Privately held Painting plus is headquartered in
Manchester, NH and is on the Web at http://www.painting-plus.com.
Contact:
Thomas Gagne-Hall
TG Hall's Painting plus
130 Brook Street
Manchester, NH 03104-3639
tghall@painting-plus.com
888-584-8535 |
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Materials
Materials are generally the smallest part of the cost of painting a house. One may try to save money by using a lesser quality paint, but your money saved is minimal and the result is an unhappy customer and a damaged reputation. The best paint is a 100% acrylic latex paint, and the best stain is a top quality stain with a guarantee by a reputable paint company. A lesser quality paint can last half as long as a top quality paint, so instead of saving money you spend more in the long run by having to paint your house twice while your neighbor had theirs painted only once. The best primer for bare wood is a top quality slow drying oil base primer.
A paint brush is a paint brush, right?
Wrong!!! What most people do not realize is that a top quality paint brush produces a top quality end result on your house. In a lesser quality paint brush, the hairs of the brush continuously fall out while painting, sticking to your house. A good paint brush is sturdy, well made, and long lasting. It also holds much more paint, which results in a thicker application. A top quality brush will not leave as streaky of a finish as another brush will. Finally, the best paint brushes have chisled ends which create more precise cutting and edging.
Surface Preparation
For many houses the “prep.” work is the biggest part of the job. Prep. work can include washing, scraping, priming, caulking, glazing, or anything else which is done before a finish coat of paint is applied to your house. Not only does this generally take the longest, but it is the most important part of painting your home. Not taking the proper steps or using the right materials will greatly increase the chance for peeling on your house in the near future.
It is important that all dirt, mildew, pollen, or anything else that will keep the paint from adhering to the surface of your house are completely washed off. Many people like to powerwash a house, and while powerwashing does have its uses, it is not the best way to wash your home (unless it is vinyl or alumninum siding, or decks, see below). Powerwashing slams water into the wood of your home. If your house is not fully dry before the paint is applied, your freshly painted home will peel. This happens quite often. Powerwashing can also damage the wood, even to the point of having to replace areas. Also, many people think that powerwashing can substitute for scraping, and although it will remove much of the peeling paint, it will not take it to a solid edge as a hand scraper will.
The best way to wash your home is to hand wash it. Yes, hand wash, with a sponge, scrub brush, and a bucket of water and cleaning solution (usually TSP substitute and Bleach). By hand washing, your Painting plus crew can target all areas where there is dirt or mildew. After scrubbing the dirt or mildew the area can be rinsed with a hose and will dry nicely since the water is not being blasted into the house.
Powerwashing is appropriate for decks, because the very thing wrong with powerwashing for siding, is the right thing to restore the color and life to a deck. Decks dry quickly because they're constantly exposed to the sun. The wood used for decks is significantly sturdier than that used for siding.
Scrape
Scraping is the removal of all loose and peeling paint from your house. The best method is to use a hand scraper with a sharp blade that will remove the peeling paint until there is a solid edge where the paint will not scrape off any further.
Once an area is fully scraped, it is ready to be primed. Primer is basically the bonding agent for paint. The best primer to use for clapboard or cedar shakes (or any wood surface) is a slow drying oil base primer. It is messy to work with, takes longer to apply that a latex primer, and is not water soluble (needs to be cleaned using mineral spirits). However, a slow drying oil base primer is what will grip best to your home, and this is what you want. By applying this primer to all bare wood areas and letting if fully dry (typically takes 24 hours depending on weather conditions) your home is now ready to be painted.
Caulking is generally used to fill gaps where the siding boards meet the facia trim or a window or door frame. It is important however that caulking is not used underneath clapboards or on soffits as this will not allow your house to breath properly and can actually cause peeling.
Glazing is the putty which affixes the glass of your window to the frame. Old glazing gets dry, cracks, and falls out. In this case new glazing should be applied. |
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