Categories Ideas For Interior Painting, News, Painting Ideas

Painting Interior And Unifying Colors

Planning Interior Painting.
Interior Painting Ideas to Improve Unity of Color
By Nicky Taylor
Expert Author Nicky Taylor

I am often asked by homeowners planning interior painting for their home, if it is correct to paint the trim in a particular room a different color than the trim in the rest of their home. Many times the issue arises when they are planning a particular color, on account of a color they have seen in a magazine or while visiting a friends home. Maybe they’re trying to match colors in a particular fabric they are planning to use in that room. Anyway, the problem arises with what to do with the trim for that room. How do you work it into the existing color scheme of your home?

While there is no absolute rule about trim color, that if broken, would cause you to be arrested by the color scheme patrol, there are some things you should consider.

1. The trim and ceilings of your home are what establishes a unified look and feel throughout your home. You can change your walls to any color that you like, or that fits with the theme you have planned for the interior of your home. The use of one color on the trim and ceilings will give you a smooth transition between wall colors as you travel throughout your home. Without this consistency, your home takes on a feeling of disunity.

2. White trim and some off-white colors will go with any wall color. That is why it is so popular. It gives you much greater flexibility in interior color coordination and design. Deciding to paint your trim a color other than white will limit your decorating options; however, I have seen some marvelous color co ordinations while using more color for trim.

If you really want to change the color of the trim for a particular room, then test the color. Try to get a feel for how it will impact the rooms or halls adjacent to that room. Will it be completely separated by a door? Will the door be closed most of the time? If the room is open to other areas of the house that are easily seen, how will that impact the color theme for the other parts of your home?

You don’t want to put a lot of time and effort into painting a room if in the long run you’re not happy with how it makes the rest of your home look. Test the color on a door jamb or baseboard and then stand back and get a feel for what it does for unity of passage from other rooms to that room. It would be a good idea to wait a few days to see if you grow tired of the transition between colors. Often what we initially think looks good, loses its appeal over time.

Nicky Taylor CEO of Painters Flair And Our Painter Services

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Categories Exterior Painting, News, Painting Tips

Exterior Painting – Prepping Your Home Before Painting

Exterior painting service and painters Marietta Ga

 The secret to a good paint job is to put effort into quality surface preparation. Paint preparation has the same importance as Painting itself. Correctly prepared painting surfaces take paint better, allowing it to completely adhere to a solid base, have a more beautiful, long-lasting finish. Preparation can be boring and consumes a lot of time but when you aim for the best, then you must undergo these processes.

Preparation is systematic. It should flow chronologically in order not to compromise other steps involved.

Cleaning

The outside of the house must be cleaned thoroughly as the paint won’t stick to dirt, grease, grime, or dust. The tool of choice is a pressure washer that develops between 2500 and 3500 pounds per square inch of pressure. However, using this machine requires experience, if not used properly it can damage your exterior walls. Just do not point the pressure washer wand upward on shingled or lap siding. If you point the wand upward, you run the risk of filling the inside of the walls with water.  Don’t get to close to the surface of the siding either or you will gouge a hole in it.

If the house is peeling in areas, try to remove the peeling paint with the pressure washer. Be careful not to gouge the surface. If you don’t have access to a pressure washer then use a brush attachment to your hose which often comes with a reservoir of liquid soap below.

If this tool isn’t available, then you can wash it by climbing a ladder with a rag or sponge. If the siding has a minor discoloration, molds or mildew, use an anti-fungal cleaner to get rid of it. After cleaning, be sure to forget to rinse the house. Clean from top-to-bottom.

Drying

Once the house has been thoroughly cleaned, then allow it to dry. This factor is important because if the wall is not thoroughly dry, paint could peel prematurely and eventually the whole process would fail. If you plan to paint latex, wait one day. If oil-based paint is your plan, then wait 3 days. If you have used a power washer to clean the blistered paint, then you need to extend the time allowance for drying some.

Surface Preparation

Although removing the blistered paint is also important in the cleaning process, you will need to use a paint scrapper, putty knife or a wire brush to remove that will not come off with the pressure washer.

Check and address your siding and trim for any nail holes or cracks. Trim  blemishes can be easily filled with all purpose Bondo. This works well on smaller gouges or decaying areas, but trim with larger areas of rot should really be replaced to avoid trouble in the future. After they dry, use sandpaper to smooth and level the Bondo surface.

Covering Surfaces

Mask or cover areas where you don’t want paint to spill. You should use the blue masking tape along the edge of the trim, door and window frames including the glass doors. Using blue masking tape and paper to wrap all these areas will decrease your work time. Cleanup will be a minimum. A hand held masking machine can make this a little easier.

Place plastic drop cloths over areas where paint may drip, usually on porches, roof sections, sidewalks, or driveways. This will also reduce cleanup time and produce a more professional looking paint job.

Now you are ready to paint. You are confident that the quality of your paint job will look like one being done by a professional. If you hire a professional painting contractor, then make sure that detailed preparation and repairs is included in your contract. Once all steps are followed, you are assured of a beautifully painted home for many years.

Nicky Taylor is president of a house painting  and home improvement company. Nicky is a leader among the painting contractors in the north Atlanta Georgia area. He shares his knowledge on exterior painting and other home improvement topics at the above painting contractor link through articles and resource materials on various topics. The company website contains helpful information for anyone planning home renovation projects.

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Categories News, Painting Techniques, Painting Tips

A Painters Nightmare And Solution

Hardie Plank Siding, Painting and Repairs
A Painter’s Nightmare
By Nicky Taylor
Expert Author Nicky Taylor

As with many things in life, often there is a silver lining in the cloud that’s raining on your parade. Many homeowners suffered loss during the 90s from having to replace the faulty Louisiana Pacific wafer board siding on their homes. While some homeowners were rewarded money for their losses some unfortunate homeowners who arrived late were rewarded noting. As frustrations rose to a deafening level during the nineties, most barely noticed the new product that was just entering the market.

During this period of time a new type of siding entered the market that offered the durability that most homeowners demanded. It was perfect timing for a cement based siding to enter the market. Many homeowners and builders rushed to buy Hardie Plank to replace the decaying siding that plagued the housing industry. Finally a siding existed that would probably outlast the owner. Most folks viewed this siding as an answer to prayer.

Most painters in our industry welcomed the siding. Not having to deal with swelling siding that wouldn’t hold paint, certainly made our job easier. While most homeowners and painters were excited about this new long lasting siding, most weren’t aware that keeping it caulked would become the new problem that everyone would talk about. The problem was and still is: How do you keep Hardie Plank caulked?

For homes that have exposure to sunlight and widely varying temperatures, keeping Hardie Plank properly caulked is a challenge. Hardie Plank expands and contracts a lot under these conditions. Most caulks simply do not have the elasticity to handle the expansion and contraction.

I have seen the expansion and contraction of Hardie Plank siding pull fresh caulk apart within 24 hours after application. It’s great siding to have on your home, but you better know what you’re doing when it comes to caulking all the joints.

You certainly can’t be economy minded with your purchase of caulk when Hardie Plank is involved, or you will be doing the job over again. Many painters and homeowners alike seem confused when selecting caulk for this siding. It has been my experience that you should be using caulks that comply with either ASTM C 834 or ASTM C 920. Applying a caulk that falls in this category is doing so within the manufacturers written instructions.

I personally prefer using an elastomeric caulk on my customer’s homes. Elastomeric caulks are made for masonry substrate surfaces. Sherwin Williams carries a product called Shermax Super Stretch Elastomeric Caulk that I find works well with Hardie Plank Siding. It has the elasticity to handle the constant expanding and contracting of Hardie Plank. All my crews are required to use this product and I see few problems with caulk separation.

One common problem that many homeowners find is the Hardie Plank itself was installed improperly. At least a 1/8 inch gap between siding and trim should be left by the installer to allow for a proper amount of caulk to be applied. The 1/8 inch gap is in accordance with caulking manufacturers written instructions. (leave 1/8″ gap between siding, trim and butt joints so adequate caulk can be applied.)

If less than 1/8 inch gap is available to apply caulk, then the caulk is too thin to handle the amount of stretching it must endure. I have seen Elastomeric Caulk separate where less than a 1/8 inch of a gap existed in the siding joints. Owens Corning also sells a very good caulk for this type application.

The last point I want to make is there are solutions to this common annoyance. As a painter it is your responsibility to deliver a product and service that will last. As a homeowner make sure you discuss your painter’s plans on how he is going to solve this common problem with Hardie Plank. This action will go a long way toward avoiding loss of time and money.

Nicky Taylor CEO of Painters Flair. Our web site is loaded with info and links. We have information for both homeowners and house painters.

 

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Categories News, Painting Ideas, Painting Techniques, Painting Tips

How To Choose Colors With Confidence

Interior painting project details.

House painting is made way to complicated for many homeowners and the sad thing is, it doesn’t have to be. Choosing colors for your next house painting plan doesn’t have to be complicated and stressful. For starters, most homeowners are flooded by the number of colors to choose from. Then there is the fear that they will make a mistake in color choice and have to live with it. Having your home painted twice is not an disbursal most homeowners want to undertake. Besides, what will the Jones Think about the new colors. Below is some house painting tips that will help you feel more confident with your color choice.

1. The first thing to consider is what colors are permanent on your home. Roofs typically last from 30 years to lifetime. Roofs are generally considered a permanent color since they last 30 years to life. Bricks are permanent and aren’t going to change. Stones are also permanent. Stones are also permanent. Be sure and coordinate any color change with these permanent colors. You will want your new color scheme to be in harmony with the permanent colors. Avoid conflict with colors you can’t change This should guide you to the right color family.

2. Another consideration should be the landscape and the neighborhood. The colors surrounding the house as well as the geographic location. The type of building materials used on the house.

3. Study the architectural style of your home and research colors that are commonly used for the style. For example, a French Victorian home needs a different color than an English tutor style home. Planning a color strategy around a traditional home typically will be different than modern architecture.

4. One of the simplest ways to freshen up the look of your home without a major change, is to change the door and shutter colors.

5. Sometimes I am asked if the interior color scheme should reflect the exterior color theme. It really is a matter of personal preference. If you own a historic home you may want to keep the authenticity of that time period by keeping a connection between interior and exterior colors, but again it is a personal preference. Many homeowners consider the interior a place where there are no limitations for color.

6. Many homeowners have trouble coordinating colors. Spend some time in a paint store. Most major paint stores have pre-selected color schemes. Most offer palette collections that provide accurate historical reference along with collections of colors that work well together. This is a great place to start your color selections.

7. Most major paint stores offer an online color visualizer. Call your store for the web address and you can go online with your computer and play around with a lot of different colors for both exterior and interior house painting. Different Scenes are available for you to drag and drop colors for both interior and exterior planning.

8. One of the most important things I recommend is, buy a quart of the colors you plan to use and apply it to the wall in a 4ft by 4ft area next to the trim color you plan to use. The small paint chips supplied by the paint stores are too small to make a determination. (Caution: If the siding is textured, or you have stucco, do not apply paint on a large area with a brush or roller. When the house is painted by the contractor, you will be able to see where you put the test sample underneath the paint they apply. Paint fills the pores of textured surfaces so you have an uneven distribution of paint where you applied the sample causing it to be visible. Instead, apply the test sample on a piece of plywood and hold up to the trim to test your color samples.)

Make sure you have made a decision on your paint colors before you hire your contractor. Too often homeowners make the mistake of rushing into painting their home without giving adequate time to the color decision process. Suddenly, they feel rushed to decide on colors and end up not confident with their choice of colors. House painting doesn’t have to be stressful. Just give a little time to planning.

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Categories News, Painting Ideas, Painting Techniques

Commercial Painting Services

Well our painting services Marietta do commercial painting service for offices too. Looks great. My painting company offers painting services not just for Marietta. but all North Metro Atlanta.

Commercial and industrial painting requires a very specific approach, at Painters Flair we understand the importance of providing professional results. Whether its commercial or industrial painting services  you need, our team manages your project with care so that there is as little disruption to your business as possible.

  • Commercial office space
  • Commercial warehouse space
  • We also do some exterior painting of commercial buildings that are 1 to 2 stories high.

Our commercial painting contractors understand what is important to property managers. You will find that Painters Flair is the best option for your office or warehouse painting needs. We are careful to limit the disruption of your activities as much as possible.

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