How To Paint A Door

Here is a question Cheri asked. “I am painting my bathroom doors and baseboards using ultra white semi gloss latex paint by Valspar. My problem is that it looks streaky even after 3 coats. I am using a good quality brush and I don’t like the texture of the small rollers. What am I doing wrong and should I use a satin finish instead”?

Answer
You may have 2 issues going on. The first is that Valspar is not what it used to be. It used to be great paint back in the day. Not it’s made to meet a price point instead of quality benchmarks. Try a good paint store in your neighborhood. The sheen level is not an issue here.

The second issue is more likely the culprit. That of premature drying. In warm weather paint can dry quickly. If you try to go back into it to smooth it out or blend it in it often sticks and creates an uneven appearance. You can address this a couple ways. And make sure you are overlapping, bringing your brush back into the area you just painted.

The easiest way is to use Flowtrol. It keeps your paint wet longer so it is easier to work with. You may want to consider adding a little extra speed to the Flowtrol. Either just work faster or do what I do. Generally, I use a small roller to do sections of the door and brush it out using long strokes.

More specifically, if you have a 6 panel door, this is a good technique to use. We will be doing a roller-brush, roller-brush technique. The advantage of working this way is that it takes 1/3 the time of brushing alone and keeps the paint in a workable condition, giving you a streak-free finish.

Load up your mini roller with paint. Roll out the raised middle section in a few strokes. The roll paint into the beveled areas around the panel. Take you brush, dip it in paint then brush what you just rolled. Start with the bevels, making sure your brush angle matches the 45 degree angle of the corners. Then stroke out the panel. Wipe of any excess paint that spilled out with a damp rag. Do that for all 6 panels. Once that is dry tackle the rest of the door.

Start at the bottom and work your way up. Roll the bottom, overlapping onto the vertical edges. Make sure you get about 6″ up between the panels as well. Brush the middle section first, bringing it down into the bottom section. Now brush the bottom. Take each side up with the roller and stop just below the middle horizontal section. Brush them out. Take the middle section between the panels past the top of the panels and start the next vertical section above the horizontal, just as did with the bottom. Roll out the horizontal middle section, extending out into the vertical areas on the sides. Stroke out the vertical middle sections, then the horizontal. Use the same technique up to the top. Should take two or three minutes per section once you get good.

Hardwood Stairs…Paint or Refinish

Question: I am in the process of painting a rental property..after ripping off the upholstered stairs I have discovered that the steps are painted with a oil based stain. My question is that I was considering painting over them and am wanting to know if I have to stick to another oil based stain or paint or if it possible to switch the paints completely to a latex based paint?  And if it is possible then what do I need to do to prep them either way.  Thanks Tim

Answer: Hi Debbie,
Thanks for your question. I’ll make an assumption first, that by “upholstered” you mean “carpet”. If you have hardwood stairs you probably have hardwood in the most of the rest of the house too. In Colorado, that is considered a premium finish and brings extra value to the house. You may want to check out the rest of the house and think about keeping the hardwood by having it refinished. If not, here is how to paint the stairs.

Products
I would not recommend a latex paint for stairs. It isn’t durable enough. You need something that can take the abuse of being walked on and kicked. I would recommend an oil based solid body deck stain. Even a water based deck stain doesn’t hold up like the oil based. For best results use Sikkens. Second choice is Cabot’s. They do drag a little so thin with Penatrol. It will take several days to dry so make sure you don’t need to go upstairs for a while.

How To
After removing the carpet strips, prep the wood by wiping it down with a TSP substitute. Fill the nail holes with spackling and sand till they are flush with the wood. You may want to scrape off or sand any bumps or fill dents with wood filler and sand those areas flush. Wipe off the dust with a damp rag. Prime with Zinsser’s Cover Stain or Low Odor primer. I would avoid Kilz for this project. Then paint with two coats of an oil based solid body deck stain.

Hope This Helps,

Tim Hoeffel
Better Painting
Colorado Springs, CO

Glazing Over Painted Cabinates

Here is a  question I was asked recently.  “I have oak cabinets to paint. I have read directions on using steel wool and tsp. I am going to paint them cream and then want to apply a glaze or stain? just to define grooves and molding. we saw some cabinets like this. How do I get that look?”

Answer: I’m not sure what you mean when describing the effect you want. I’ve included some general guidelines for working with glaze that I hope will get you started. First a quick comment. I would replace the steel wool with a Scotch/Norton/Other nylon pad. If a piece of steel wool breaks off and becomes embedded in your surface it will rust.

There are two ways to work with glaze. Either buy a colored glaze or mix paint with clear glaze. The easiest way is the colored glaze, if you can find one close to the color you want. My paint store, and many others, carry McClosky’s in about a dozen different colors. It’s easy to use but experimenting is recommeded.

You will need the following: several clean rags, a small bucket of water, a small container for the glaze (4″-12″ wide, 1″-2″ deep), latex gloves, drop cloth or equivalent.

Pour a little glaze out in the container. Dab the corner of a clean rag in the glaze and apply it where desired. It dries very slow so you can work it around, add and subtract, until you get the desired effect. You will want a damp rag and dry rag. The damp rag to wipe off excess from where you don’t want it, the dry rag to subtract stain if you get too much on. You can swirl it on or use strait lines, work it in and wipe off the rest on the top. It will have a tendency to collect in the lowest areas like water. That gives a dark line effect.

If the ready made colors are not to your liking, buy a quart of the color you want, a quart of clear glaze in the appropriate sheen, and combine paint to glaze in 1:3, 1:1, 3:1 ratios depending on how dark you want the glaze. The more paint the quicker it dries, too.

Flaking paint on a newly painted plaster wall

Question:

Wonder if you could help me, I am trying to first coat a newly plastered wall with a good brand emulsion and using a good finish roller.  I have watered the emulsion down but as the paint dries the paint just peels off.

What am I doing wrong, could it be anything to do with the roller I am using as I normally use a paint pad??

Hope you can offer some advise.

Thanks

Answer:
There are two issues to consider with new plaster. The first is a high PH level. You may have heard of this in concrete. Plaster is very similar. As the plaster dries there are a lot of chemical reactions going on that make it very alkaline. This makes normal paint unlikely to stick well if at all.

The second issue is moisture in the plaster. Just because it’s dry on the surface doesn’t mean it’s completely dry in the middle or back. Perhaps you have noticed a little extra humidity in the room?

Here is what you can do. Put a couple fans in the room with the door open for a few days to help the plaster dry. The PH level will slowly dissipate and stabilize over the first month. After that normal paint will work just fine. Prime with a PVA. If you don’t want to wait that long you can buy an alkali – resistant primer from your local paint store. Don’t forget to use a low nap roller to keep that plaster looking smooth.

Happy Painting,
Tim Hoeffel

4 Out Of Top 5 “Quality” Interior Paints Recommended By Consumer Reports Fail Testing

    Hate to say “I told you so”, but read the last article. Buying paint based on “value” or some “warranty” number slapped on the side of the can for marketing is always a bad idea. This is just not a biased opinion from a painter who wants to sell you more expensive paint so he can get a bigger mark-up. No, verified testing from the Master Painters Institute has proven 4 out of 5 paints recommended by Consumer Reports for high traffic areas completely failed professional testing.

Cheap or value based quality is an oxymoron. If you want quality your going to have to pay for it. Forget Walmart, Kmart and any other “mart” and go to a real paint store, like Dale’s Paint, where you can talk to sales professionals who deal with contractors daily. You can find out why a certain paint is used more than others, how it goes on and how it holds up to real use. MPI approved products for high traffic areas are only marginally more expensive and can give results up to 9.14 times better.

These 5 paints got kudos from Consumer Reports for “high scores for staining and scrubbing, and resisted gloss changes.”

• “Behr $24 CR Best Buy”
• “Kilz $19 CR Best Buy”
• “Valspar $27″
• “True Value $23 CR Best Buy”
• “Dutch Boy $15 CR Best Buy”

Here are the cruel hard facts from the MPI article’s summary. “Only 1 of the 5 passed qualification tests for performance contained in the test standards and protocol for MPI #138. Some failed cleansability or burnish resistance, or scrubbability, etc.

“For reference, MPI’s minimum number of scrub cycles for this standard is 3000, but 1 of the 5 Consumer Reports “Best for high-traffic areas” products actually failed by film breakthrough observed as early as 319 cycles.

“That only 1 of the top 5 of Consumers Reports “Best for high-traffic areas” paints passed the MPI performance standards does not indicate that the products tested are not good paint products, but it does indicate that the performance and durability standards needed for commercial projects are somewhat more stringent. Until accepted performance test methods are adopted by any consumer product testing, perhaps professional specifiers of commercial products should avoid DIY paint recommendations for commercial and institutional projects.”

The moral of the story is that professional painters know what works. We want to give you products that actually work because, for the many small one or three man businesses, our job is on the line every day. We care about our quality and hope to make your life a little better by doing our job well.

For the complete article by MPI, please go to www.paintinfo.com or click the link in the blog roll.

Paint Isn’t Just Paint – What You Need To Know To Get The Most For Your Dollar

Pick your paint by comparing what you need it to do and what it’s made for. Kinda’ like buying a computer, digital camera or car.

You may not have thought of your house paint in this light before, so prepare yourself for an epiphany. Ready? OK. Designer paints. Yeah, that’s it. Wait…Just a minute…Let me explain. This is better than it first looks.

We all know about designer colors. This is designer formulations that bring out certain properties such as fade resistance, durability, adhesion, scrubabillity or other factors. As hard as they try, the major paint companies have not hit the holy grail of one coating being great at everything.

Most Paint Not “Good” At Everything 

Just ask ConsumerSearch.com. “In its June 2007 issue, Consumer Reports published the best comparative review we found on interior paint. Editors tested over 60 different interior paints, concluding that no one paint does everything well.” My buddy and go-to paint guru guy Doug Wilson at PaintSource.net said the same thing. “Paint can be rated to be the best, but on what criteria?”. Out of the 60 paints rated by Consumer Reports, it only took 3, yeah, three votes, to be ranked the “best”.

A while ago I was wandering through the SpecialChem4Coatings web site looking for additives that I could put in paint to keep it wet longer. I signed up to have a rep contact me for a particular additive with some long chemical name. A few days later he calls. Turns out to be an industrial account rep for BASF. Yeah, that really big chemical company that makes the stuff that makes all our stuff better.

Anyway, I find out I’m in way over my head because I got nowhere to put a rail car of corrosive chemicals. But this rep starts telling me stories of going to visit the guys in the paint lab. Turns out that they can experiment with small batches of paint that are really phenomenal. The kind of stuff that really will last a lifetime. ‘Course, it would cost a hundred smackers or more per gallon, but who sweats the small stuff, right?

 

Paint Buying  Tips

Well, this is the dilemma we are in, cost vs. performance. Not very part of your house gets the same kind of wear or experiences the same conditions (like the kitchen or bath vs. the dining room or a room with a lot of direct sun light). So the paint companies are forced to make their paints perform differently to accommodate different conditions to keep things affordable. And performance is normally the looser.

So what most of us end up doing is hoping the “top rated” paints are “good enough” at doing what we need them to do so we can overlook their weak side.

But buying paint isn’t quite like buying gas, lots of brands but only three grades. Buy the grade that fits your budget and goals because each grade all pretty much the same regardless of manufacturer.

What often happens in the paint industry is that one bargain line may be as good as a premium line for 2/3 the price. So what’s a body to do? Follow this checklist of things paint is supposed to do well and see how it matches up with the things highlighted on the paint you are thinking of buying.

Paint Characteristics	Paint 1	Paint 2
1. Spreads Easily and Works Well
2. Covers Well (High Hiding)
3. Retains Sheen
4. Low Spatter
5. Touches Up Easily
6. Resists Fading
7. Durable (Cleaned easily)
8. Resists scrubbing
9. Good Adhesion
10. Extra Additives (Anti-mold or mildewicide, etc.)
11. Environmentally Friendly (Low/No VOC)
12. Price

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match Room Use with the Paint

The items not mentioned are the things you need to watch out for. As reported in the ConsumerSearch article quoted above, Sherwin Williams’ Duration is excellent at durability and adhesion, but really bad at color retention. How much you want to bet their promotional info doesn’t mention that it fades fast?

Ideally you want to match the room use with the paint. You can cheat a little by using a higher sheen of lower grade paint, which is less expensive. Higher sheens have a smoother, harder surface. That means there is less for dirt and other stuff to stick too, which makes it come off more easily. But you may not like shiny walls or brittle paint. A lower sheen but more durable, and more expensive, option may be the best option.

You also want to look for indicators like “100% Acrylic” or “Urethane Fortified”. Just like in cooking, the better the ingredients the better the results. In this case it is less work for you. Fewer coats for coverage and easier touch-up.

Better Ingredients Make Better Paint 

This article excerpt from the Spectra Paint Center gives some technical ingredient details and what that means for you.

“According to PQI (Paint Quality Institute), quality paints have better binders. The type of binder and amount used affect everything from stain and crack resistance to adhesion.

“Several polymer types are used as binders for latex paints. Oil paints usually have a drying oil or modified oil, called alkyds, as their binders. Of the two, quality latex paints with 00-percent acrylic binders are especially long lasting. They’re also more expensive.

“Part of the reason is that acrylic binders cost more,” said Walt Gozdan, PQI technical director. “You’re paying extra money but you’re getting more durability and better adhesion.”

“Typically speaking, quality paints have more prime than extender pigments. Prime pigments are good hiding pigments, while extender pigments provide bulk at low cost. The most common prime pigment is titanium dioxide, a white pigment found in both oil and latex paints. It’s not inexpensive but is imperative for good hiding”.

“All of these benefits save time in the initial painting and in recoats. Since most of the cost of repainting a home is in labor, it makes sense to invest in a top-quality acrylic latex paint. It applies easier, lasts longer and, when spread out over the life of the paint job, costs less”. End excerpt.

When picking paint, you are weighing pros and cons of the eleven categories listed above with the use and environmental conditions of the room. The big advantage to working this way is that you will end up with better looking and longer lasting paint. You will have Better Painting.

 

To Your Better Painting,

Tim Hoeffel

 

“Why Hire A Painter When You Can Paint?”

Let’s be honest for a minute. Anybody can paint, and anyone with a few simple tools can call themselves a painter. So why go to the trouble of hiring someone for something you can do yourself reasonably well? Probably for the same reasons you would go to a photographer for family pictures. Many of the questions we ask ourselves in making these kinds of decisions fall into four different catagories: ability, motivation, results and price. What most of this boils down to is our expectation of the results.

Know Your Expectations

My motto here at Better Painting is, “Better Service, Better Products, Better Application, Better Results”. I expect my clients to expect a lot from me, and they do. I put in my time researching and experimenting with different products and techniques to bring you the best looking, longest lasting paint and stain available. I take pride in the service I provide and it shows. But not everyone has this level of expectation. If “good enough” is “good enough” then you may want to call your brother-in-law.

The last issue of price is normally the most influential. Having a service professional at your home is expensive. We may be able to justify a plumber or electrician charging what seems like a lot of money. We know mistakes can cost more than getting the job done right the first time. But when it comes to painting, we would rather call a friend or relative than hire a pro. If a painting mistake is made we think it’s no big deal, it can always be repainted. That is true to a certain extent. But consider this fact: if a mistake isn’t dealt with properly it will show through on the next coat of paint. You may be making your problems worse rather than better. I have been able to help many people who are dissatisfied with the results they got doing it themselves.

Consider these three levels of painting service when hiring a painter for typical repainting needs

Obviously, the better painting quality you need, the more it is going to cost.

Rental Painting 

The first is “rental”, also know as “blow and go” and several other names you would rather not know. Obviously, this is cheap painting and priced accordingly. But if you just need to “git ‘r done”, this may be the best option.

Residential Painting 

“Residential” is the mid-grade option. You can find a range of talent and price here. Sometimes you can get a real deal, sometimes you can get ripped off. The best way to find someone to do a quality job is to ask for references from the painter, ask your friends and call paint stores for references. A good painter will have a good relationship with a paint store where he does most of his business. I work with Dale’s Paint in Colorado Springs, CO.

Custom Painting

The last general designation for painting service is “custom” painting. This designation can be a bit deceptive because all painting is “custom” in that each job is different. Custom is also called “high-end” painting. This designation is given to those individuals whose results and conduct have gained them business with those who have high expectations. You should expect nothing but the best. And yes, it is priced accordingly as well.

Hire A Professional Painter When You Can

I encourage most people to do as much of their own painting as they can. It can be a fun and relaxing activity, especially if you have a desk job. Hire a painter if you are unable to do the job yourself or you want that “WOW” reaction from friends and family that custom painting provides. Match your abilities, motivation, and quality requirements with your budget. If your budget is less important than any one of the other requirements consider hiring a professional. You will be glad you did.

To Your Better Painting,

Tim Hoeffel

“Painting Green – Truths and Myths About Echo Friendly Paint”

Environmentally friendly paints play a role in the stewardship of our planets resources. This article by SpecialChem4Coatings gets past the marketing, hype and misinformation and down to what makes a paint contribute or not contribute to greenhouse gas’s. For more technical information about paints and coatings, please visit www.specialchem4coatings.com. You can also contact Better Painting for LEEDS specified paints and what that might mean for your home.

Introduction
Just about everyone these days has a “green” product in the coatings industry. There is ‘Eco this’ or ‘Enviro that’ labeling. Manufacturers splash exotic colors all over their slick brochures with lush green leafs and tranquil waterfalls cascading in the background. They inform us how their coatings are environmentally friendly and will help protect our fragile ecosystems. But are these coatings really environmental at all? Not always.

VOC Debate
Many environmental organizations such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and Green Seal have established a number of well intentioned but erroneous standards regarding VOCs. Generally speaking, VOC levels for interior latex paints are 150 g/L for non-flat paints and 50 g/L for flat paints. Exterior paints are typically 200 g/L for non-flat and 100 g/L for flat paints.

But what does this all mean? Perhaps it means very little because VOCs are only calculated on the base white product and without the colorant system. For example, a 150 gram VOC base white with the addition of a red oxide pigment could increase to 160 g/L. Universal colorants can have more than 160 grams per liter of VOCs because of high glycol levels. If a painting contractor is coating a surface with an accent color such as yellow, three to five coats are often required to get decent hide. If you combine the VOCs from the base polymer with the universal colorant system then a great deal more VOCs are being emitted from the combined coats.

VOCs can cause headaches, allergic reactions and health problems in humans if inhaled and contribute to the formation of troposphere ozone, smog and global warming.

Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency should be considered a criterion for green coatings. Energy-efficient coatings utilize sophisticated heat-blocking pigments that refract the sun’s visible, infrared and UV radiation away from the substrate, thereby reducing radiant heat transfer within a property. If a property can remain cool, there is a lower demand for cooling systems, which, in turn, decreases the demand on utility companies to burn fossil fuels to run generators. It is the burning of fossil fuels that contributes to smog and ozone depletion. Typical retail-bought paints, which are specified on most exterior walls, are not heat-reflective or energy-efficient. They can contain high levels of VOCs, may not be durable and often do not help protect the environment.

Performance
Performance should be an important feature of an environmental coating. A long-lasting coating means less paint cycles, which means fewer VOCs are emitted. The physical performance of latex paints depends on a number of variables such as quality of pigments, film build, polymer and sheen. Highly reflective Mixed Metal Oxides (MMOs) reduce surface temperature, which extends the life of the coating. High film build coatings last longer than low film build simply because of greater thickness. One-hundred-percent acrylics last longer than styrene and PVA acrylics. High-sheen coatings last longer than flat-sheen coatings because they contain fewer fillers and extender pigments.

Retail latex paints typically last 3-7 years between repaint cycles. Some high-performing elastomerics and thermoplastics that utilize heat reflective technology can last more than 20 years between recoats. The longer a coating lasts, the better it is for the environment, and this is the reason why it should be considered a criterion for a green coating specification.

Recycling
Recycled paint has been a green practice for a period of time in the United States. However, why aren’t the paint containers also recycled in a similar fashion as they are in other countries such as New Zealand or Canada? It is estimated that 95% of all paint cans in the U.S. end up clogging landfills. Many paint cans are manufactured from polyethylene, which can be recycled into garbage bags, soda bottles or shopping bags.

Definition of a Green Coating System
Defining a green coating within the United States is like pulling a confused rabbit out of a magic hat. Anyone can conjure up his or her own set of standards. Green coating standards must include a more comprehensive look at VOCs, energy efficiency, long-term performance, and recycling latex polymers and containers.

For more technical information on paint you can visit www.specialchem4coatings.com or one of the sites in the blog role, such as www.paintsource.net.

“What Your Painter Isn’t Telling You”

Follow this painting principal for striking results.

Most articles either treat people like their stupid and over simplify the process or skip important information because they risk offending their readers, or both. I hope to do neither, but to give you the details you need, mostly based on my observations of what inexperienced people do when they paint. I have only seen this mentioned a few times in consumer oriented painting articles. This is the “golden rule” in painting. When you follow this principal your results will improve dramatically. It ain’t rocket science, but there are some implications you may need to think about.

 

The principal is this: Keep A Wet Edge

Whatever edge you have needs to stay wet until you have finished that portion of that edge. The point is to prevent “lap marks”, where some of the paint has dried and it has been repainted with a second coat to make sure you get it all. It can happen in three different areas/ways. Let me break this down into an interior painting example we can all understand, painting a wall. A wall has two dimensions. It is tall and wide. It has a top, bottom and two ends. And you need a brush and a roller to paint it. Stupid simple so far.

What is the first step to painting our wall after all the prep work is done? Right. Cutting in the edges. Let’s think about the process for a second before we jump on that. The first thing that happens to paint when it is put on is that it starts to dry. So now it’s a race between you and the paint. And you are racing three edges. The top, bottom and the leading edge from your roller. So the conclusion I see is that in order to keep all three edges wet, it is going to take some hustle.

 

Do The Hustle To Keep The Edge Wet

In order to keep as much paint wet at one time as possible, the work needs to be staggered into three sections: brush, roller, brush. Mentally divide your wall up into 4′-5′ sections. Cut in either the top or bottom for that length, roll that section of the wall, then cut in the remaining top or bottom. When you are doing this last cut in, extend it to the next section and start the process again until you reach the end of the wall. No stopping, it’s not allowed.

Of course, this is a lot easier with a partner. One can roll, the other cut in. It is tempting for one to get ahead of the other, but you defeat the purpose of this technique if you do. It is close quarters but the results speak for themselves. Assuming you use good brush technique, this will eliminate the “picture frame” effect that is often seen with the first coat of paint.

Cheat A Little Wit Wetting Agents

If that seems like a lot of work, here is a way you can cheat a little. Products like Flowtrol by Flood or Paint Booster by Zinnser/Okon are called “wetting agents”. These products actually keep the paint from drying as fast and make the paint level better. Paint Booster has the added benefits of slowing fading and puts a water resistant barrier on top of the paint when it dries. They don’t make keeping a wet edge obsolete, just easier.

In the same vein, some manufacturers sell a paint ingredient called ethylene glychol. This is what gives the flow and leveling properties to the paint. Like the products mentioned above, it also keeps the paint from drying quickly. It is what the other two products are emulating. You can follow the directions to really extend the dry time or you can experiment with different ratios to get the open time you like. If you are on a really tight budget, you can use water instead on the second coat. A maximum of 25% dilution is recommended. The paint will not cover as well, but it doesn’t leave texture marks behind either.

Keeping a wet edge should be done no matter what you are painting. It always gives you better results. Next time your painter is over, ask him or her what they do to keep a wet edge. You are in good care if you get a response like “I always keep moving”.

 

To Your Better Painting,

Tim Hoeffel