – R6 500 per window

Guideline ranges. On an older building the condition of the existing coating — particularly whether someone has previously used a plastic film paint — changes the total significantly.

Old Walls Need Breathable Paint

This is the technical point that matters most in Simon’s Town, and getting it wrong is expensive.

Older buildings here were built with solid walls and lime-based mortar and plaster, with no cavity and no damp-proof course. That construction is designed to be permeable: moisture moves into the wall and evaporates back out through the surface. It works, and it has worked for a very long time, provided nothing stops the evaporation.

Modern acrylic and PVA paints form a plastic film. Put one on a solid lime-plastered wall and the moisture still gets in — through the ground, through driving rain, through the mortar joints — but it can no longer get out. It accumulates behind the film, and the results are predictable: blistering and flaking within a season or two, damp patches appearing internally on a wall that was previously dry, and salts crystallising behind the paint and blowing the plaster off the wall.

The correct system for these walls is breathable — a mineral, silicate or lime-based coating with high vapour permeability. If a previous owner has already sealed the wall with an impermeable paint, that coating has to come off before anything else happens, which is the strip line in the table above. It is a significant cost, and it is not optional. Painting a second plastic film over the first one accelerates the damage.

Modern homes on the slopes above the town have cavity walls and cement plaster and need none of this. A standard exterior acrylic is entirely correct there. The distinction is the construction, not the postcode.

Colour Approvals in the Conservation Area

Much of central Simon’s Town falls within a conservation overlay, and for affected properties external alterations including colour changes may need approval before work starts. Repainting in the existing colour is generally straightforward; changing to something markedly different may not be.

Check your property’s status with the City before finalising a scheme rather than after. It costs a phone call, and the alternative is repainting a facade at your own expense. If your building is affected, allow lead time in the schedule — approvals do not turn around in a week, and you do not want the approval landing in the middle of winter when you cannot paint anyway.

When to Paint on This Side of the Mountain

Simon’s Town sits in the lee of the mountain with False Bay in front of it, which gives it some shelter from the south-easter compared with the Atlantic side. You get more usable summer days here than in Kommetjie or Scarborough.

February to April is still the best window and October to November the second. Winter is out for exteriors, and it matters more here than elsewhere: driving rain on a solid wall soaks deep into the masonry, and that wall needs weeks of dry weather afterwards before it is a sound surface to coat. On an older building, painting too soon after a wet spell is one of the more common causes of premature failure.

Practical local note: baboon troops move through parts of the town and will interfere with an unattended site — open tins, dropcloths, loose materials and tools. Anything left out overnight should be secured, and a contractor working here regularly will already plan for that.

Salt, Sun and Product Choice

Modern walls: a coastal-rated exterior acrylic, with a fresh-water wash first. Salt off the bay settles on these facades and undermines the coating from behind if it is painted over.
Older solid walls: mineral or silicate breathable systems only. Never a standard acrylic, whatever the tin says about weather resistance.
Timber sash windows: these are worth repairing rather than replacing, but they need a proper flexible exterior system and a maintenance coat every two years. Do not use a hard film that cracks as the timber moves.
Steel and galvanised: etch or rust-inhibiting primer, then a water-based enamel. The bay air corrodes exposed ferrous metal quickly.
Interiors in older buildings: keep it breathable at least on external walls. A heavy vinyl or oil-based finish on the inside face of a solid wall creates exactly the same trapped-moisture problem as sealing the outside does.

Services We Cover in Simon's Town

Interior painting in an older Simon's Town property

Simon's Town Painting Questions

Why can't I use normal exterior paint on an older Simon's Town building?

Solid lime-plastered walls have no cavity and no damp-proof course, so they rely on moisture evaporating out through the surface. A modern acrylic forms a plastic film that stops evaporation while water still enters through the ground and the mortar joints. It accumulates behind the paint and blows the plaster off the wall.

What does it cost to repaint an older solid-wall building?

Roughly R42 000 to R78 000 for an exterior in a breathable mineral system. If a previous owner has sealed the wall with an impermeable paint, add R280 to R520 per square metre to strip it off first, which is not optional.

Do I need approval to change my exterior colour?

Possibly. Much of central Simon's Town falls within a conservation overlay, and affected properties may need approval for external changes including colour. Repainting in the existing colour is usually simpler. Check with the City before finalising a scheme, and allow lead time.

How can I tell whether my walls are solid or cavity?

Age and construction are the guide: nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century buildings in the town centre are generally solid-walled with lime plaster, while modern homes on the slopes above have cavity walls and cement plaster. A painter who works on older buildings will confirm it on site before specifying anything.

When is the best time of year to paint in Simon's Town?

February to April, with October and November as the alternative. Winter matters more here than elsewhere because driving rain soaks deep into solid masonry, and those walls need weeks of dry weather afterwards before they are a sound surface to coat.

Planning a repaint in Simon's Town? Contact Painters Kommetjie for a free, no-obligation quote and a written scope you can compare against anyone else’s.

painters Simon's Town, house painting Simons Town Cape Town, breathable paint old walls, damp proofing Simons Town, exterior painters south peninsula

Get a Free Quote in Simon's Town →

Get the best quote, fast