Maintain and Preserve Exterior Metal Paneling

Despite our best efforts, we do judge a book by its cover, people by their clothing and a building by its outward appearance. First impressions set the stage for everything that follows. Curb appeal can be a deal breaker for a sale - whether you are trying to sell a building, promote products or services from a company inside, lease condos in a high-rise or sell tickets for a performance.

Thus, exterior metal and steel with rust, oxidation spots or other unsightly deformities could cost real money in lost business or contribute to a poor reputation. Inspecting, maintaining and protecting metal is sensible to protect not only your revenue stream, but also your investment. It is incredible how much damage a pin hole or expanding rust issue can cause. Pollution, sunlight, weather, salt from winter road treatment and myriad environmental and man-made factors (like jack hammers digging up a sidewalk nearby) can adversely impact and potentially compromise the strength and durability of exterior metal beyond the appearance.

Paintworks & Decorating possesses years of experience and tons of knowledge in metal maintenance. Based in Manhattan and serving the greater New York City region, Westchester County, and parts of northern New Jersey, the company embraces that a good defense for metal preservation is a positive offense with inspections, appropriate cleaning and sealing or painting.

Cleaning and painting outside metal is not a DIY job or task for the faint-hearted or unskilled. Treatment before painting can include chemical solutions, etch primers and/or sweep blasting. Let Paintworks do what they do best for exterior metal treatments and preservation, so you can spend your time doing whatever you do best.

Painting Fire Escapes in Little Italy NYC

Painting fire escapes in New York is a crucial element for standard upkeep of a building. Fire escapes may rarely get use but they must be ready and sturdy during an emergency. This is why painting them to protect the metal is so important. Fire escapes are constantly beaten down by the NYC elements. We always start by grinding off any failing coatings. Once that is done we apply Rust destroyer primer that converts any remaining rust in preparation for the finish coats. We then apply 2 coats of UV resistant industrial coatings to ensure that the fire escapes are protected long term. We painted the above fire escape in Little Italy last month. The owners were happy to get it done before the cold weather hits.

Exterior House Painter NYC

When this homeowner called us she was looking to refresh the exterior of the home for the new renters. The house hadn't had it's stucco exterior painted in over 12 years and it was started to show. The bottom picture shows before we got started. You can see the failing paint around all the windows, the accumulation of dirt is also visible. Our first step was to rent a boom lift that would allow us to reach all corners of this house. We spent the first day power washing the entire stucco exterior. The next day was devoted to more preparation as we scraped the failing paint, plastered any holes/cracks and caulked around all windows. Once was that was completed we masked off the areas that were not to be painted. We then used professional spray machines to paint the exterior stucco walls. After spraying the stucco was completed we hand painted all window frames and shutters. The client picked a boldly beautiful red to contrast the white house. The client was in awe when she saw the finished project. It looks like an entirely new exterior to her house. Very grateful to be a part of this exterior transformation. 

Painting Exterior Metal Structures at Pier 17 at South Seaport

The South Seaport is a historic and legendary area that was damaged by Hurricane Sandy but has since returned to its former glory. Pier 17 is back to being a hot spot with a gorgeous rooftop deck complete with views of the Brooklyn Bridge and a large stage for concerts. The two metal structures that provide shade and a mingling area were already getting severe sun damage. Paintworks & Decorating was brought in to repaint the structures back to white with a UV resistant industrial coating. The work had to be done efficiently and effectively as the coating product has a very short timeframe to be applied. With our foreman's expertise the project was carried out without any hiccups. All handrails and exposed metal had to painted up to a certain height. We even painted the back of the exit signs to make everything look uniform.  As local NYC steel painters it was quite the honor to paint on the rooftop of this Manhattan landmark. We look forward to painting more steel structures in the future. 

Painting Exterior Cornices

The New York Times have called roof cornices 'The Crowning Glory’ of NYC architecture in the Early 20th century. Yet these historic pieces of architectural ingenuity have largely disappeared from modern building practices. Built of galvanized iron, copper and terra cotta, the cornice was the cherry on top of NYC beautiful historic buildings. The Brooks Brothers building, at Madison and 44th Street is a superb example of a refined cornice. Sadly, the anti-cornice movement goes hand in hand with the “who-cares” tide of NYC architecture. Buildings after building were made in “modern” designs, seeking to become taller and sleeker. This makes cornice placement difficult.

In today’s world the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development has adopted a cornice restoration plan as part of its overall housing strategy in the Harlem and Hamilton Heights area. Cassandra A. Vernon, an agency spokeswoman urges developers to include cornices in their designs. She seeks to encourage people to repair and replace cornices on rehabilitated buildings.

Paintworks and Decorating is proud to be one of the few companies experienced to handle this delicate restoration. We see cornices as a major piece of NYC architectural history and wish to keep the artistic tradition alive. The very soul of New York has slowly been deteriorated by the destruction of some of our most historic constructions. With our 25 years of experience we seek to maintain NYC’s rich art and history.

With the easy renting of one scissor lift the our team can restore your historic building's details to their former glory. With a few precise coats of Benjamin Moore Aura Exterior premium paint your cornice will last for future generations to appreciate and admire.