Painting Tips Volume 1 and 2
We publish a newsletter with simple painting tips, you may
find useful. Email us at molto@earthlink.net
if you wish to get on the list. Below and on
the previous page you will find past painting tips:
Volume 1 Issue 1 Issue 2
Issue 3 Issue 4 Issue
5 Issue 6 Issue 7
Issue 8
Volume 2 Issue 1 Issue
2 Issue 3 Issue
4 Issue 5 Issue
6 Issue 7
Volume 2, Issue 7, November 2004
Happy Thanksgiving. Here are a few holiday paint tips.
Using mud on walls: If you have old
textured or flat walls that you aren’t fond of, here’s a fairly inexpensive
remedy. Buy drywall topping compound (mud) at Home Depot. (Get the topping mud;
it’s easier to work with.) To create a new surface you can either skim the
wall flat if it has texture or add mud with a trowel or other implement to
create a new wall texture. You could also use things like a whisk broom or comb
to create different textures. When it’s dry you can prime and paint or seal
and glaze.
Using colorant in varnish: You can
change the look of old varnish doors and trim by adding colorant into the
varnish. Varnish is usually a semi translucent yellowish amber color, By adding
some green, blue, red violet etc, you can alter the shading, much like a glaze,
and give the old surfaces a unique look. You can get colorants at any paint
store. Try a few drops in a small amount of varnish in a cup, then try some on
an old piece of varnished wood and let it dry so you can see the effect.
We are now into the holiday season work sprint. We’d like to
get all our bids done over the next week or so, and concentrate flat out on
getting work done till the end of the year. There is one possible slot left, so
if you want a project done before the holidays,call 408 448 1683 today
for an estimate!
Volume 2, Issue 6, April 2004
Here
are a few inexpensive tips:
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Pressure
Washing. If
you are trying to put off painting, but want to improve the appearance of
the exterior of a home, try pressure washing. Just like washing your car.
You can get a pressure washer from a local rental place for
about $60 a day. By removing all the lose dirt, debris, mold, etc it can
really freshen things up. Also running it over the driveway, walkway,
fences and wood decks can achieve the same results. They usually come with
three tips from a wide spray to a high-pressure needle nose. Use the tip
(usually green) that is the lowest pressure with the widest fan of water,
so you just clean it without removing paint.
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Dump
Stock.
If you have a paint project requiring quite a bit of paint but have a
small budget, you can get what is called mistints or dump stock. Paint
stores such as Kelly Moore will periodically batch up large amounts of
high quality paint that was a wrong color or misttint, the result is
usually they will have 5-gallon containers of this batched paint. Colors
usually are tans, grays and earth tones, so there isn’t much selection.
However instead of $25 a gallon they are usually $5 a gallon. In other
words you get 5 gallons of the same high quality paint that you would pay
for one gallon. This is great when you have a shoestring budget. One tip
though, when going this route, save some of this paint. At a later
date if you need more, the paint store can do a color match on
what you have left, as otherwise there’s no way of telling what color it
was.
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Shutters.
You can enhance the look of a house by accenting with shutters. Shutters
are usually somewhat high maintenance, being wood they tend to blister and
peel. One inexpensive handle is to install or replace existing ones with
vinyl shutters. These are more inexpensive, and as they are vinyl, don’t
get the wear and tear that wooden shutters do. Also they are very easy to
paint.
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Volume 2, Issue 5, April 2004
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Happy
April!
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Acknowledgement.
Thank you for the responses I received to the last newsletter. A number of
people made mention of the tip concerning removing popcorn ceilings. As
they correctly noted, some of these older ceilings have a
percentage of asbestos material in them. Should there be any question,
then best to use the safer ( and less messy ) solution of sealing this up
and changing color. (You could also mist a light glaze solution after it
is sealed to give it a glow.) As a safety note, when removing ANY
material, sanding etc. get yourself a decent respirator at a paint
store or home depot , not a cheapo paper mask. They have a number of these
graded out for the type of work you'll be doing. Believe me we use
them.
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Using
yellow.
Yellow is a tough color to use as it doesn't cover very easily. Also it
can be tricky getting the right shade. If you have your heart set on using
yellow, then be prepared on doing color samples to ensure you get the
shade you envision. Get quarts and put up big swatches like 4 or 5
feet on the area you plan on painting. Do it in shady and sunny
areas, and check it out at different times of the day as it will look
different. This way you'll have a good idea of how it's going to
look. Also be prepared to paint minimally 2 coats, usually 3 or more
to get it to cover well. If you are going over an existing color it
can be hard to cover or can alter the yellow shade, so make it easier on
yourself by painting a coat of white first, which will make it easier to
put the yellow on.
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Deep
tone colors.
Very deep tone colors are popular such as very deep reds, blues and
greens. These require a lot of pigment per can of paint, so be prepared to
do 3 coats to get an even coverage . Also deep colors don't necessarily
touch up well, if you touch up after a wall is dry. If you have to
touch up later on, it's better to do the wall section you had to touch
instead of spotting it, as the spotting will stand out.
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Schedules
are filling up! As
predicted, the weather has broken and the phone is clanging.
Good painters will be packing their schedules with exterior paint jobs,
booking them through the end of summer. If you have upcoming
exterior projects, even if later on in the summer, get an
estimate and get on the schedule now.
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Volume 2, Issue 4, April 2004
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Happy
St. Patrick's Day. Spring
has sprung in a big way. Here's some tips:
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Popcorn
Ceilings.
If you have the old spray on textures (popcorn ceilings) and you don't
care for it, you can wet it down and scrape it off (this can be messy).
Next, skim a thin coat of drywall mud on the ceiling leaving a little
texture to cover scrape marks and tape lines. If this is too much
work, you can make it less unsightly by choosing an off white or light
designer color to paint it instead of the stark white it usually is.
The best application method is to use an airless sprayer. Figure on using
twice the amount of paint as these textures will drink the paint up.
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Recent
Trend on Exteriors.
We have been seeing wood garage doors and shutters stained and sealed to
bring out the wood and give a unique look, rather than painting them.
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Exterior
Bleed Through Problems.
Always use an oil primer on exterior areas of wood with bleed through
problems, especially knotholes and undereaves and such. Materials in
the wood can leach to the surface over time and waterbased primers don't
always seal it well enough. Zinsers Primer 1-2-3 sold at Home Depot
will do the trick.
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Schedules
are filling up! As
predicted, the weather has broken and the phone is clanging.
Good painters will be packing their schedules with exterior paint jobs,
booking them through the end of summer. If you have upcoming
exterior projects, even if later on in the summer, get an
estimate and get on the schedule now
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Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2004
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Painting
Trim. There
are many ways to enhance the look of a house by painting the trim.
Trim includes such things as gutters, downspouts, shutters, windowframes,
doors. mailbox, fences, railings, walkways -- anything that would
dress up the overall appearance of a house. The choice between a dark and
a light color for your trim is pretty subjective. The simplest thing
to do when it comes to deciding what combination to use is to spend your
$7.00 for a quart of paint of light or dark and try it out. You'll
be surprised at how much impact you can get from a new trim color.
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Gutters.
As gutters get old, start to wear and corrode, they can often start to get pinholes.
Trying to paint over these without handling the problem is a losing
proposition. If the situation isn't too bad, and replacing the
gutters is not an option, an inexpensive handling is to get a can of
roofing tar from Home Depot and an aluminum soda can. Use your tin
snips and cut your patch out of the soda can. Put your tar on there
and stick your patch on - just like when you were a kid fixing the tire on
your bike. You do this INSIDE the gutter, covering it over well with
the tar and letting it dry. This will extend the life of your gutter
and your paint.
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Stucco.
Californians love to water their yards. However, it does nothing to
water your stucco. Often paint jobs will break down prematurely from
continuous watering due to sprinklers hitting the house on a regular
basis. This keeps the stucco and paint saturated and breaks the
paint down faster. It is very important that if you get a new paint job,
have your gardener adjust the sprinklers so they aren't hitting the house.
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Volume 2, Issue 2,
February 2004
In
this issue, we want to discuss some specialty paint and paint products
that we've used.
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Lime
Paint and Wash: This is a natural product made with lime to
which colorant can be added if you want. You can use this interior
or exterior. Uses include painting a layer of lime paint
over an existing surface such as interior or exterior trim, which creates
an aged effect. The natural properties in the lime make it continue
to leach or whiten over time. You can also paint walls with it with
colorant added - you can put one layer of lime paint with color on it and
top it with another layer of lime paint with a different color thinned
down to create an aged wall effect. This has a very natural look.
There are many other uses for this product.
| Using
Glaze in an HVLP: HVLP is a High Volume Low Pressure Sprayer. What an
HVLP does is put out your paint materials in a fine mist. These are
often used for lacquer work or fine oil work. One other use is where you
have a large area that you would like to put a light mist of glaze on to
give it a glow without creating any sort of rag or rolling lines at all, you
can add your color to your glaze, thin it down, and using an HVLP, you can
mist it on your walls and ceilings. This gives your room a nice
translucent glow.
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Gloss or SemiGloss
Paint: We don't recommend a lot of
semigloss or gloss paints anymore. Glosses tend to look
industrial on walls. The exception is doors and trims that get a
lot of wear and tear. For bathrooms and kitchens where we
used to use semigloss, we now often use eggshell or satin.
Advantages: if your walls aren't in the best shape, an eggshell or
satin won't show it as much as a semigloss, but it still gives you the
scrubbability you want.
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Paint Additives: When painting doors
or trim with a brush, there are paint additives you can use which make
your paint glide on with less drag, and also makes your paint level out
more while drying. This results in a smoother finish. The
tradeoff is it does extend drying time a little bit. Floetrol is the
product for water based paints, Penetrol is the product for oil based
paints.
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Molto Bene, in Italian means very
good ( or the opposite of cheap or "scadente"). Now
every year at this time we tell our clients the same -- get your
interior painting done now. One big reason is that most good paint
contractors, as soon as the winter weather breaks, get a barrage of
requests for exterior house painting, which carries them through the
spring and summer. And truth be told when the weather is nice- where would
you rather be working, inside or out? So once again we are chanting our
mantra "If you have inside work to be done get it done
now!". Call 408 448 1683 today
for a free estimate
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Volume 2, Issue 1,
January 2004
Happy
New Year! All signs are indicating a busy and prosperous 2004 for home
sales, design and remodel. With winter weather upon us, here's a few
tips concerning indoor painting:
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Smells:
To be on the safe side when working indoors with materials, use a
respirator. These can be gotten at Home Depot or any paint store.
These range from paper filters that are good for dust or sanding up to
the 20-30 dollar range for a full respirator assembly with canisters
that block out fumes. Certain paint thinners and solvents can give
you a nasty headache with prolonged exposure.
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More
on smells: Some paint stores are now offering paint additives like
"PaintPouri" which adds fragrance to the paint. We
haven't used these particular products so we are unsure of the strength
of the smell or how long it lasts or if it even smells nice. Old
school painters used to recommend putting a little bit of vanilla
extract into the paint. The best handling for paint smells is to
get the paint to dry faster. When the paint is fully dry, the
smell will go away. So turn up the heat or put a space heater in
the room to make the smells go away. For oil paints (which usually
take longer to dry and have a stronger smell) you can use an additive
called "Japan Drier" which can be obtained at any paint store.
It greatly speeds up the drying time of any solvent based paint.
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More
notes on oil paints: We don't recommend using oil paint in a
bright white. Current oil paint products tend to "amber"
or "yellow" over time. In a year or two, your bright
white will be an off white. If you have to use a bright white, use
an oil based primer and then use a water base product.
(In order to change over from an oil to a water base, you need to prime,
because water based paints won't adhere to oil well. An oil based
primer is a rough coat of material which gives the water based product
something to stick to, and allows you to change over.)
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Keep a jar of Vaseline with your paint materials.
You can put a little on the edge of window panes, handles or metal and
the paint won't stick to it. We also recommend putting a little on
your face, hands and arms when rolling or spraying for the same reason.
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Volume 1, Issue 8,
November 2003
Happy
Holidays! OK, it's the holiday season. There's lots to do and not
enough time, with shopping, family, etc., etc. Guests
are coming! Here's a couple of quick holiday paint tips - simple things you
can do to spruce up the place, without having to fit in a full paint job into
your schedule:
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If
you are going to do any paint touchup or cleanup, limit it to the front of
your house and places your guest are going to be, e.g, your front door, your
hallway, front entry, living areas, dining room, guest bathroom,
etc. Shut the door on the bedrooms!
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Walls: Make sure you have your original
paint. If your trim and walls are painted the same color, be careful
that you don't mix the two up, in other words, don't try to put flat paint
over your trim, or vice versa. Test a small unobtrusive
area first and let it dry to make sure you have the right color/type of
paint. Get a hot dog or weinie roller (small roller with a thin
handle, available at any paint store.) Get a paint tray and put
paint in it, and roll over the areas that need touched up. This way,
no brush marks. Go over it once with the paint, and then go
over it again with a dry roller to feather it out and blend it a little.
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Trim: If it's dirty or smudgy, it is much
smarter to clean it rather than trying to paint it. Simple Green
works well to clean trim.
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Outside: A quick way to brighten up is to
paint things like lamps, mailboxes, etc. You can even use holiday
colors and repaint after the holidays. Just remove them and use a
can of spray paint.
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Volume 1, Issue
7, September 2003
Over
the years, Molto Bene has worked with many top realtors getting houses ready
for sale. This issue of Painting Tips includes some of the best tips on
that subject.
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Exterior
Color: The traditional wisdom on choosing exterior colors on
houses for sale has been to play it safe with bland, unexceptionable
colors such as off whites.. The trend now (which works well per
reports) is going with vivid,more modern colors to create more
curb appeal, such as deep tone greens. If unsure on the colors, consult a
color expert or painter with color expertise, such as Molto Bene.
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Paneling:
Many times sellers can have a hard time making a decision about
what to do with old,ugly paneling if it cannot be removed. Advise
them to paint over it and make it disappear. Another option is to
get filler and skim the surface, filling in all the woodgrain and cracks,
which will essentially give you a flat wall surface which you can then
paint.
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Type of Paint: Flat enamel is the best
choice for interior paint, because it is scrubbable, without giving a
shiny look. It does not cost that much more, and can be a selling
point, particularly if the buyer has children.
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To Paint or Not to Paint? A fresh coat of
paint through the entire interior is always a good idea. (You
can leave out closets if they are clean.) Even if the house is not
that old, or the colors are not problematic, a coat of paint gives the
house a fresh, clean, new feel. As far as the exterior, the bottom
line is curb appeal. On any house worth selling for a decent price,
paint is always a good investment. It will always get you more. Be
careful not to nickel and dime on the paint, for instance, you can just
paint out the trim on the exterior, reasoning that is what looks bad,and
the end result is it simply accentuates how tired and worn the rest of the
paint job looks.
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Volume 1, Issue 6,
August 2003
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Interior
Tip: If you have doors, cabinets or surfaces that you want to put a fresh
coat of polyurethane on, there is now a polyurethane product that you can
wipe on with a rag rather than having to brush it on. This is much
easier to apply, puts a nice even coat on and dries much faster.
This allows you to put multiple coats on in a much shorter time for a very
nice finish. This is only for internal use. (can be found at Home
Depot.)
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Interior
Tip: When painting drawers, if you are finding that they are hard to
open and close, use some fine grade sandpaper, sand down the edges and
then rub some wax on the edges. This usually handles the problem.
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Exterior
Tip: One way to dress
up a paint job is by applying concrete stain to walkways,
driveways and garage floors. It comes in a variety of colors and
will absorb into a concrete surface that has been acid etched (washed down
with hydrochloric acid to rough up the surface). This dresses up
these surfaces and connects them to your new paint job.
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Exterior Tip: You can paint unsightly items
around the exterior (such as air conditioners, conduit pipes, old
foundation walls, tubing, etc.) the same color as the body of the house to
make them blend in and visually disappear. If you leave them unpainted,
they will stand out more than before.
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Volume 1, Issue 5,
July 2003
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When
touching up paint, ensure the temperature is around the same as when you
did the paint job. If the temperature is hotter the paint will dry
slightly lighter. If the temperature is colder it will dry slightly
darker.
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When
touching up a wall , use a “hotdog” roller (can be found at Home Depot
or paint stores). These blend better than using a brush.
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On
exterior painting of stucco
siding, if you have a lot of hairline cracks in the surface, it is
best to use an elastomeric paint (your paint store will know what this
is). It provides an elastic type paint coat which bridges the cracks
and gives a more even waterproof coat.
| If
you have stucco walls that need a lot of work or repaired spots in it, you
can get gallons of stucco patch at Home Depot, thin it down with water and
roll an even coat over the whole surface providing a fresh even texture to
paint without the cost of restucco |
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Volume 1, Issue 4,
June 2003
| Is your final coat color dark? It usually takes a few finish
coats or more to cover white primer when using a dark color for
the finish. To cut down on the work, get your primer tinted to a shade
of the color you will be using as your finish coat. This makes it
easier to cover.
| When using masking tape, even when being careful
you can get seepage, which messes up your line. One way to avoid this
is to run a little bit of clear coat over the tape with your finger,
which will seal the tape and prevent seepage.
| When painting old cabinets with heavy wood grain,
if you don't want the grain showing through, get a wood paste
filler and skim over the flat cabinet surfaces with it. Sand
it smooth, prime and you will have a smooth surface to paint over.
| Dollar for dollar, a paint job is probably the best
investment you can make in terms of enhancing the value of your property. |
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Volume 1, Issue 3,
April 2003
| Green apparently is the "in color" right now
for both interiors and exteriors, the concept being it has a soothing
quality to it, appropriate for these stressful times.
| Rather than using flat latex paint for interiors and
exteriors, we are advising clients to use flat enamel for interiors and low
sheen for exteriors. The reason for this is that these products
allow you to be able to wash the surfaces should they get marks or stains. They
still give you a flat look. In the past many clients have liked
glosses and semiglosses because they had a harder surface making it easier
to keep clean, but at the same time clients didn't like the glossy look. Our
recommended paints give you the best of both worlds.
| On exterior surfaces that are seriously weathered and
dried out due to excessive sun exposure, if you have any patching
to do, such as spackling, etc., what we always do is prime the
surface, patch it, then prime it again. The reasoning for this is
that with the wood being dried out, if you apply spackle directly to
the wood, the wood will suck the moisture out of the patch, thus
accelerating the breakdown of the patching and adhesion. By
sealing it first, you create a sealed surface that the patching material can adhere
to. By priming it again, you now have a surface that will accept paint.
| Get exterior paint work done NOW.
Don't delay, as all good painters will be booked for the summer
shortly. |
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Volume 1, Issue 2,
March 2003
| On hot days, never paint in direct sunlight.
The drying rate is so fast that the paint coat will actually be dry before
it has a chance to properly adhere to the surface you are painting.
This will result in a paint job that is not going to stay on as long.
| When choosing colors -- yellow is one of the toughest
in terms of coverage. If you love yellow, plan on two or three coats
to get your color to cover.
| Another color tip -- use a color wheel. If you
are stuck with certain colors in a house, for instance your tile, stone,
rugs, etc., and you are trying to figure out what paint colors to use, go to
an art store and pick up a color wheel. It explains how to use a color
wheel on the backside of the wheel. You will be able to see what
colors harmonize best with other colors, and be able to pick combinations
that are pleasing to the eye and work with the existing color |
| Get exterior paint work done NOW.
Don't delay, as all good painters will be booked for the summer
shortly. |
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Volume 1, Issue 1,
February 2003
| If you want to make a room look bigger, use light
colors, but make the ceiling a bit darker than the walls.
| Always buy quarts of paint first and test out paint on
large areas of wall before painting the whole room or exterior. Color chips,
especially deeper colors, will inevitably look quite a bit darker when
actually applied.
| Mildew problems: Bleach will remove mildew, then ensure
that you prime with a very good primer and use mildewcide in your primer and
paint.
| Accent walls: One way of creating more aesthetic
appeal in a room inexpensively is to designate an accent wall such as around
a fireplace. Use a different color, usually one deeper than
the other walls. This creates a focal point in the room.
| When painting a home for sale, you have two choices:
Cheap and fast, or good. It is extremely evident that a cheap paint
job has been done to all who view it. When you have a quality paint
job done, it shows prospective buyers that you care enough about your
property to use quality workmanship.
| Molto Bene, in Italian means very
good ( or the opposite of cheap or "scadente").
We've done quality paint work for many years, as evidenced by a long list of
happy customers & realtors. If you or any of your clients have any
painting needs, now is the time to call, before the schedule is filled up.
Call 408 448 1683 today for a free estimate. |
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Ciao,
Molto Bene Paint
License No. 739710
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