Why the Christmas Holidays Are the Best Time for School Painting Projects

For most students, the final school bell for the year means taking a break from the everyday routine. For painting contractors, it means the opposite. The Christmas holidays are one of the busiest times of year for school painting projects, as the six-week break provides access to educational buildings and facilities without students and most staff on the premises. There’s far greater flexibility to complete work that would otherwise interrupt school activities.

At Dukes, we’ve been providing comprehensive commercial painting solutions in Sydney since 1958, including in the education sector. While the holiday period offers many obvious advantages, early scheduling and careful coordination are essential to ensure everything is complete in time for back-to-school in the new year.

While we’re highly experienced in painting in live environments, from aged care facilities and residential strata buildings to schools, it’s always best to minimise disruption wherever possible. In a school environment, holiday work makes this much easier.

During term, classrooms, corridors, stairwells and shared facilities are bustling with students and teachers. Even relatively straightforward painting tasks would require furniture to be moved, areas cordoned off and access restricted while surfaces are prepared, painted and left to dry. We’d also have to work around class timetables, recess and lunch breaks and other school activities.

Once the campus is largely empty, entire sections can be painted in a logical sequence rather than completing individual rooms whenever they become available. There’s also less need to repeatedly move equipment or rearrange work areas to accommodate the school day.

It’s also better and more convenient for the school community. Painting while school is in session may mean classes have to move to alternative rooms, staff need to adjust their usual routines or frequently used facilities have to close temporarily. And the reality is, teachers already have enough to manage without adding these complications to their day

But it’s not all a matter of scheduling and convenience. There are safety benefits too. Commercial painting involves more than simply applying a coating system. Depending on the project, remedial repairs may be required, as well as the use of ladders, scaffolding, elevated work platforms and power tools. Sometimes, we also have to carry out lead paint abatement. All of these activities present hazards to anyone in the work area, so the fewer people coming and going, the better, especially children.

Of course, having fewer people around doesn’t remove the risks. Appropriate assessments, equipment controls and safe work procedures are still required, regardless of the time of year.

Even during the school holidays, we still need to establish appropriate exclusion zones, use barriers and signage where necessary and manage site access. Fewer people on campus makes this easier, but schools aren’t always completely empty over the break. Vacation care programs, administrative staff, cleaners and community groups may still be using the facilities, so it’s important to coordinate access around their activities.

The school year has more than one holiday period, but Christmas is without doubt the biggest one. There are three two-week breaks that are perfect for smaller jobs and maintenance tasks, but for larger projects involving several buildings, extensive repairs or a combination of internal and external work, the longer timeframe is ideal. That doesn’t mean we’ll be on site for the entire six weeks. The actual duration will depend on the scope of work, with public holidays, Christmas shutdowns and contractor availability also taken into account.

Each project involves several stages, from cleaning and repairing surfaces to removing loose coatings, priming and applying the specified paint system. Adequate drying time between coats and curing time after application are also important, and these can vary depending on the products used and surface conditions. Rushing any of these stages can compromise the quality and durability of the finish, so the extended break provides some much-needed breathing room in the schedule.

And while summer generally provides good weather and longer daylight hours for exterior work, the extreme heat Sydney is quite familiar with can sometimes complicate things. High surface temperatures can cause coatings to dry too quickly and affect the quality of the finish, although this doesn’t always rule out painting for the day. On the other end of the spectrum, humidity can slow drying times, while rain and moisture on surfaces may prevent work altogether. At Dukes, we’re always mindful of the forecast, but we can’t control the weather, which is another reason we appreciate the six-week buffer.

Being the ideal time of year for school painting projects also means it’s a popular one. We recommend schools don’t wait until the end of Term 4 to start discussions. The earlier you contact our team, the more time there is for site inspections, detailed quotations, confirming the scope of work and obtaining the necessary internal approvals, which may involve the facilities manager, principal or other governing bodies.

It’s also important to leave enough time at the end of the project for a final inspection and any last-minute touch-ups. Schools should have an opportunity to review the finished work, raise any concerns and have everything handed back clean and ready for the start of Term 1.

Students and staff alike love returning from the break to a freshly painted environment that feels renewed, clean and welcoming. We enjoy being part of that transformation, and knowing our work contributes to a positive learning environment for the next generation is one of the best reasons to spend our summers painting schools, year after year.

If you’re planning a school painting project, contact the team at Dukes to discuss your requirements and arrange a quotation.

By Paul Williams

Managing Director