You know the saying, “You only get out what you put in”?

This Mullumbimby bank renovation proved that in a big way.

Working again with Harley Graham Architects and JD Built, this has been one of the most challenging commercial repaint and heritage restoration projects we’ve taken on in the Mullumbimby / Byron Shire area.

Prep work is usually the biggest part of any job, but this one took it to another level.

The brief covered the entire interior and exterior of the old bank building. The aim was to respect the original character while giving it a fresh, updated feel that suited modern Mullumbimby. JD Built made a few smart additions, but most of the structure and detailing stayed true to the original design.

Inside, we repainted all the white plaster walls, which meant serious amounts of filling, patching and skimming. On top of that, we restored the original Queensland Maple trim, which ran through the whole building — skirting, doors, windows, and all the detailing in between.

Our Mirka dustless sanding system, especially the LEROS (long electric random orbital sander), earned its keep on this one, helping us work through hundreds of patches cleanly. But getting the Maple back to life was all about time, care and old-fashioned hand work.

To give you an idea of scale:

the Queensland Maple was used on all the trim, skirting, doors and 45 windows. The old, failing polyurethane coating had to be stripped back by hand, before we re-stained and finished it with two coats of Feast Watson Gloss Clear.

Outside, we took on a full exterior repaint: gutters, fascia, soffits/eaves, front parapet and pipework, all finished in Dulux Weathershield Semi Gloss. Those 45 windows came back into play too: heavy sanding with the Festool Rotex and Mirka dustless extraction, reglazing, filling, oil-based undercoats, and finally Dulux Weathershield Gloss for a clean, durable finish.

It was a big job, no doubt. But the result is a bank building that feels like itself again - just sharper, cleaner and ready for many more years in the heart of Mullumbimby.