Smith and Winfield was founded in 1886 and through the years has been responsible for the decoration of many landmark buildings in and around Durban, among these the original Durban Station and more recently iconic structures such as The International Convention Centre, Moses Mabhida stadium, La Lucia Mall and Gateway among many others.
Although 135 years old, the company is staffed by a good blend of experience and youth, and is passionate about the transfer of skills.
Smith and Winfield provide an all-inclusive painting, renovating and decorating service in the residential, commercial and industrial sectors, backed by product and application guarantees under their unique Paintsure initiative. They also offer a diverse range of additional services including wallpapering, wallcoverings, specialised decorative finishes, and epoxy coatings.
Correct application
There is a growing realisation that repainting is not about getting paint onto a building using any person with a paintbrush and roller.
There is also a common mistaken belief that a higher quality paint will provide a better finished product.
The truth is that a quality paint finish relies on the correct preparation and choice of product and paying more for quality paint to be applied by inexperienced contractors has long term cost implications that can be felt for many years into the future.
Smith and Winfield’s unique Paintsure initiative provides the assurance that the coating system is backed by their workmanship and the paint supplier’s guarantee, and this can be extended into a maintenance programme to keep the building looking good and at the same time reducing the long term maintenance costs.
The concept of preventative maintenance is well known and accepted. Mechanical, hydraulic and electrical services that are regularly maintained, provide longer service life, reliable performance and lower running costs. In the same way these preventative maintenance techniques are successfully applied to painted static structures, such as buildings, and produce many similar benefits. This unique system of programmed maintenance painting provides a number of significant advantages over the traditional ad-hoc methods.
Consistent level of appearance
Buildings are kept in good condition and therefore present an attractive and pleasing appearance over the maintenance period.
Proven cost savings
Because surfaces are maintained in good condition, substantial savings are achieved over the medium to long term, often approaching 30 per cent over ad-hoc methods. Expensive preparation is eliminated, repairs reduced and repainting intervals extended, to gain the full benefits of the life expectancy of the surface coating.
Constant surface protection
Because the paint film has been kept in good condition, underlying surfaces are protected from damage from the elements, eliminating expensive preparation for future repaints and reducing the likelihood of building repairs.
Cost budgeting
Payments for painting and maintenance can be spread over the full term of the agreement instead of being concentrated in one year. Predetermined annual payments enable accuracy of budgeting for the term of the agreement.
Guaranteed performance
Due to the spread of costs, clients are provided with an unequivocal performance guarantee because at no stage of the maintenance programme does payment exceed the value of work performed.
We partner with our major suppliers, who become part of the quality assurance programme during the contract phase by assessing the substrates and workmanship as the work proceeds. This ensures that there is no split responsibility which is often the problem when there is a failure where the contractor blames the paint and the paint supplier the workmanship.
