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6 Tips to Make Your House Look Better than Your Neighbor’s

November 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

exterior house paintingBesides the obvious reason of your house looking better than your neighbor’s, exterior house painting has many benefits. If done correctly, it can also prevent rain or dew from leaking underneath the surface, causing damage to the foundation. The extensive preparation work will allow for you to see anything that needs to be repaired before the damage hurts your home significantly. A new coat of paint can also give your house an immediate facelift and bring more value to your home. It’s a very time-consuming and labor intensive project, but with a few tips, it’ll be easier to tackle.

 

#1  Have a Clean Surface

We’ve all heard that preparation is the key to success, and there is nothing different when it comes to painting a house. Paint will not stick to dirty surfaces and will peel off if it’s not applied on a clean and dry surface.

Powerwashing your exterior is the most effective way to remove dirt and debris, and also be sure to take time to get rid of any mold or mildew that has built up over the years. The next step is to scrape away the paint that has peeled away or bubbled. If you have a lot of areas where the paint has peeled, it could be a sign of moisture that has been let inside. You can use a standard paint scraper or an electric one if there are a lot of problem areas.

 

#2  Sand and Prime

After your house has been cleaned and the old paint is gone, you’ll need to sand down where you scraped in order to make a smooth surface for painting. The next thing is to apply a latex primer. The latex will form a barrier and protect your home from moisture that could cause problems down the line.

 

#3  Patch-Up Work

Be sure to apply caulking to areas such as gutters and windows to make sure that there are no gaps for water to get inside and cause damage. Also, be sure to cover windows and other parts of your home before beginning your painting excursion.

 

#4  Buy Weather-Proof Paint

This is one of the most important things that you can do for your home. The foundation in your home stretches and bends depending on the weather, which causes cracks and other damage due if it is exposed to the elements. Buying paint that is waterproof and has an elastomeric membrane will act as a barrier to protect the foundation from the sun, wind, rain or other elements. Paint with these qualities is very thick and is made to be applied in layers, and the layers act as the barrier.

 

#5  Choosing the Right Color

It’s significantly easier to choose a color if you like the color it was before and you just want to give your home a bit of a makeover. However, if you want a complete change, it’s a bit more difficult.

If you want a dark color, you must realize that they fade a lot faster than lighter colors do. They also absorb more heat, which makes a significant difference if you live in a place that has a frequently warm climate. In addition, more primer must be applied if you want to switch from a dark color to a light color. This can get quite expensive, but it is completely feasible.

If you want a bright color like blue or even yellow, it’s best to choose a color that’s muted. Bright colors will look overwhelming in large quantities, and they will be prone to fading faster in the sun than lighter colors.

Home improvement stores now have computer software that make it easier for you to see what colors will look like on your home, and you can also purchase small samples to test so you can see them in person.

 

#6  The Painting Process

When painting, it is important for you to start from the top down. This prevents paint from dripping and from accidental removal of the paint, such as if your arm rubs against the paint.

The best time to paint is when the temperature is in the 70s or 80s so that the paint does not overheat or freezes. Also, follow the shade when you paint. This is so that you don’t apply too much or too little paint depending upon where the sun hits it. Speaking of sun, paint should never be in direct sunlight.

The last tip for the process is to keep a wet edge. This means to overlap the areas that have most recently been painting. Doing this will give you even coats with no streaks.

 

For an estimate of your exterior painting project, call us at (407) 448-4932.

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10 Tips for Interior House Painting

November 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

indoor paintingWhether you’ve just moved into a new house and are excited to decorate and make it your own home, or you’ve just decided to spruce up the inside of your home with a fresh coat of paint, it can be quite a messy and time-consuming task. Although it is a lot of hard work, but when you sit back and admire your craftiness, you’ll feel quite good about what you’ve accomplished. You can turn interior house painting into less of a daunting task and more into a fun project with the right tools, know-how, and attitude. To help you with this, we’ve given you a top 10 list of tips that will make your painting project a lot easier to manage.

 

1) Choose Your Colors Wisely

The first and most important factor you should consider is what color or colors you are going to be using. You can go to your local home improvement store and pick out color swatches and decide which colors will complement each other. You can take the samples home and decide what colors look the best in the room or rooms that you’re going to paint. There is nothing worse than spending all of your time and effort on a room with colors that clash and then you have to go through the whole painting process over again.

 

2) Start High and Paint Top Down

You should always start from the highest point, and then paint downwards from there. If you have any paint that drips, this will prevent it from ruining your freshly painted walls.

 

3) Take Advantage of Painter’s Tape

It takes a lot of time to put tape down, but it is well worth it in the end. The tape prevents you from painting into areas where you don’t want the paint to go. It also helps you paint a straight line, which is extremely important because every flaw shows up in paint. Also, be sure that the tape you use is specific for paint and will not cause any paint to come off along with the tape.

 

4) Don’t Buy Cheap Supplies

It’s easy to want to just buy the cheapest brushes and rollers that you can, but you also get what you pay for. Your rationale may be that you’re only going to paint one time, so you can go ahead and buy the cheap stuff. However true that may be, buying cheap supplies in bulk does not leave you with the highest quality. A lot of times, the roller covers can leave fuzz on your walls, and cheap brushes can leave streaks on your walls instead of a smooth finish, no matter how many times you paint over the streaks. The streaks may not be from your lack of artistic ability; they may be from your lack of quality supplies.

 

5) Plan a Day for Prep Work

They always say that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and the same rule can be applied for big painting projects. A day or two before the Big Day, take down everything that is hanging on the walls and patch up the holes. Doing this the day before will give the patches a significant amount of time to dry. It may be tempting to want to paint over holes and cracks, but just remember that everything shows up in the paint. Move the furniture to a different room, and cover any light fixtures with plastic bags, but be sure to take out the light bulbs! If you’re moving in or out, then this task is a lot easier for you because the room will be empty and all you need to worry about is putting tarp down on the floor. Doing the prep work a day early will make the painting task less stressful because you’ll be splitting up what needs to be accomplished.

 

6) Keep a Wet Edge

When painting, it’s important to constantly keep a wet edge, and be sure to always paint away from the edge. If you paint over dry paint, you will get overlap marks, so having a wet edge prevents these marks.

 

7) Keep All Supplies in Sight

As silly as it may sound, some people leave their supplies scattered across their homes, which makes painting so much harder. Keep all of your supplies together so that you can find everything easily. Create a tool station that will have all of your brushes, rollers, paint, drip rags, and anything that you’ll need.

 

8) A Little Goes a Long Way

When it comes to painting, most people think it’s best to put gobs of paint on their brushes and rollers thinking that it will be easier to spread around and that they won’t have to do a second coat. This is not the case. You should apply thin coats and apply a lot of them. Yes, it will take a lot more time, but the end result is so much better. The whole point of painting your home is for it to look good, so you should take the time to make it worth it.

 

9) The Finish

As important as the paint is, the finish is just as important.

  • Flat- A flat finish offers a matte look because it doesn’t reflect light. It is ideal for covering imperfections. Use a flat finish if the room you’re painting will most likely suffer some wear and tear.
  • Satin and Eggshell- They offer a slightly shiny finish, and are very popular for walls.
  • Semi Gloss and Glossy- These are very glossy and are mostly used for trims.

 

10) Don’t Be Afraid to Get Creative

Just because you have to paint a solid color, doesn’t mean that it has to stay a solid color! Feel free to paint in designs or drawings on top of the finished product. There are stencils available in various designs that you can purchase. You can also paint scenes or landscapes over the wall. Just be sure to plan everything from the color to the size to the location so that you don’t have to go through the painting process all over again.

 

If you need any painting assistance, call us at (407) 448-4932.

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Cost of painting a house – Is hiring somebody more expensive than if I did it myself?

October 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

When conducting a pros and con list of decision making, cost is one of the biggest deciding factors that will push your decision one way or the other. If you’re waffling between hiring outside help to paint your house and just painting it yourself, there are more deciding factors than just the cost.

Time

Time is really something that needs to be considered. Especially for an exterior painting job, there is a lot of pre-painting preparation that needs to be completed before the actual painting process can begin. All of this preparation is very time consuming and can add to the cost of the painting job. For example, when painting on the interior, furniture must be moved and the tiny holes from paintings being hung up must be patched. This cost of labor can really add up, especially if your house is not exactly in the best condition. The more time that a painting company spends working on your home, it will cost you more money. Adversely, if you decide to do the preparation yourself (such as moving furniture and patching up holes), then you’ll save more money, but you’ll lose some of your time.

 

Individual cost of firm

The total amount that you’ll spend through a contractor also depends on the rates that they charge. You may think that by paying top dollar for a company that you’re going to get the best results, but that is not always the case. The same holds true for hiring the cheapest company; as the old adage goes, you get what you pay for. It is important to comparison shop and then decide which company has the right price to fit your budget.

 

Cost of supplies

If you were to complete a painting project on your own, you must factor in the cost of materials in order to get a proper cost of painting a house. You’ll need supplies such as:

  • Paint
  • Paintbrushes
  • Tarp
  • Ladder
  • Painter’s tape
  • Cleaning supplies

You may even need more supplies depending on if you’re painting the interior or the exterior of your house. You’ll need to make sure that the paint is the exact color and shade that you’re looking for, in addition to having the right paintbrushes to do the physical painting. If you hire a painting company, then the cost of these materials is already included in the price that you’re paying to the company.

It’s important to weigh the pros and cons of hiring somebody to do the painting for you. You may also have to factor in how long it would take you to finish the project as opposed to someone else doing it for you, or you may not like strangers on your property. These concerns are also included in the cost of painting a house.

If you have a project in mind and would like a free estimate, call us at (407)448-4932 or fill in the form on our website.

 

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Painting companies – When to hire outside assistance

October 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

With the economy in such a downturn, you may be wondering why exactly you should pay money for other people to come into your house to do something that you could easily do yourself. It would seem like a fun weekend project; going to your local hardware store, finding which exact color and shade (Eggplant purple? Lavender? Royal purple?), buying paintbrushes, buying painter’s tape, having a ladder that’s just the right height, and purchasing a tarp so you don’t ruin your expensive floors. The cost of doing it yourself could possibly be even more expensive than just to hire somebody else.

For a simple project like painting an accent wall in your bedroom or bathroom, it’s not entirely necessary to hire a painting company to do the work for you. It would only require a fraction of the supplies that you’d need for a complete overhaul of the whole inside of the house, or the exterior. If you have no time for this small project, or feel really unconfident with a paintbrush, then you should hire a painter to do this for you.

Painting companies are usually called upon for larger projects such as painting multiple rooms or the outside of the house, particularly if the house has multiple stories. They often provide other services such as drywall repair and power washing, which are things that clients would like professional assistance with. By offering additional services, it allows their clients to choose their company for multiple types of home repairs.

The most popular times to call upon a painting company are when you’re moving in or out of your house, to cover home renovations, or simply just to spruce up the look of your home. When moving in or out of your home, you want it to be in the best condition either for you to live in or for somebody else to live in. A fresh coat of paint will liven up your home and make it look new again.

If hiring a painting company is something that would make your home’s makeover a lot easier for you, fill out the form on our website or call us at (407) 448-4932.

 

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Painting Services – What services should I look for when choosing a painting contractor?

October 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The type of painting contractor that you need is contingent upon what exactly you are looking for them to do for you and your home. With each additional painting service that you choose to add, the price will increase, but it can also be negotiated. For example, if you choose to do some of the preparation instead of having the painter do it (such as patching up minor holes in walls or moving furniture), it will save you some money.

Many contractors offer more services than just painting your home, be it either interior or exterior. The reason for offering their clients such an array of services is so that they’ll be the first company that comes to mind when the client decides that their homes need these types of repairs. Most clients will try to take care of everything all at once to save themselves more time by not having to schedule another time for the painters to come back. Depending on the company, they’ll offer some variations of:

  • Power washing
  • Minor carpentry
  • Dry rot repair
  • Deck refurnishing
  • Minor drywall repairs
  • Cabinet refinishing
  • Antiquing
  • Caulking
  • Trenching
  • Priming
  • Patios
  • Porches

Some painting contractors offer services that they can’t do themselves, so they hire other people to assist you. If this is the case, then the painting and other services cannot be done on the same day unless you have planned it out beforehand so that all of the workers are on your property at all the same time. When your contractor comes to your house for the initial estimate about the painting aspect, he or she will often make recommendations and inquire if you would like any additional painting services for the workers to perform while they are on site.

For any inquiries about the services we provide for our clients, call us at (407) 448-4932.

 

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House Painters – Why proper preparation is the key to a top-notch painting job

October 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Painting a house is not as easy as buying a few gallons of paint, some brushes, and going to town on the walls. It requires a lot of preparation on both the customer side as well as the contractor side. Both sides need to come together to collaborate their ideas and assist the other with details about how the process is going to go, which is exactly why you need to have a house painter who is both easy to work and communicate with.

On the customer side, you need to have a general idea of what kind of services that you will need, in addition to knowing that your house painter offers those services. By knowing that you want to re-paint the outside of your house, or a room or two in your house, it makes the planning process a lot easier. You will also need to plan out not only what colors that you want to use, but also the different shades of those colors. A house painter can often offer assistance on the shade if you’re unsure. Also on the customer side is planning out a date and time for the house painters to be able to come into your house and do an estimate as well as actually doing the job.

The preparation on the house painter side is a tad bit more labor intensive. If the painting is being done to inside rooms, then the painters will often move the heavy furniture for you. They’ll often ask you to move the fragile items to lessen the chance of breaking anything. Most people have items hanging on the walls, so removing these items and then patching up the holes is also part of the interior painting process. During the price negotiating process, you may be able to save some money by doing most of the preparation work on your own instead of having the house painters do it.

On the exterior aspect, it requires very intensive power washing and scraping. If your house is in a relatively bad condition, then this process will take a very long time to complete, which will reflect in the total cost of the job.

When conducting a painting job, it is important to have a clean canvas to work with, regardless if you’re doing the painting yourself or will be hiring somebody to do the work for you. A poor foundation will lead to poor results, which will require more work in the long run. It is best to do the preparation right the first time in order to make the painting job to be successful and to last a long time.

To get more information about house painters and to get a free estimate, call us at (407) 448-4932.

 

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Painting Contractors – How to pick the perfect contracting company for your needs

October 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Do I actually need a painting contractor’s services?

You may be wondering why there’s a need for paint contractors when you have your local Home Depot or Lowe’s to supply you with some paint and other tools to take on your project. For those of you who have little time to redecorate but would love for your home to get a face-lift, or the job is too big to tackle alone, painting contractors are perfect. Contractors are also for those who did not receive any creative genes, but would really like to touch up the paint in their homes. Not only do contractors do the physical painting job, they also can help you pick out color schemes and decide what will be the best for your creative tastes and your home.

Cost factor

One of the biggest deciding factors when picking out a contractor is the cost. You don’t want to shell out your hard-earned cash for something unless you know that you will get quality work.  You have to realize that the most expensive contractor does not necessarily mean that they are the best at what they do. On that note, the cheapest contractor should not always be used either. As the old adage goes, you get what you pay for.

It’s important to shop around and get estimates from several places in your area. A lot of contractors will offer a free estimate, and after the estimates you can narrow down your choices. You can easily go onto your favorite search engine and conduct a search for painting contractors in your area, and pick a few of the most promising ones that way. Once the chosen have been selected, go ahead and make a few calls and ask for an estimate. Don’t forget that the cost of the job also factors in how big of a space you will want to paint, in addition to it being outdoors or indoors.

Word of mouth

The best way to go about picking out a painting contractor is to ask your friends or family if they have had any experience with any company in particular. Whether the feedback is positive or negative, it will guide you with your decision. These people in your life are ones whom you trust to give you the best advice. The companies that your friends or family tell you about will comprise your list of companies to inquire about, and maybe the companies you’d like to stay away from.

Personality is key

While the contractors are at your home doing an estimate, you can really feel out the personality of who you’ll be working with. You should be working with somebody who makes you feel safe and secure when they enter your home. It’s important to be able to have an open line of communication with your contractor as well. If the person who comes to your home does not seem like he or she will be able to work with you and is concerned about what you want, then it’s safe to say that the whole experience will not be very successful. Remember, this person is someone who you’ll be working with until the job is complete.

If hiring a painting contractor is something that is in your range of interest, call us at (407) 448-4932 to get an estimate on your project.

 

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How Paint Prevents Corrosion and Protects Your Home

May 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There are some known facts to those that are homeowners in Florida. It is hot, humid, rains daily in the summer, and hurricane season blows all kinds of things around. This poses some sincere concerns to the integrity of the home. How can it take such a steady beating? One method is to make sure you have a quality paint job.

The clear question posed after a statement like that is, “How does paint protect my home from all of those harsh elements?” The truth is that there are a number of common elements, non-exclusive to the Central Florida climate that can cause damage over time.

Protects Against Oxygen
Painting buildings, like your home, protects the metal used in its construction from oxidation, and in this instance, rust. Oxidation occurs over time when the elements in metal and oxygen react to cause corrosion. Paint is a non-permeable layer that prevents oxygen from reacting by completely blocking access to any metal on the home.

Protects Against Water
As paint is non-permeable, it also has the ability to protect the facades of the home from water. Water can lead to the decay of wood and assist in the oxidation of metal. By painting the home, water, like oxygen, cannot reach the surface of the home and cause damage.

Protects Against Debris
Storms bring heavy winds, which in turn carries tiny particles of dust that can wear down surfaces over time. Painting the surfaces of concern provides you with a thin, protective layer that may be worn down in place of the home’s facade, leaving the integrity of the home at 100%.

These elements are accentuated by the intense heat and humidity of Florida, so Contact Us today to see how your home can be better protected!

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Police Looking For Bogus Contractors Who Preyed On Couple

May 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I read a story today about bogus contractors in North Carolina that conned and elderly couple out of $2,700 in remodeling fees. I thought I would put together a quick recap of how others can avoid this from happening to themselves and to their parents or children. One of the most common tactics for a scam artist is to promise the lowest price on a project that should be a lot more expensive. Be wary of any contractor who quotes far below everyone else. There is a reason they are so cheap. It may be because they are not paying insurance, don’t have a license, don’t pay taxes, or are simply not planning on doing the job at all.

The times at which these scam artists come out is generally after a storm or significant event where many homes have suffered damage and are in need of repair. This allows them to go home to home, potentially scamming dozens of people. To protect yourself from a sham contractor, avoid hiring someone who miraculously shows up to perform work, always ask for references, follow up on the references, and most of all: NEVER pay in cash.

Here is the entire article from WSOCtv.com: http://www.wsoctv.com/news/27595203/detail.html

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Exterior Paint Preparation – Sealing and Filling Cracks Prior To Priming

May 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

As painters we have this urge to make every picture on our website look really pretty and show the finished product, but the truth is that a quality paint job is more about what is underneath the paint than just how it is rolled on. A good exterior paint job requires a lot of prep work. Before the first paint is rolled on the house it needs to be pressure washed, sealed, and cracks need to be filled with putty. For this weeks blog posts we figured we would show some of our prep work instead of the finished product.

This house out in Windemere, Florida, had common weathering problems that many homes in Central Florida have. Rusting and cracks appeared on various surfaces of the home, both big and small, and are must be properly planned for in the preparation process. Before the and paint was put on the home, we sealed all of the cracks, and spot primed the rusted areas. This is a normal process that we do to make sure that the priming and final painting of a home will last. If not cared for, the paint job will quickly deteriorate to its previous form. By doing this intricate prep-work, we have effectively extended the life of the paint, and value of the home, for many more years.

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