Charlestown Painting
Customers call Alex 'the Michelangelo of house painters' for his meticulous prep work and heritage restoration results.
Several customers specifically mention choosing him after a previous painter made things worse, and one repeat customer notes that restoration work he completed six years ago still looks fresh. Pricing comes up in a handful of reviews as above average, so if you're shopping on price alone he may not be the fit — but customers who've prioritised longevity over upfront cost consistently describe the result as worth it. If you're dealing with an older home, a failed paint job, or a surface with underlying problems, ask Alex to walk you through his prep process during the quote — that's where reviewers say the real difference shows up.
Their work
What it's like working with them
Based on a sample of Google reviews (30 total)
What they help with
Based on what their customers hired them for
How they stack up
Context from 250 painters in Newcastle
Credentials & background
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About Charlestown Painting
Alex — the owner and lead painter at Charlestown Painting — specialises in restoration work on older and heritage homes, including ornate plaster ceilings, horsehair plaster walls, weatherboard exteriors, and federation-era timber panelling. Rather than arriving with a roller and leaving, Alex and his family team (his son and daughter both appear regularly across jobs) invest heavily in surface preparation: sanding back to bare substrate, sealing problem areas, and repairing cracks, damaged cornice, and AC vent holes before a drop of finish coat is applied. This prep-first approach is what separates them from standard painters — customers with peeling, water-damaged, or previously botched paint jobs are exactly the clientele Alex handles most confidently. Reviews suggest his quotes can run higher than competitors, but repeat customers specifically credit the longevity of the result and his willingness to return for touch-ups weeks after completion (such as after new flooring is laid). He works predominantly on residential interiors and exteriors in the Charlestown area and is particularly well-suited to homeowners dealing with a difficult existing surface, a complex restoration, or a pre-sale repaint where the finish quality directly affects the selling price.
Best for: restoration of heritage or older homes with ornate ceilings and failing plasterwork, fixing up botched paint jobs from previous tradespeople, pre-sale interior repaints where finish quality matters, and full interior or exterior repaints on weatherboard or federation-era properties.
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Claim This Profile — Free →Common questions about Charlestown Painting
What types of homes does Charlestown Painting specialise in?+
Reviews most frequently mention older and heritage properties — 1940s miners' cottages, federation homes with ornate plaster ceilings, and weatherboard houses. Alex is specifically praised for his ability to handle horsehair plaster walls, decorative cornices, and timber panel interiors that require careful restoration rather than a standard repaint. If you have a newer build with straightforward surfaces, he can certainly help, but his strongest reviews come from customers with complex or deteriorated surfaces. Customers dealing with a previously botched paint job also appear repeatedly in the reviews as people who ended up with Alex after another painter made things worse.
Does Alex work alone or does he bring a team?+
Alex works alongside his family — his son and daughter are both mentioned by name across multiple reviews as part of the crew on larger interior jobs. This is a family-run operation rather than a business that sends out subcontractors, which several reviewers specifically appreciated. The team size appears to scale with the job: some reviews describe just Alex and one family member, while larger multi-week jobs reference the wider crew. Customers consistently describe the whole team as polite, punctual, and easy to have working in an occupied home.
What do customers say about Charlestown Painting's pricing?+
A handful of reviewers mention that Alex's quotes came in higher than others they received — one customer described the quote as 'a little higher than others' and another noted it as 'a little dearer than some quotes.' In both cases the customers still chose Alex and reported being satisfied. The recurring explanation in reviews is that the extra cost reflects time spent on preparation — sanding back, sealing, and repairing defects — rather than just applying paint over an imperfect surface. One long-term customer specifically noted that the longer interval before needing a repaint should be factored into the true cost comparison.
Does Charlestown Painting do exterior painting as well as interiors?+
Yes — reviews mention both interior and exterior work, including a full exterior repaint of a weatherboard cottage that had suffered years of neglect and a previous failed paint job. Alex is described as completing the exterior restoration over roughly one month and the result is noted as being expected to last for years. Several reviews mention full house repaints covering both interior and exterior in the same engagement. If your exterior has a failing or peeling paint job, that appears to be a scenario Alex has handled multiple times.
How does Charlestown Painting handle scheduling around homeowners who are at home during the job?+
Multiple reviews specifically mention that Alex and his team worked around customers who were home during the job — including at least one household working from home full-time during a multi-week interior project. Reviewers describe the team as respectful of the living space, tidy during the work, and leaving the house clean at the end of each day. One customer praised Alex for returning weeks after job completion to do touch-ups once new flooring had been laid, suggesting he treats the job as finished when the customer is happy rather than when the last coat is dry. If you need work done in an occupied home, this appears to be a regular part of how he operates.