Servicing Northcote 3070 and the inner north — Westgarth, Thornbury, Fairfield, Alphington and Clifton Hill. Free quotes, no callout fee, and one team doing the repairs and the painting.
Northcote is two kinds of house on the same street. There is the original stock — Victorian and Edwardian cottages, California bungalows and interwar brick, much of it up on the ridge where the ground falls away behind the house and the front verandah takes the full western sun. And there is the infill: townhouses and unit developments built over the last fifteen years, plaster-lined and low-maintenance, where the paint problems are scuffing, patching and turnover rather than rot. We work on both, and they are not the same job.
Melbourne City Maintenance has been painting and repairing Melbourne properties since 2005, with over 70 five-star Google reviews. We come to you, quote in person, and do the plaster and timber repairs with the same crew that paints — so you are not managing two trades and two schedules. Call 0403 162 374 or request a quote.
Twenty years on Melbourne properties. Over 70 five-star Google reviews. Free quotes, no callout fee.
We Come to You in Northcote
There is no office to visit and nothing to drop off. We travel to the property, look at the work, and quote from what is in front of us.
Where we cover
All of Northcote 3070, including Westgarth and the High Street strip, plus neighbouring Thornbury, Fairfield, Alphington, Clifton Hill and Preston.
Travel and callout
No callout fee anywhere in Northcote. The quote is free whether you go ahead or not.
Access and parking
Northcote is hilly and a lot of it is permit parking. On the ridge streets the ground drops away at the back, which often means the rear of a single-storey house is a two-storey job from the outside. We work that out at the quote and tell you then whether it needs scaffold, so it is not a surprise mid-job.
Timing
We are on site 7.30am to 3.30pm on weekdays. If the property is tenanted or between tenancies, tell us at the quote — turnover work runs to a deadline and we plan it that way.
Quoting from photos
Photos and a phone call will get you a rough number. For anything with repair work in it — cracked plaster, water damage, soft timber — we need to see it before the figure means anything.
What Northcote Places Actually Need
Period homes: Victorian, Edwardian and bungalow
On the older stock the paint is rarely the real problem. Underneath it you find lath-and-plaster walls that have cracked along the joins, cornices that have been patched badly, timber sills and verandah posts that have been wet for years, and window frames painted shut. Preparation is most of the job. Painting over soft timber or a live crack buys you a season; cutting it out and making it good first is what makes the finish last.
Much of Northcote sits under heritage overlay through Darebin Council, which can affect what you are allowed to change on a street-facing façade. We will tell you at the quote if we think it applies to your place.
Townhouses, units and rentals
The newer stock is a different job: plasterboard rather than lath, and the work is patching, filling and a clean full repaint rather than restoration. Between tenancies the constraint is the calendar, not the condition. Most turnovers are walls, ceilings, doors and trim, with the knocks and screw holes made good first so the finish is flat rather than mapped.
Shops and offices on High Street
Shopfronts, offices and common areas along High Street and the side streets off it, staged so the business keeps trading. Clean cut-lines, low-odour products where people are still working, and sections finished so the rest stays usable.
What We Do in Northcote
Interior painting
Walls, ceilings, cornices, doors, skirtings and trim, with the plaster made good before anything is painted. More on interior painting.
Plaster and crack repairs
Cracks, holes, water damage, blown and drummy plaster, sagging ceilings and patched cornice, repaired and finished ready for paint. On Northcote’s period homes this is often the whole reason the paint failed in the first place. More on plaster repairs.
Exterior painting
Weatherboards, render, brick, eaves, gutters, fascia and window frames, including the awkward rear elevations where the block falls away. More on exterior painting.
Weatherboard and timber repairs
Rotten boards, sills, fascia and verandah timbers cut out and replaced, then painted by the same crew. More on weatherboard repairs.
Commercial and office painting
Shopfronts, offices, stairwells and common property, staged around trading hours. More on commercial painting.
How a Northcote Job Runs
- Quote on site. We look at the whole property, not just the room you asked about, and separate what needs doing now from what can wait.
- Access sorted first. Parking, scaffold or ladders, and the fall of the block at the rear, all worked out before day one.
- Repairs. Plaster cut out and made good, rotten timber replaced. Before paint, not after.
- Preparation. Scrape, sand, fill, prime. On period homes this is the longest part of the job.
- Coats. Undercoat and two finish coats as standard, with drying time respected rather than rushed.
- Walk through. We go around the job with you before we pack up and fix anything you point out.
How Pricing Works
Painting is quoted by the job, not by the hour, so the number is fixed before we start. What moves it is condition, access and how much repair work is hiding underneath — a bungalow with cracked lath-and-plaster and soft sills costs more than a five-year-old townhouse of the same size, even though both are “a repaint in Northcote”.
Small jobs, repairs and maintenance are charged hourly instead, and those rates are on our handyman page. Quotes are free and there is no callout fee, so a number costs you nothing.
Nearby Areas We Cover
The full list is on our areas we serve page.
Worth Reading Before You Book
- Weatherboard repairs — what rot actually costs to fix properly, and why painting over it does not work.
- Plaster repairs — why a crack comes back if it is filled instead of cut out.
- Interior painting — how a full interior repaint is sequenced room by room.
Common Questions
Do you do plaster repairs as well as painting?
Yes, and on Northcote’s older homes it is usually the bigger half of the job. Cracks, holes, water damage and blown plaster are repaired by the same crew that paints, so there is no gap between trades.
My ceiling has cracks along the cornice. Is that structural?
Usually not. Hairline cracking at the wall-ceiling junction is normal in old houses that move on their footings. It does need to be cut out and filled rather than caulked over, or it will show through the new paint within a year. If a crack is wide, stepped or growing, we will tell you to get it looked at before we paint.
Can you paint an old house without stripping everything?
Often, yes. What has to come off is anything loose, flaking or sitting on soft timber. Sound old paint can be sanded and painted over. The quote will tell you which parts of your place are which.
Can you work to a rental turnover deadline?
Yes. Tell us the date at the quote and we will say plainly whether it is achievable rather than agreeing and running late.
Do you charge to come out and quote?
No. Quotes are free and there is no callout fee, anywhere in Northcote.
Get a Quote for Your Northcote Property
Cracked plaster and flaking paint do not hold still — water gets behind them, and the repair gets bigger every year it waits. Call 0403 162 374 or request a quote, and we will come out to Northcote, look at it properly and give you a fixed number.
A friend found reviews of this company on a neighbourhood website so I included MCM in my list when I sought quotes for repairing and painting weatherboards on my house.
