A warehouse painted top to bottom, with despatch still running.
Warehouse walls, roof soffits and structural steel prepared and coated from proper access equipment, worked zone by zone, with racking sheeted and sprinkler heads masked, so storage and despatch carry on in the bays we aren't working in.
- Free site inspection
- Written, itemised quote
- 1-year workmanship warranty
- Same-day callback
At a glance
What does painting a warehouse involve?
Warehouse painting covers the internal walls, the soffit under the roof, the structural steel and the external elevations. Most of the effort goes into access and protection: reaching walls and roof steel well above ladder height with a lift or scaffold, sheeting racking and stock, masking sprinkler heads and detectors, then preparing and coating in zones so the operation keeps running around us.
When this is the answer, and when it is not.
Sending you to the wrong service wastes your money and our time. This is how to tell.
This is likely right if
- A new or extended shed where the steelwork still carries only its shop primer and needs finish coats on site
- Internal walls and roof soffit have gone chalky and grey, and the aisles are noticeably darker than they were
- The unit is changing tenant, or an audit or lease date is fixed and the interior has to present properly
- Walls are scuffed at pallet-truck height and need a harder, washable finish taken to a set dado line
Something else comes first if
- Water is coming in, sheet laps, valley gutters, rooflight seals or a blocked downpipe have to be traced and closed first, or the stain simply comes back through the new coat
- The roof or side cladding is asbestos cement, it must not be wire-brushed, sanded or pressure washed, and needs a specialist opinion before anyone works on it
- Structural steel shows pitting or section loss at column bases and bracing connections, that needs a structural engineer's opinion, because paint over weakened steel only hides it
What the service includes.
Site survey and condition report
We walk the shed with your site in-charge, measure by height band, and record what's on each surface now, cement paint, distemper, bare block, plastered walls, shop-primed or galvanised steel. What's already there decides the primer, and the primer decides whether the finish stays on.
Protection of stock, racking and services
Racking and pallets sheeted, floor covered through the working zone, and sprinkler heads, detector heads, light fittings, cable tray and busbar masked before anything is sprayed. Atomised paint drifts a long way inside an open shed, so protection is set wider than the area being coated.
Access equipment and working at height
Boom lift, scissor lift, tower or fixed scaffold, chosen for floor loading, aisle width, headroom and what's stored below. We confirm the machine can actually reach the wall and the rafters before it is quoted, not after it arrives at your gate.
Washing down and surface preparation
Cobwebs and settled dust removed, forklift rubber marks and oil degreased, loose and chalking coatings scraped and brushed back. Old cement paint chalks as it weathers, a fresh coat laid over that powder bonds to the powder, and both come away together.
Steelwork, purlins and rust treatment
Rust taken back to sound metal by wire brushing or grinding, then spot primed. Galvanised sections get a primer intended for zinc, because a standard primer has nothing to key into on a bright galvanised surface and lifts off in strips.
Application, snag walk and handover
Airless spray on open elevations and steelwork, brush and roller where overspray can't be risked near stock. Masking removed and ticked off against the list, the zone swept, then walked with you before it goes back into use.
Not included, or quoted separately
- Roof sheet replacement, gutter and downpipe repair, and sealing of sheet laps, rooflights or flashings
- Structural steel repair, bolt or bracing replacement, and anything needing a structural engineer's opinion
- Epoxy or PU floor coating and floor line marking, a different system with its own shutdown, quoted separately
- De-stacking racking, moving pallets or stock, and dismantling racking to open up a wall
- Isolating high-bay lighting, and disconnecting, modifying or re-commissioning the sprinkler or fire detection system
The sequence.
Survey with your operations team
We measure walls, soffit and steelwork by height band, look at floor condition for machine access, and agree which bays can be cleared and which have to be worked around loaded racking.
Method statement, zones and permits
A written zone plan and sequence, work-at-height arrangements, machine details and site induction requirements agreed with your facility before a single lift comes through the gate.
Isolate, mask and protect
Your electrical team isolates lighting in the live zone; we sheet racking and stock, cover the floor, and mask heads, detectors and services against a list that's used again at demasking.
Prepare the surfaces
Wash down, scrape and brush off chalking and flaking coatings, degrease marked areas, de-rust and spot prime steelwork. This stage decides whether the coat is still on the wall after a few monsoons.
Coat zone by zone
Primer and finish coats to the agreed specification and coat count, sprayed where the zone is clear and applied by brush and roller where it isn't, with each zone finished and returned before the next opens.
Demask, clean down and hand over
Masking removed and checked off head by head, debris cleared, snag walk with your site in-charge, and a written warranty issued with its conditions stated.
What moves the price on this job.
We do not publish a rate, because it would change once someone measured your property. These are the variables that decide it.
- Measured wall, soffit and steelwork area by height band, the upper bands cost more to reach than they do to coat
- The access method the floor, aisle width and racking layout will allow, and how often the machine has to be repositioned
- How much of the shed can be emptied, against how much must be painted around loaded racking
- Condition of the existing coating, chalking cement paint and flaking distemper have to come off before anything new goes on
- Whether structural columns, rafters, purlins and bracing are in scope, and how much rust treatment they need
- Working pattern: normal shift, night working, weekends, or a planned shutdown when the shed is empty
Warehouse Painting — your questions.
Can you paint while we're still storing and despatching?
Usually yes, in zones. We agree a map with your stores team: one bay cleared and sheeted while the rest keeps working, forklift routes kept clear of the machine, and spraying limited to zones where stock can be moved or fully covered. Where a bay can't be cleared at all, we work it in brush and roller, or hold it back for a weekend or shutdown.
Will you paint the structural steel and the underside of the roof?
We can, and it is quoted separately from the walls because the preparation is different. Steel needs de-rusting and the correct primer, galvanised sections especially, since ordinary primer won't key to bright zinc. The roof soffit depends on what's up there, bare sheeting takes paint, but sheeting with an insulation lining, foil facing or heavy condensation staining may not, and we'll say so at survey.
What happens to the sprinkler heads, detectors and light fittings?
They're masked before spraying starts and unmasked the same day, against a written list so nothing is left covered overnight. Sprinkler heads and detector heads are never coated, paint on a head changes how it operates and is picked up as a defect at inspection. Isolating and re-energising high-bay lighting stays with your own electrical team, sequenced with our zone plan.
Our walls keep getting marked at pallet-truck height. What actually helps?
A dado band in a harder, washable finish taken to a set line, usually in a deeper colour so scuffing reads less, with emulsion above it. That takes wiping and rubbing without burnishing. It won't survive impact, though, a pallet corner into blockwork is damage, not dirt, so guard rails or corner protection at aisle ends and dock edges are the real answer.
Do you do the floor and the line marking as well?
Floor coating is a separate system and a separate quotation. The slab has to be ground or shot blasted, checked for moisture rising through it, then left to cure with nothing driven across it, a different kind of shutdown from the one wall painting needs. Aisle and safety line marking is done as part of that work, once the coating has cured.
Let us look at your walls first.
Tell us about the property and we will set up a free colour and wall inspection. You get a written, itemised quotation afterwards, with no obligation to go ahead.
- We call you back the same day to get a picture of the property and the surfaces.
- We agree a time and come out for the free inspection.
- You get the written scope and itemised quotation.
- Nothing starts until you approve it.