🏡 Flaxton Restoration: Winner 2025 Master Painters Restoration of the Year

A Legacy Restored

All our projects are special. Each one is unique. Every home has its own story — its own legacy.

But this one, the Flaxton Restoration, holds a special place in our hearts.

This project is the standout project of last year. It is where the inspiration to even enter the awards came to.

With humble beginnings, it became a masterpiece that would go on to take home the Restoration of the Year at the Master Painters QLD Awards 2025.

This award isn’t just about a good paint job — it’s about craftsmanship, respect, and the soul of restoration itself.

What we started with:

What Restoration Truly Means

To win the Restoration of the Year award, the criteria go far beyond surface-level finishes. It recognises the depth of skill and sensitivity that go into bringing an old home back to life — with full respect for its history, materials, and story.

Things taken into account include:

• Colour accuracy and historical integrity

• Treatment and repair of surfaces

• Handling of hazardous materials like lead and asbestos

• Restoration of timber, windows, and hardware - Making sure everything works like it should.

• Repair and replacement of aged materials

• Application of long-term protective systems

• Understanding and working with period building materials

This kind of work is more than painting. It’s stewardship — giving a home its life back.

The Craftsmen Behind the Work

Our team thrives on this kind of challenge.

Dan, our team lead, once ran Knot Normal Interiors, crafting furniture and fit-outs using reclaimed wood and salvaged materials. Restoration flows through his veins.

My background is rooted in performance coatings and industrial-grade paints — two-pack systems, epoxy wood rot repairs, and protective coatings built to last. Together, we form the perfect bridge between heritage craftsmanship and modern performance.

And then there’s my father, a true veteran of European restoration. Decades of experience restoring castles, palaces, and historic buildings across the continent. His stories are endless — from uncovering hidden Napoleonic rooms full of armanents and historic furniture and Ottoman gold coins in Cyprus, to hunting down a forgotten milk paint recipe for a castle restoration.

Our apprentice Ben brings a steady, meticulous touch and patience to rival a monk, while Emma, our craftswoman, has an instinctive appreciation for the soul found in handmade, human-scale work. Slater himself brings the will, passion and vitality to get the hard jobs done fast, scrape the walls for days, attic work? No problem, let's go! When you put it all together — this team feels born to restore.

Action Photo's:

How It All Began

The Flaxton Restoration came to us in a way that can only be described as synchronicity.

It started at a didgeridoo camp run by Marco Debbie from Mago Menla, where I met a man who is now a dear friend named Joe. We connected deeply, and after the camp, continued playing together back home. One weekend, a didgeridoo elder invited us to his home to make Didges for an event.

As the day wound down, I offered some wax from my van to help finish the instruments — and that’s when Joe asked what I did for work.

When he learned I was a painter, he immediately thought of his father, who needed help restoring his Queenslander home.

Originally, we were the third quote — and our price came in at three times higher than the others. But when I climbed into the attic and inspected the back side of the pressed metal ceilings, I realised the rust problem was bleeding through from behind. I proposed sealing them from the inside — a step no one else had considered.

That detail made all the difference. There was no more competition. We weren't quoting the same job, we were looking at restoring, the others applying normal paint.

Stage 1: Getting to Work

We began with the cigar room. Quickly, it became clear the existing paint had lost adhesion — the last layer needed to come off, common on these homes. We worked carefully, aware of the lead beneath the surface, stripping back and preparing it right.

What started as a ceiling restoration soon expanded into a four-stage full-home transformation. The goal wasn’t to bring the house back to what it once was — it was to elevate it beyond its original beauty and to fuse the new owners style and character into the home with respect to it's past. To start a new multi-generational chapter for the estate.

Challenges Along the Way

Every restoration job has its tests. Flaxton was no different.

1. VJ Wall Adhesion Issues — easily solved with a wet scrape, encapsulation, and an oil primer.

2. Gap Filling on VJ Boards — movement-prone areas were flex-filled using Sikaflex to prevent cracking.

3. Metal Pressed Ceilings — what looked like a few rust spots revealed full corrosion in one hallway ceiling. Blasting was the answer,

When we stripped back the paint, the cornice in the master bedroom was almost gone — rusted through, held together only by the paint film.

We blasted it clean, drenched it in epoxy sealer (Norseal), then layered on Haymes Rustlock for protection. From the attic, we injected expanding foam to rebuild the structure and used Sikaflex to reshape every curve of the cornice by hand. Once dry, we finished with Porters Gold enamel — glowing and resilient.

Even the ceiling centre panel, which had once been replaced with plasterboard, was restored to true pressed metal. Watching it go in — cutting, fitting, sealing, and spraying — was deeply satisfying.

We used an etch primer, epoxy sealer, and multiple coats of Rustlock applied thick via airless spray — ensuring flexibility, anti-corrosion, and a finish that will last decades.

The Human Touch

Restoration isn’t just about what you apply — it’s about how you feel while doing it.

During this job, a good friend of ours launched Valhalla BBQ, and in a perfect exchange, we restored his trailer and were rewarded with endless smoked meats. The smell of brisket and cedar shavings became the scent of that summer.

Even our challenges had a touch of ingenuity — like the textured glass on the old windows, where tape wouldn’t stick. To get perfect lines, we painted the glass with Seal & Peel, cut cleanly after painting, and pulled it off for straight edges and a good seal between the glass panels and wooden window frames.

Valhalla BBQ Trailer - Fuelled the Team.

A Celebration of Craft

The Flaxton Restoration wasn’t easy. It demanded everything from every one of us.

But the result? A showstopper.

Homeowners Stu and Susanne were so thrilled that they threw a Christmas party for the team — catered by Valhalla BBQ — to celebrate what we’d achieved together.

More Than a Home

Winning Restoration of the Year for this project means more than a trophy or a frame.

It’s recognition of the countless hours, hands, and hearts that brought an old Queenslander back to life — stronger, prouder, and ready for its next century. The restoration of this home took more than 1000 man hours to achieve.

Our winning result: