The best painters for short-stay rentals plan the job backwards from your booking calendar, not forwards from their own diary. You give them the blocked-out window, they tell you honestly whether the scope fits inside it, and if it does not, they either split the work across visits or ask you to block more days.
A lost booking on the Peninsula in shoulder season is real money. A lost booking in January is a lot of money. The paint job has to be scheduled as a commercial decision.
Start with the calendar, not the quote
Work out how many consecutive days you can genuinely take the listing offline. For most owners that is a two week block somewhere between February and November, and it is usually easier to find in May, June or July than in October.
- Interior repaint, three bedrooms: roughly 5 to 10 working days
- Exterior repaint, single storey: roughly 5 to 12 working days depending on weather
- Deck sand and re-oil: 2 to 4 days including cure time
- Feature areas only, such as kitchen and living: 2 to 4 days
Split the work if the window is tight
Staged works across multiple visits is a normal approach for a rental. Interiors in one block, exteriors in another, the deck in a third. Each stage is short enough to sit in a gap between bookings, and you never lose a peak week.
The trade-off is a slightly higher total cost, because mobilisation happens more than once. Most owners find that cheaper than blocking a fortnight in November. The best painters will price the staged option alongside the single-block option so you can compare.
Coordinate with your cleaner, not around them
Your cleaner is the most useful person in this process and usually the last one told. They are often the key holder, they know the state of the house better than anyone, and they need to know when to do the post-painting clean.
| Day | On site | Task |
|---|---|---|
| Checkout | Cleaner | Changeover clean, key left in lockbox |
| 1 | Painters | Cover and mask, begin preparation |
| 2 to 8 | Painters | Prep, undercoat, topcoats, photo reporting |
| 9 | Painters | Touch-ups, remove masking, rubbish removal |
| 10 | Cleaner | Full clean, linen, restaging for photos |
| 11 | Guest | Check-in |
Leave at least one full day between the painters finishing and the next guest arriving. Fresh paint smells, however low the VOC rating, and a guest who walks into fumes writes a review about it.
Choose finishes that survive guests
A short-stay rental takes more abuse in a year than a family home takes in five. Suitcases against skirtings, chairs against walls, damp towels on timber, sunscreen on door frames.
Washable low-sheen on walls rather than flat, so marks come off without burnishing. Water-based enamel on trims, doors and frames for hardness. Mould-resistant semi-gloss in bathrooms and laundries. And leave a labelled touch-up kit with colour codes in the laundry cupboard, so your cleaner can fix a scuff in five minutes instead of letting it accumulate for two years. Our interior painting jobs on rentals routinely include one.
The levy has changed the maths
Victoria’s short stay levy of 7.5% commenced on 1 January 2025. For many Peninsula owners it has sharpened the question of what the property is actually for: keep letting it, let it less, or sell.
Whichever way you land, presentation matters more now. If you are still letting, the listing has to justify its price against a higher total cost to the guest. If you are selling, presentation drives the number. If you are pulling it back for family use, you stop needing guest-proof finishes and start needing durability against salt and sun. The best painters ask which of the three you are doing before scoping. That thinking sits behind painting for coastal second homes.
Budget guidance
Indicative only, with a site inspection needed for an accurate quote. Three bedroom interior $6,000 to $11,000, four bedroom $12,000 to $20,000. Full exterior $6,000 to $15,000, weatherboard $10,000 to $18,000. Deck restoration $400 to $3,200, and decks are usually the weak point on a rental, so see deck coatings.
SG Coatings is Dulux Accredited and a Master Painters Australia member, with more than 20 years of industry experience and around 70 Google reviews at 4.9 stars. Send through your blocked dates and we will tell you what fits inside them. Start with an instant quote.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many days should I block out to paint a short-stay rental?
For a three bedroom interior repaint, block 10 to 12 days: five to ten working days for the painting, one day for touch-ups and rubbish removal, and at least one full day for the cleaner before the next guest arrives. Exterior work needs more allowance because weather delays are unavoidable.
Can painting be split across several visits to protect bookings?
Yes, and for rentals it is often the better option. Interiors in one block, exteriors in another, the deck in a third, with each stage short enough to fit between bookings. Staged work costs a little more because of repeat mobilisation, but it usually beats losing a peak week in spring or summer.
What paint finishes work best in a holiday rental?
Washable low-sheen on walls so scuffs wipe off, water-based enamel on doors, frames and trims for hardness, and mould-resistant semi-gloss in wet areas. Leave a labelled touch-up kit and colour codes on site so your cleaner can deal with small marks between guests rather than letting them accumulate.
Has the short stay levy changed how owners approach painting?
It has sharpened the decision. Victoria’s 7.5% short stay levy commenced on 1 January 2025, and owners are now clearer about whether the property is a business, a family house, or something they are preparing to sell. Each answer leads to a different scope, so it is worth deciding before you get a quote.
