Commercial Interior Painting

Commercial interior painting in Burnaby and Metro Vancouver is a different discipline from residential work. The scale is larger, the scheduling is more constrained, the substrates are more varied, and the coatings need to hold up to commercial-level cleaning and traffic. Burnaby Commercial Painting Co runs commercial interior painting as a primary service — it's not a side project for a residential crew.

What "Commercial Interior" Actually Means

Commercial interior painting covers a wide range of building types: multi-storey office towers, strata common areas (corridors, lobbies, parkade stair towers, amenity rooms), warehouses and distribution centres, light industrial facilities, schools and institutional buildings, retail tenants, restaurants and hospitality spaces, and healthcare facilities. Each category has its own substrate profile, occupancy constraints, coating specification, and scheduling requirement — and they're all different from painting a basement suite.

A strata common area needs minimal disruption to residents, low-odour or zero-VOC formulations, and a schedule that accommodates elevator access and lobby traffic. A warehouse needs high-coverage, high-reflectance white on block or concrete walls, and it needs to be done in zones so operations don't stop. A healthcare facility needs antimicrobial paint technology, washable finishes that survive disinfectant cleaning cycles, and documentation of the coating spec. Knowing which approach fits which building is the difference between a crew that does commercial work and a crew that does residential with a commercial-sounding website.

Surface Preparation for Commercial Interiors

Interior surface prep in commercial buildings typically involves: cleaning walls and ceilings to remove dust, grease, and any contamination from the existing use; sanding and feathering failed areas; skim-coating or patching damaged drywall, plaster, or CMU; caulking gaps at trim, base, and penetrations with paintable acrylic caulk; and applying appropriate primer for the substrate and the coating system to follow. On concrete masonry units (CMU) — common in warehouses, stairwells, and parkade walls — we apply a block-fill primer to seal the texture before the finish coats. This step is frequently skipped by contractors cutting corners, and the result is a rough-looking finish that consumes excessive paint.

Coatings We Use for Commercial Interiors

In occupied spaces, we default to zero-VOC or ultra-low-VOC waterborne coatings: Benjamin Moore Natura, Sherwin-Williams Harmony, and Dulux Diamond Interior are the primary product lines we specify. These formulations meet LEED v4 low-emitting materials requirements and are GREENGUARD Gold certified, which matters when staff, residents, or customers can't vacate the space. For high-traffic areas — corridors, lobbies, elevator cabs, stair towers — we move up to a semi-gloss or gloss alkyd or waterborne enamel for scrub resistance.

On industrial interiors where VOC restrictions are less critical and chemical resistance matters more, we use two-part epoxy-amine wall coatings that resist cleaning agents, mild acids, and physical abrasion. These are common in food processing, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing environments. For floors, we apply 100% solids epoxy systems at the specified dry-film thickness — typically 10–15 mils on a floor system — with broadcast anti-slip aggregate in wet or high-risk zones.

Scheduling Around Active Operations

The most common request we get on commercial interior projects is: "Can you work when we're not here?" The answer is yes, and we do it regularly. After-hours access (evenings from 6 PM, overnight), weekend access, or phased access by floor or wing are all standard approaches. For strata buildings, we work with the property manager to sequence by floor — completing common-area corridors on one level before moving up — so residents always have a finished, usable path to their suite. For occupied offices, we start work at 5 or 6 PM, air out overnight with HEPA ventilation, and the space is ready for 8 AM occupancy. This requires coordination and planning, but it's not unusual — it's just the job.

Colour Selection for Commercial Interiors

Commercial interiors often have to hit brand colour standards, match existing finish systems for repairs, or coordinate with a design spec from an architect or interior designer. We use spectrophotometer colour-matching equipment to replicate existing colours or match to any Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams, PPG, or Dulux colour code. For retail tenants, we can match to Pantone or NCS standards as required by franchisor or brand guidelines. We carry large-format painted samples for strata council review and provide a colour sign-off sheet before production begins.