Painting the wall.
One of the most frequent themes in home repair and decoration is painting. Just go into your local hardware store and you'll see how much is dedicated to paint - from the brushes to the cans, to finding the ideal mixture of a paint color for your room. So when your home has an amateur paint job in one of the rooms, it definitely sticks out. How can you paint like a professional without paying professional prices for an expertly-crafted paint job in your favorite room?
If you want to paint like a professional, you'll have to prepare like one. This separates the professionals from the amateurs. If you want to put up a professional paint job in your home, start with preparing by removing light switch and outlet covers, removing other hardware that can get in the way, removing fixtures that can get in the way, and taping off the edges that you can't quite get rid of. Preparation for your paint job is crucial, so make sure you don't slack here. Once you've done a good job preparing for a professional paint job, you'll find that the rest of the job feels as easy as "connect-the-dots."
After a first-rate job of preparing the room for painting, it's time to put on the first-rate paint itself. First, put on a coat of primer if you feel like you need it. Let the primer dry - and make sure that you've applied the primer to all of the areas you plan on brushing and rolling paint onto. With the primer ready to accept your paint, start working from the top-down: start with the ceiling, move to the walls, and then handle areas such as the finishing paint near windows.
As you paint, make sure to be generous with your paint, but consistent. Don't slop paint on and spread it around like it's jelly; instead, just be sure to do a thorough job. Being thorough is exactly what separates an amateur paint job from a professional job, so be sure that you follow through on this point.
Be sure to let your paint dry before you evaluate it. You might find that your paint job is great and ready to go! If it needs another layer of thickness, apply another coat and let that dry. Once you're finished, put the room back in its original order and enjoy a fresh coat of paint and the new color you've applied.
Photo Credits: Patrick Goossens
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Posted by Fix Handyman on October 22, 2009 in
Handyman, House, How to Fix
Painting the outside of your home?
In order for you to understand how to fix your paint job, it will be important for you to first understand how paint applies to your home's exterior in the first place. Remember that oftentimes, simply painting over a problem with the old paint job won't do the job - at the very least, it will only cover up the problem. If you want a paint job that is smooth and covers no hidden problems, this article is for you.
Fixing exterior paint jobs is all about understanding how paint sticks. Either you'll want to be removing paint, or applying paint in a way that it provides a thick uniform coat and doesn't chip off. In order to accomplish this, you're going to need a few tools: paint and a paint brush, sandpaper, paint primer, and possibly a paint scraper.
In order to fix your exterior paint job, you're going to have to answer one crucial question: how large is the area you're looking to coat with a new paint? Some people only want to fix an area where the old paint job is chipping and falling off, using the same color to coat over it. Others are looking to replace the paint job altogether, starting from square one on the exterior of their home.
If you're looking to fix a small area on the paint job, make sure you have the right paint color before beginning. Call your contractor to see if you can find out the specific paint used - you might also be able to chip off a piece of the paint job and bring it in to the hardware store for color matching. This might not be perfect, but the closer the color is, the less the old paint job will be noticed.
Next, chip off the old paint using a paint scraper - be careful not to damage the wood itself. If you can't chip certain areas of the paint off, try to sand it down with the sandpaper. Make sure that you sand the entire area to get it as uniform as possible. Once you've sanded off the area, clean it out - there will probably be a lot of wood debris in the area.
Next, apply your primer. The primer itself needs a uniform coating, and will require some time to dry. Make sure you follow the primer's directions and allow it to dry before applying the new paint. Once you've done that, you're ready to apply your first coat of paint. Well done!
Photo Credits: eye of einstein
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Posted by Fix Handyman on August 25, 2009 in
Handyman, House, How to Fix, paint
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