Does painting bore you?

If the thought of repainting part of your home is akin to watching the pesky stuff dry, you should remember that we are all good at different things.
You don't have to be skilled at everything, in fact it's good to remind ourselves that we are all equally ignorant, but on different subjects.
Should we spend laborious hours trying to improve in area's where we lack?
Or just keep improving the skills we already have?
I believe the latter is the best course, that is why I still paint for a living.
There are many things I'm sort of good at, but a very few things I'm very good at.

Come and visit us at http://www.mercuryminc.net/ and I can help you make painting fun.

Time to paint the exterior?

It's a bit early to paint anything outside if you live above the 49th paralel. 10 degrees celsius is the minimum the paint companies have on their cans. What you need is two weeks of sunny warm weather before you paint an exterior. You will need to check any exposed wood to see if it is dry. Moisture sits deep in the wood and will lift the paint when the temperatures rise.
Visit us at http://www.mercuryminc.net/

Applying a faux finish

When you are dabbing on a glaze over a base colour you can use a rag, cheescloth, or a sponge. The most popular sponge is a natural sea sponge. This is because by rotating it after each dab you can avoid the cat tracks that are the bane of a faux finisher. Also let me ease your mind about glazes; when dabbing on you can use thinned latex paint with no other additives. I start dabbing by keeping my dabs about a foot apart. This will avoid clumping the dabs and allow you to fill in gradually. Also as your sponge runs out of paint the lighter dabs will be spread out. It's the same proccess with rags or other methods of application. Make sure your paint/glaze is thin enough and you will need to mask the trim and corners to prevent the dabbing from getting on surounding surfaces.
Here is Wikipedia's Faux Finishing link.
Or visit us http://www.mercuryminc.net/

Anybody can paint?

Yesterday I was reviewing the You Tube videos on how to paint a wall or room.
It was not a pretty site. From the Australian one that has a guy on the top step of a ladder holding a full roller tray of paint like a pizza delivery guy. 
Then the painter using a three quarter inch pile roller sleeve (250mil). The correct roller sleeve pile is 10 mil for interior walls by the way. Any longer and you get a very rough looking texture on the wall. The other bad one showed all the trim taped with masking tape. He must have shares in 3M.
There are some OK ones and here is a link. Although don't listen to the no dropsheet part, use one or you will get paint on your floor.
Back rolling is also important, and is missed by many painting videos, probably because they don't know about it. Back rolling.
Also, using a roller tray to load your roller is OK and better than a five gallon bucket for most home owners. The final tip is try to avoid getting paint on the axle of the roller cage as you reload the roller. This will drip both on the floor as you lift the loaded roller up and down the wall as you paint. Our site has reliable information on home painting. Expect a video from us soon.
Visit us at http://www.mercuryminc.net/

Trade secret # 8 Painting a ceiling

I just added some info about this subject on my site http://www.mercuryminc.net/, that's on page three of trade secrets.
Usually you should ask a professional painter with experience painting ceilings to give you a quote. If your ceiling is textured or not they are not easy to paint.
Most should be painted with a flat latex, although kitchens and bathrooms can be finished in eggshell or even semigloss.
There are some good washable flat latex paints on the market also.

Trade secret # 7. Glazes

OK, some of you were wondering, does this guy know anything about anything more than the basics? But people, the basics ARE the secret. OK, here is some info about glazes.
A glaze is a transparent coating applied over a surface. It can be an oil or combination of oils thinners, and color. Or, it can be an acrylic clear coating with some color in it.
The oil based glazes are an old traditional way of creating beautiful affects used by the old masters. Faux finishers use them to scumble or make thousands of great looks in their trade.
The film business uses glazes extensively for anything from marbling, to woodgraining.
Making glazes is for painters with advanced knowledge and experience, but they can be purchased in paint stores. But be aware that you will not have a good experience unless you have some knowledge about what to do with these transparent coatings. The most challenging part is how much tint to put in the glaze, too little and you don't get the effect, too much and you have to start again. Contact me for more info on this.

Painting Tip # three

Choosing a colour for your home.
Just remember that paint is only paint and can be redone if you don't like what you chose.
Now you can buy little jars of your colour before you have to make your purchase. Try it to see if it's going to work. Benjamin Moore has them, and some of the other paint stores too.
Choose the colour in the room that's going to be painted, every room has it's own light qualities.
Take into consideration the other colours in the room and furniture also.
An eggshell finish is the usual choice but there are some good washable flat paints.

Oil paint to latex/a rock and a polluted place

Well I must say the new rules on paint are welcome, but I still have a rant, as a professional of course. 2010 stores will NOT be able to stock alkyd (oil) based paint. I hate the smell of oil paint but it's soooo.. nice to have time to work with it when painting murals or faux finishing. Even just slapping a coat on the wall it flows out nicely and guess what?, after you finish you usually dispose of the roller and wash out the brush in paint thinner and let that thinner stand in an old can and then reuse it for washing the next brush. Fast forward to the future, which is now.
Latex is water soluble and loaded with chemicals unheard of 20 years ago. Although we are assured the new latex is low in VOC's, ummm , now the paint is dry before you have a chance to scratch your nose, and , try faux finishes with this stuff, even with the extenders they sell separately. Then we are ready to clean up. Wash the brush and roller in the sink and watch all those chemicals go into the sea, ummm very smart.
Are we creating a bigger monster? I for one have decided to dispose of my rollers after the job instead of trying to wash them. I do put them in a 5 gallon bucket and see if I can reuse them but wash them? not.

Tip # one

trade secrets are not what people expect. The most basic habits are the things that make the difference. Where you place your tools can have a huge impact on your jobsite. For instance putting your paint can in or near a doorway can have unwelcome outcomes. If someone treads in your rollertray is it their fault or yours for having it in the way? Think about it .... and talk to you soon. Ken.