Shed Painting Melbourne | Workshops & Outbuildings

The shed is the last thing on anyone’s list and the first structure on the property to fall apart. It also has problems a house does not, which is why painting one like a house rarely lasts.

This covers backyard sheds, workshops, old brick outbuildings and the classic Melbourne bungalow out the back.

Before anything else: how old is it?

If the shed is fibro sheeting and the house is pre-1990, assume asbestos until you know otherwise. Flat or corrugated fibre cement sheds were extremely common in Melbourne backyards and a great many are still standing.

Intact, sealed sheeting can be painted and painting it is a reasonable form of encapsulation. What must not happen is sanding, grinding, water blasting or drilling it. If the sheets are cracked, broken or crumbling, stop and get advice rather than handling them. Our guide to asbestos in older homes covers the Victorian rules and what testing involves.

This is the single most important thing on this page. Everything below assumes the structure is safe to prepare.

Metal sheds have a condensation problem

An uninsulated steel shed is a condensation machine. The roof sheets cool fast overnight, moisture in the air condenses on the underside, and it drips onto everything below. People assume the roof leaks. Usually it does not.

That matters for painting because:

The inside face of the roof and walls is wet regularly, so interior coatings fail from behind
Anything stored against a wall stays damp and the wall rusts behind it
Rust starts at the base of wall sheets where they meet the slab, and at every fixing

Painting will not fix condensation. Insulation, a vapour barrier or ventilation will. If the shed is being used as a workshop, that is worth solving first, and our notes on converting a garage cover the same logic.

New galvanised steel is also too smooth and too reactive to take paint directly, and solvent enamel reacts badly with zinc. See painting Colorbond and galvanised steel for what actually bonds.

Timber sheds and bungalows rot from the bottom

On a timber structure the failure point is predictable: the bottom plate, the lowest boards, and anywhere cladding is close to or touching the ground.

What to check before coating:

Push a screwdriver into the bottom board and the base of each corner post. Soft timber is a repair, not a painting job
Look at where the cladding meets the slab or the soil. Boards should not be in contact with the ground
Check the door frame base, which takes the most water of anything
Look under the eaves and at any exposed rafter ends

Our guide to timber repair covers what can be saved, and for weatherboard bungalows the preparation is the same as the house, covered in weatherboard painting.

Old brick outbuildings have no damp course

A pre-war brick shed, laundry or outside toilet was often built without a damp-proof course, and sometimes with a floor laid straight on the ground.

The result is moisture rising through the walls, salt deposits in the first half-metre, and paint that will not stay on no matter how many coats go over it. Sealing it with a film-forming coating makes it worse by trapping the moisture in the brickwork.

These walls want a breathable system, the same reasoning that applies to old solid brick houses. Our notes on limewash and mineral paint and on efflorescence both apply directly.

The floor is its own job

A shed slab is usually unsealed, often oil-stained, and sitting on damp ground with no membrane under it. Coating it has the same difficulties as a driveway rather than a garage: moisture pushing up from below, and a surface that may be too smooth or too rough to hold a coating.

Grinding, a moisture test and the right primer decide whether it works. Our guide to concrete driveways, paths and slabs covers it.

Go pale inside

Sheds have almost no natural light and usually one fluorescent batten.

A white or near-white ceiling and pale walls will do more for how usable the space is than another light fitting, because every surface becomes a reflector. Paint the underside of the roof as well if it is exposed; it is the largest surface in there and leaving it makes the rest look unfinished.

Outside is the opposite consideration. A dark shed in full sun gets extremely hot, which matters more on a thin steel structure than on a brick house. Mid-tones that recede into the garden usually look better and behave better than charcoal.

If it is becoming a room

Workshop, gym or studio is one thing. Somewhere to sleep or work full time is a building matter, with council requirements around ventilation, light, egress and sometimes retained parking, and it can affect your insurance.

A shed with a bed in it is not a bedroom because it has been painted nicely. Check with your council before spending on a fit-out.

Realistic expectations

Exterior steel: expect a shorter cycle than the house, especially near the bay
Timber sheds: the bottom 300 mm will always need attention first
Interiors of uninsulated sheds: coatings last as long as the condensation allows
Doors and roller doors wear faster than the walls around them

None of that is a reason to skip it. A shed that gets coated before the rust and rot take hold lasts decades longer than one that gets left.

What we do

Flag likely asbestos sheeting before quoting on older structures
Rust treatment and correct primers on steel and galvanised sheds
Timber repair and bottom plate replacement before coating
Breathable systems on old brick outbuildings
Interiors, roof undersides, doors and floors
Honest advice on when the structure is past painting

We are based in Richmond and work across Melbourne, the bayside suburbs and coastal Victoria.

Call 0404 330 332. Tell us roughly when the shed was built and what it is made of, because on an older fibro structure that changes the whole approach.