But before you can get going you have to prep.

In one sense, paint prep is about making the job of painting go as smoothly and efficiently as
possible. Also to minimize the chances of the painter making a mess of things that do not need
paint on them. On a deeper level, the prep process is to ensure that the paint coating will work
to preserve the structure of your home.

Begin your paint preparation with a long, slow look at the exterior of your home, identifying
potential painting problems. Are there any bushes or plants that are (or could be) touching the
house that will be in the way of painting and preparation? If so make plans to trim them or tie
them back.

Are there any areas where the old paint is bubbling or cracking? These conditions will have to
be corrected before painting, usually with scrapping or sanding. But try to determine why the
paint failed in these areas. If it is simply a matter of the last painter doing a bad job then you
can do a better job this time. Is it an area that gets excessive moisture because of improperly
installed flashing or gutters? If so you may as well fix things before painting.

Scraping and sanding can be the most labor intensive part of the job, but it is necessary. If the
house gets painted every 4-6 years, you can imagine how much paint has built up on an older
home. The new paint may adhere very nicely to the old paint, but that is little consolation if the
old paint comes off! If bare wood is exposed during scraping and sanding, or if there is new
wood from repairs, be sure to prime it before painting.

Finally, the surface that is going to be painted has to be clean. Some will tell you that washing
the house is the first step in paint prep, others point out that you just have to wash again after
scraping and sanding. The bottom line is there should be no dirt or moisture between your
ready-to-paint surface and your paint.

Pressure washers are seen as a time and labor saving tool for paint prep, but be careful using
them. A pressure washer can remove a good deal of the old paint, taking some of the pain out
of the scraping job, but many of these machines are powerful enough to do serious damage to
your siding.

Finally, arrange drop clothes were they will be needed, remove or mask lighting fixtures, and
use masking tape around the windows. It is nice to be able to open your first paint can early in

the day while it is still cool. There is something to be said for working so that you will be on the
shady side of the house as the day gets warmer. When you’re finished, treat yourself to a few
minutes standing on the curb, enjoying how great your house looks. Just be sure to remove the
masking tape after the paint has begun to set but before the sun sets the adhesive so well it has
to be scraped off!

Unfortunately the best time to paint is also the best time to mow the lawn, go for a picnic, take in a round of golf, go water-skiing, just about anything but dealing with the big job of painting the house.

There is no denying the benefits of doing a good job painting the house. And really doing a good job is more time consuming than it is difficult. Many people, especially those who work in high-pressure white collar jobs, find house painting to be a kind of therapy.

The biggest benefit is the great things that a new coat of paint can do for your home. Paint not only beautifies, it protects your investment. Paint forms a protective layer between the materials that your house is made from and the weather.

The beautification is a more immediate reward. And it presents a great opportunity. We hear stories all the time about the family who used to live in ‘the ugly old house’ who now have the prettiest home in the neighborhood!

There are a number of tips and tricks for finding the right combination of colors for your home and your neighborhood. Feel free to approach your painting like a decorating project, that’s what it really is. The best resource for color combinations is the paint counter your local home center.

It is important to work with the things that you can’t change when choosing your new color scheme. If you have a dark roof, and rich brick work on the lower portions of your house, too bright of a color can make the whole thing look like a layer cake! But a warm and rich color that compliments the roof and brick work will make the whole house a kind of fashion statement.

Choosing your color scheme is a lot like choosing what to wear. Choose colors that blend and compliment each other. It is OK for one element to be darker or lighter, but not if it is so much that it pulls attention away from the rest of the picture.

Be sure to take a look around the neighborhood before you commit to a color scheme. You probably don’t want to blend in too much with the surrounding homes, but it is nice to not clash with your surroundings.

Finally, consider satin or a low-sheen semi-gloss rather than flat paints. We promise they won’t make your house ″shiny″, but they will give it a greater depth of color. In addition these paints are more durable and won’t hold dirt the way flat paint can.

The chemistry of the curing process, and the properties of the paint when it dries, is a discussion for another day. Our concern today is how to get the paint to properly adhere to the substrate we are trying to protect. The first step may be a thorough cleaning of the surface, but often that isn’t enough.

If the surface is new wood or cement, it should be be porous enough for the paint to get a grip on. Perhaps too much so. Fresh wood will actually draw the solvents into the surface, causing the paint to ″dry″ before it has had a chance to properly ″cure″. Other surfaces may not be porous enough for the paint to properly adhere. This can allow moisture to get between the surface and the paint layer, causing mold or other damage to the substrate.

The solution is actually a pretty simple one, primer.

Primer is a type of paint that has the property of being able to stick to various substrates (different surfaces call for different primers). The primer is not only designed to adhere to the surface, but it can give it degrees of protection all its own. Especially useful on paper-covered gypsum board is a primer that contains a biocide that will inhibit the possibility of mold growth.

Primer by itself is usually not very durable. But that shouldn’t be a concern because as soon as it dries it will be covered by your paint. And paint sticks very well to primer!

Primer can be tinted to be match the color of your top-coat. If you are changing from a dark to a lighter color paint, this can reduce the number of paint coats that your project will need for complete coverage.

As with most involved home-repair jobs, painting a room (or several) starts with a lot of prep work: moving furniture, shades, blinds fixtures. Basically anything you don’t want in that new color of pale yellow or neon pink (I jest) has to go somewhere else. Add in the masking process for both walls and trim, and you’re in for a few turns of the clock just getting a space ready for paint. And by the time that you’ve actually got the brush or roller on the wall, it’s probably a relief to actually see paint on a surface.

The good news is – once you have all those details out of the way, the rest of the process feels like riding a bike downhill. At that point you’ve reached what can even be the therapeutic part of getting a fresh coat on the walls, because you’re actually seeing the fruit of your labor in its vibrant, though sometimes smelly, new color.

So if you’ve just gone through the devilish details of preparing a room (or several) for a new coat of paint, here’s to you, and hopefully you can look back on your efforts and relax in the now remade space that is newly made your own. And if you have yet to bite that sometimes bitter bullet, just remember that you have something at the end of your toils to look forward to.

–

Heartland Painters, Carmel IN Painters

What about the house fires me so? This is a picky bit of personal preference, but most recently I’ve been noticing brick houses (red brick houses, it should be said) that have been painted a pastier white color. When I see these houses painted over, my inner historian screams a resounding “No!” and gets ready to go 10 rounds of squinty-eyed staring with the house in question.

All notions of color aside, I happen to think that home owners should be proud of the fact that their home is built of sturdier stuff than what typical suburban construction comes of these days. Most of the bricks which these houses are comprised of were fired in the Midwest, and speak to houses that were built in the first half of the 20th century. The varying color and texture of the bricks (as they age) afford brick homes much more character than most modern construction can ever hope to have.

Even if one wanted to ignore the historical relevance of brick construction, painting a brick house is very much a “point of no return” commitment, as the porous texture of the bricks makes paint removal difficult at best, even more difficult to achieve the sun-aged look of the bricks as they’ve sat strong for dozens of years.

Obviously I feel pretty strongly about the choices from a style perspective. So by all means, hire us to dial up the Wow! factor of the interior of your home, or touch up the accents on your brick home – but you might expect that squinty-eyed stare I spoke of if you have it in your mind to paint over your bricks.

With some new industry standards for green practices, some of the major manufacturers each have their own brands of eco-friendly paints. Most manufacturers are going to throw the acronym V.O.C. at you, which actually stands for “Volatile Organic Compounds.” In plain English, this is the level of sometimes noxious solvents present in the paint that is used (basically, what has traditionally given a room that “fresh paint smell”).

Porter, Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore each have introduced lines of “Zero V.O.C.” paints, so there are some options to choose from when you’re considering eco friendly paints nowadays. And right off the bat, each of these paints has the added benefits of less noxious fumes as you’re painting. Just don’t take the lack of smell for the idea that the paint is drying any faster (you’ll still want to keep that window open).

Remember though, just because a paint is “Zero V.O.C.” doesn’t necessarily make it LEED certified. It can be quite a lot to sort thorugh, so if you have any questions about Zero V.O.C. paints, give us a call!

In short, we’re looking forward to networking and getting involved with local events from the Chamber, and for a very specific reason. Last week I watched a CBS news segment on “The Pursuit of Happiness” and what made some communities more likely than others to promote a higher level of happiness than others (There’s actually a Gallup poll on this).

The segment painted a very clear picture that the building blocks of a happy community is a connected community, where its members show up. It may be a small step in the right direction, and we’re going to start showing up to Carmel Chamber events. Hopefully we’ll see you there.

Heartland Painters, Carmel IN Painters

For more than six years, we have built a track record of successful and quality business practices, and we’re
glad to be able to offer our services to a larger area. To our current customers, this is by no means represents a slackening effort on our behalf. We look forward to offering the same quality and professionalism that you have come to expect from us.

In the future, we have plans to expand our residential services to cities across the Midwest. Currently, we are best positioned to offer our expertise to the needs of building and office managers, and we look forward to partnering with you on your next project.

For more information:

Columbus Commercial Painting
St. Louis Commercial Painting
Louisville Commercial Painting

And should you be in a position where you’re asked to perform some task outdoors, we’d playfully remind you to take a hint from Mark Twain before that fair-weathered grin on your face turns sour.

We refer your attention of course to the tale of Tom Sawyer white-washing a fence for Aunt Polly, and how he cleverly avoided a half day’s work, positioning it in the mind’s eye as something far more enjoyable than swimming on a summer day.

Rather than slouch at the notion of a bit of outdoor work, Tom used a positive outlook to his advantage (rather slyly, we might add) and turned a day of toil into something far more enjoyable.

Even if you don’t have a gullible peer to con into at least helping you in the task of your painting project (we could recommend a few of our guys), it’s fair to at least consider your luck at working outside during fair-weathered months, rather than slaving in some desert and 120 degree temperatures. In other words, let’s all kindly consider our first-world problems in lieu of what else we could be facing.

So, just as the seemingly mischievous Tom was able to turn a day’s work into a laughable profiting affair, we would only ask that you take any sweat-toiling affair that you must seemingly endure into one that you look forward to. Your not-so-gullible peers will certainly appreciate it, and should that not be enough, remember that we’re here to help as well.

A belated Happy Easter, and Happy Spring to us all!

For service company secretaries the job might be painstaking at times, watching servicemen drive out in the best of weather, while Jane (or John) is chained to the phone and e-mail queue so the rest of the business can function like it should.

Paints a pretty dull picture, doesn’t it?

All of this to the point, that we owe it to our workers to give them a space they can be happy in. That’s not just the paint on the walls, though we like to think it’s a major part. Even what you might consider the most mundane of details are what surround your employees and coworkers on a daily basis. The water cooler, office supplies, pens and paper, the light fixtures, the smell of the carpet – they all add to the ambiance (or dismal lack thereof) of your space.

If you’re of the mind to give something back to your work force, or are just moving into a new space – consider the days, weeks, months and years they’ll spend in the space, and make a nice one. Your customers and employees (all the people who really count – dollars, sense and otherwise) will notice the results, and you will too.