A hotel exterior tells guests what to expect before they ever reach the front desk. At a Holiday Inn in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the building told the wrong story—failing paint, corroded metal, and damaged materials across multiple substrates.
Ownership wanted the entire look of the building changed, not patched.
Ownership and hotel management brought us in to walk the property and scope a full exterior color change covering every surface: metal, stucco, EIFS, and brick. The wall area totaled roughly 47,000 square feet of perimeter surface. Hotel operations never
stopped during the work, so this commercial exterior painting project had to move forward with guests in the building and scaffolding going up and down around them. From our St. Paul base, we take on this kind of multi-substrate exterior work
across Minnesota and the surrounding region.
Key Takeaways
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THE CHALLENGE
Roughly 47,000 square feet of hotel exterior had failing paint, corroded metal, damaged material, and a dated appearance across four different substrates.
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THE COATING
We scraped and prepped every surface to a tight edge, primed the failed areas, then applied elastomeric, high-performance acrylic and acrylic urethane coatings by substrate.
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THE RESULT
The full color change was finished in about eight weeks around an occupied hotel, and the owner said the finished building matched his renderings.
Repainting was the practical path here because the problems were both cosmetic and protective. The existing coating was failing, metal surfaces were corroding, and the color scheme no longer matched how ownership wanted the property to present itself.
Our approach was to treat each substrate on its own terms — the EIFS, stucco, and brick needed a different coating than the steel columns and railings — and to sequence scaffolding so the hotel could keep operating.
Project Summary
| Client Profile: |
Hotel ownership and management, Holiday Inn Sioux Falls City-Center
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| Project Location: |
Sioux Falls, South Dakota |
| Primary Objective: |
Change the look of the entire building and stop further coating failure through full-envelope
Commercial Painting Services
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| Coating System: |
Acrylic elastomeric on EIFS, stucco, and brick; high-performance acrylic in the darker color areas; and acrylic urethane on steel and metal through our
Industrial Coatings Services
|
| Key Outcome: |
About 47,000 square feet of wall recoated in roughly eight weeks with the hotel fully occupied
|
Walking A Failing Hotel Exterior
Our first pass through the property found more than a tired color scheme. Paint was failing in large areas, metal surfaces showed corrosion, and some material was damaged outright. The dated appearance was why ownership called, but the condition of the
substrates shaped the scope.
Four substrates on one building means four sets of questions. EIFS, stucco, and brick move and absorb differently than steel columns and railings, and a single coating would not have served all of them well. Scoping the job surface by surface let us plan
prep, primer, and topcoat where each was actually needed.
Prep, Primer, And Topcoat Sequence
Prep carried the project. We roto-tipped the entire building, then scraped everything back to a tight edge so no loose or lifting coating stayed behind. Permacrete primer went into the failing areas, and we applied topcoats once those areas were sound.
We applied elastomeric to the EIFS, stucco, and brick, while high-performance acrylic went on the darker areas for better color retention. We then used acrylic urethane on the steel and metal surfaces.
Access drove the calendar more than the painting did. Scaffolding takes time to go up and come down, and on this building it took a little longer than we expected, which is the quiet schedule-eater on a job this size. The hotel gave us open access and
notified guests ahead of the work, so our crews could paint whenever conditions and the schedule allowed — the same kind of coordination we build into our
Commercial Painting Process and document in our Painting Case Studies.
A Full Color Change in Eight Weeks
The building came out of scaffolding with a completely different color scheme on every surface. Ownership had renderings in hand before the work started, and when we finished, they said the final product looked exactly like those renderings. He was also
pleased with how the scaffolding was coordinated and with the overall timeframe.
Beyond appearance, the new system provides protection. Elastomeric and acrylic coatings over properly prepped substrates help protect the building through the freeze-thaw swings and harsh winters this region delivers. In theory, ownership can expect around
10 years from a system like this, though exposure matters — south-facing walls deteriorate faster than the rest of the building.
Planning A Hotel Or Building Repaint?
We have been handling multi-substrate exterior repaints on occupied commercial buildings since 1985, from Twin Cities office and retail properties to hotels and industrial facilities beyond Minnesota. Our project managers coordinate access, scaffolding,
and scheduling so your building keeps operating while we do the work. Your image matters to us!
Have a building in Sioux Falls, St. Paul, or anywhere in between that needs more than a touch-up? Let's walk it together and put a real plan in front of you —
Request a Painting Quote.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does commercial exterior painting take on a Sioux Falls hotel?
This building took about eight weeks for roughly 47,000 square feet of
wall. The honest drivers are access, scheduling flexibility, existing
conditions, and how much prep the surfaces require. Scaffolding moves on
a tall building add time that painting alone does not.
Can you repaint a hotel exterior while guests are staying there?
Yes, with coordination on both sides. The hotel gave our crews access
and notified guests ahead of the work so the project could move
efficiently. We sequence scaffolding and work areas to keep entries,
balconies, and traffic paths usable.
How long should an exterior coating system like this last?
Performance is partly environmental, but in theory a system like this
can give an owner around 10 years before it needs attention again.
South-facing walls tend to deteriorate faster than the rest of the
building, so those elevations are worth inspecting first. Choosing
acrylics in the darker color areas also helps with color retention over
time.