painting

A.) Interior
Getting ready to paint is the most important part of getting a good paint job. Unfortunately paint will not cover a multitude of defects. Paint will change the color of bumps, nicks, dents, cracks and defects. But it will not make these blemishes go away. Prep work is the only procedure that can make a new paint job a success. Prep work includes items like cleaning the wall, caulking, sanding, treating stains and mildew and most of all priming.

The next step in a new paint job is the selection of the type of paint. Latex paint is the most commonly used paint today. Latex is a water-based durable paint. Oil is still available in most paint stores. But it is not used as much due to the fact it has chemicals, it's harder to work with, and takes chemicals to clean up. But it does have it's uses.

Now we get to the paint sheen. The glossier the paint, the easier it is to clean. The flatter the paint the more it hides defects and mistakes. The rule of thumb is to use glossier sheens on trim, wood and in kitchens and baths. These are areas that get splatters, fingerprints,dirt and all kinds of abuse. Paint sheen is measured by how much light the paint reflects. The most common sheens used by most paint manufacturers are flat, eggshell, satin, semi-gloss and gloss. A flat paint reflects about 5 to 12 percent of the light that shines on it. A gloss paint reflects somewhere in the 50 percent range of light that shines on it. A common explanation used for the difference in sheen comes from the fact that the change in sheen changes the appearance of both the surface and color. A flat sheen looks duller and darker than the same color in a gloss sheen.

In starting with flat sheen which tends to show dirt and usually is not a washable surface, each sheen moving toward gloss sheen becomes smoother and easier to clean. Also keep in mind that most paint manufacturers have different names for eggshell and satin. And in a lot of cases have even more sheens to choose from. Flat and gloss sheen are the two ends of the spectrum. So one can work between those two sheens to attain the desired sheen.

Paint is probably one of the few products in the construction world that is actually graded by price. The more expensive the paint, the better quality the paint. The more expensive usually means that more or better pigments, additives and binders are used which produces better color and adheres to the surface better. More and more design painting is being done at all levels of housing today. Especially starting with bathrooms and dining rooms. The most common faux techniques used are sponging, ragging and stippling. These techniques require the mix of glaze to latex paint. A lot of patience by the painter. And the finish product is in eye of the beholder.

B.) Exterior
The key to a good exterior paint job is good preparation. You need to pressure wash the entire house, scrape off old pealing paint and patch and seal any damaged areas. Prepping the windows and door areas as well as all trim are the most important areas. These areas are usually the areas where caulking and sealing is needed to assure no water leaks in the future and prevent future dryrot. There are so many different areas and parts to an exterior of a house. Such as porches, rails, steps, doors, jambs, casings, windows, gutters,downspouts, roof trims, soffits, facia, vents, stucco, decks and walls. Each of the above areas is usually painted with a different procedure.