All posts by manage-system-user

When it comes to exterior paint, we get a lot of questions about paint failure.  Most of these failures are on concrete block or CMU (CMU=concrete masonry unit) buildings. Large CMU commercial buildings must be painted and repainted correctly in order to get a long lasting, protective paint job.  First, I’ll go over how to correctly paint and repaint these types of buildings.

New CMU Prep

Most painters who are experienced will tell you that it takes 7 to 30 days for the masonry joints to cure before you can paint them.  This is not negotiable.  The PH in the joints cannot exceed a PH of 13 and even that is pretty ambitious for even the newest technologies in high PH paints.  You want your contractor to perform a PH test before they paint your new CMU.  This test is simple and only requires distilled water, a spray bottle, and PH test strips.  We usually look for a PH of 12 or less to ensure the paint is not degraded due to PH burn.  This is the most common reason the first paint job usually fails. The signs that your building was painted too early is that there are the white streaks coming out at the masonry joints of your concrete block and the paint on the joints is bubbling or peeling. 

Priming is another important step that is a major component of most paint failures.  Your contractor needs to use a high quality, acrylic block filler.  Let’s discuss the three types of primers for cement block.  The first is in the never ever use this list.  These are the old calcium based fillers that are dirt cheap.  As a contractor, we can purchase these for under or around $10 per gallon and, at only 60 square feet per gallon, many are tempted to go this route to save money or to shave a little off the quote too get the end user to hire them.  Don’t do it, you will regret it.  These fillers are not robust and will soften if they ever become wet again.  If you building develops hairline cracks or gets damaged, water will penetrate the cracks and start to soften these primers.  This causes them to degrade quickly and the damage to the paint below the damage will need to be removed before repainting.  The trade names of these fillers are Sherwin Williams Prep-Rite Block Filler and PPG SpeedHide Block Filler.  Avoid these at all costs!  The middle of the road solution, which we highly recommend, is a hybrid type that is acrylic based.  This type costs in the upper teens and is sold under the names Sherwin Williams Heavy Duty Block Filler or PPG SpeedHide Hi-Fill Block Filler.  The third type, if you budget can afford it, is the best type and would come with our best warranty.  These products are sold under the names Sherwin Williams Loxon Block Surfacer and PPG Perma-Crete Concrete Block & Masonry Surfacer/Filler.  These last two types can be used on unpainted CMU or previously painted CMU. The first type will not adhere to existing paint, so don’t wast your time!

The final thing to make sure of when you are painting a new CMU building is to ensure you have full coverage of the CMU.  You are aiming at zero pinholes or pores.  You should insist on photos or an inspection by you or a knowledgeable representative before any topcoats are applied.  Many of the larger box stores will actually send their construction managers on to the roof to inspect and get photos of the top angle of the CMU to ensure and document that all pores were filled completely.  At Indiana Painting we both document with photos and record how many gallons were used to prime a building to both visually acknowledge and to perform a sanity check to make sure you are getting a top quality paint job!  Paying close attention to the quality of this work will give you many returns for your time in the coming decade and will keep you from having a difficult situation to deal with!

Existing CMU Prep

How can you be sure your existing CMU is in good shape?  You can’t always tell with a simple visual inspection.  Our Project Consultants will run a feeler over your walls in various areas to listen for paint that has become disbonded.  How does this happen?  Some budget or inexperienced contractors will take a shortcut and paint over paint that is already starting to fail.  Many can get away with it for a year or two because acrylic paints are great at bonding to themselves.  This will create a “shell” until it comes under stress and breaks away from itself.  If we identify any failing areas, it will change how the building must be prepared for new paint.  If everything is in good shape, a simple pressure wash job to remove any atmospheric contamination and faded/degraded paint.  If you have failing paint, we use a 5000+ psi pressure washer and a zero degree rotating tip to remove as much failing paint as possible.  This is followed up by a scraping any remaining paint to ensure a sound surface to adhere to with no loose underlying paint.  If your building has more than 20% failing paint, we recommend priming at least the areas with the worst damage, if not, spot priming is sufficient.

Finish Coats

We always recommend a good, quality paint for your building.  If this is your first paint job, we recommend a high build product by PPG called Perma-Crete High Build Masonry Coating.  This is not an elastomeric paint as it is acrylic and retains breathability.  We would recommend you stay away from elastomeric paints here in the midwest.  We see too many failures and have repainted countless faded and damaged building that have used them over the years.  Our favorite product for new and repaints is either PPG Acri-Shield or PPG Permanizer as it has excellent fade resistance and is very durable.  We also recommend you don’t stray from the recommended two coat system on exteriors and, if your budget allows, put a full third coat on to ensure coverage and durability.

PRODUCT DETAILS

Acri-Shield^® Max Exterior is a premium quality, urethane modified, exterior house paint. The advanced formula can be used as little as 60 minutes before the threat of rain, and in both normal and marginal, above freezing conditions when a low temperature cure is required to form a proper film.  Acri-Shield^® Max provides a 7 year Portersept^® Mildew Proof* Warranty (available in all sheens).  This paint and primer delivers exceptional hide and coverage and offers excellent brush, roll, and spray characteristics for consistent professional results.

FEATURES:

• Rain Ready In As Little As 60 Minutes**
• Urethane Modified for Enhanced Durability
• Delivers Exceptional Coverage & Hide
• 7 Year Portersept^® Mildew Proof* Warranty
• Paint & Primer in One

Occasionally you come across a product you just can’t recommend enough to anyone.  This paint is good enough to use in both commercial and residential applications.  Just take a look at those key features, let’s discuss them one by one.

 Rain ready in 60 minutes

What painter wouldn’t like that.  This is quickly becoming the norm in the exterior paint market, but very few products actually live up to this claim.  Most can withstand early moisture in about four hours in reality, but, as pros, we’ve pushed this envelope to it extreme and have found it really does hold up to early moisture better than most.  This comes in really hand when painting in the evening when you are only hours away from the dew point.  This feature is more helpful than most people realize!

Urethane Modified for Enhanced Durability

We stopped using plain acrylic paints a few years back (SpeedHide Exterior and A-100 used to be our workhorse exterior products) when we first came into contact with the newer urethanized acrylics.  They are superior in two ways.  The first is color retention, urethanes have yet to be surpassed when it comes to color retention.  It is no surprise that PPG, who has division in the automotive and aerospace industries borrow tech from these other specialties and incorporates it into its architectural products.  The second is flexibility.  Our team only uses urethanized caulk due to its more forgiving nature – strong and flexible at the same time!  You just can’t beat the utility and longevity of a urethanized acrylic!

Delivers Exceptional Coverage & Hide

Who can’t appreciate better coverage and hide.  We frequently get asked to paint with white because most people think white is an “easy” color.  White is a difficult color due to the somewhat transparent nature of titanium dioxide.  TO2 is a great pigment that offers a more brilliant white, but it is less high hiding than the white pigments of the past.  Whites often require three or even four coats.  PPG has done a fantastic job with Acri-Shield, so much so that even whites cover in two coats over most colors.  We don’t know how they accomplish this, but they have!

7 Year Portersept^® Mildew Proof* Warranty

Here in the midwest, mildew is a perennial issue.  Who hasn’t received “that letter” from the HOA letting you know that you’ve got a moldy bit on your exterior you need to take care of?  We have yet to get a complaint form any of our customers letting us know that there is mildew growing on the paint.  And, yes, paint has nutrients in it that can grow mildew – who knew!  The Portersept Mildewcide really works and will keep your home protected from that pesky stuff for at least 7 years!

Paint & Primer in One

We like to think of paint and primer in one deals as insurance policies.  You should never prime with a finishing product unless it is DTM (Direct to Metal).  First, it makes a very expensive primer and you will need three coats anyway if you do this.  Second, finish coats are made specifically for that job – not for priming.  Primers are designed to prime so they incorporate more technology that helps them do that job more effectively.  But this is handy I you have a project with only a few small bare areas.  Just spot prime with this paint and you will rest assured that you have done it the correct way!

Conclusion

We have no hesitation using PPG Acri-Shield MAX on our best work.  In fact, we only recommend two paints for a cost effective and durable finish – PPG Acri-Shield and PPG Permanizer.  Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore, and Behr I am sure make some great products, but, when you can get so much for a great price point from PPG, we go anywhere else!

With astounding regularity people wince when you say the words wallpaper or wallcovering.  I’m not sure if it is due to this disgust that most word processors  don’t even recognize the word wallcovering.  Go ahead and try it out, you’ll get the red squiggly underline that says this isn’t a real word!  I think I can tell you why most people feel this way – how many great wallcovering jobs have you seen.  Probably a lot of them, but they are unremarkable when compared to the bad ones with gaping seem, torn vinyl faces, bad cuts, and even stained or dirty areas.  But I want to assure you that the benefits of using commercial vinyl in your business far outweighs the problems!

The Problems

Mold

It is almost universal that you find some evidence of mold when you peel wallcovering off of exterior walls.  It is not often this is the dangerous black mold (I believe that it never is), but it still makes your hair stand on end when you see it!  Most of what you are seeing is not active mold, but long dead.  Let me explain what happens and how to avoid this.  First, you need to prep the wall correctly.  Some installers are hooked on oil based primer.  We NEVER use it because it creates a vapor barrier between itself and the vinyl.  This creates a very slow drying situation where the paste stays wet for over a week or even two and – presto – you get mold.  Now this will eventually dry and mold can live without two things – a food source and a water source.  Not living plant can and mold is just a plant.  We use a water-based sizer like Gardz or Romans 935 to seal the wall without creating a moisture barrier.  Your wall needs to breathe!  Second, we only use name brand pastes that have a mildewcide in them.  This will prevent any growth in that one week “wet” period.  If we are especially concerned we can add M1 mildewcide and apply a perorated wallcovering to ensure more breathability.  I would never say this isn’t a concern, but if you have a building built to modern standards, I wouldn’t think this would be a problem.

Peeling

This is the most common pet peeve with wallcovering.  The most common cause of peeling is incorrect installation.  When installing wallcovering you need to use a good, heavy duty paste that will have great adhesion when it dries.  Another cause is when an installer pastes the back of the wallcovering by have, they often go too light at the edges.  We try to use a pasting machine as much as possible.  This ensures even coverage of the paste even out to the edges.  Finally, some novice helpers get water in the seems when they are cleaning the paste of the wallcovering from the newly installed vinyl.  This dilutes the paste and causes weakened seam glue at the edges.  Don’t worry, as long as the vinyl is still in good shape, it can be re-glued and salvaged.  If it has torn or become stretched, you will have a hard time making this repair.

Worn or Dirty

A lot of owners don’t like how they can’t just cost effectively repaint the wall where the vinyl has become worn or dirty.  If you put a hole in it, you cannot easily patch it.  This is understandable.  If you have attic stock, it can be easily repaired in most cases.  Wallcovering is like any product in that it will fade when exposed to UV rays (sun and florescent lights are the biggest UV producers in a commercial setting).  If this is the case, it will stand out – the new and the faded will look a bit different. 

The Bottom Line

All of these issues, some avoidable, are not big enough to keep us away from wallcovering.  The texture and richness that wallcovering adds to your commercial space is well worth the risk.  When installed by a professional, your wallcovering job should last for years to come, be highly cleanable, and very durable.  The average cost is multiples of a standard paint job, but, if you want to achieve a unique and interesting space in your business, there is not more cost effective way to achieve this than with a high quality material and a professional install!

I’ve been wanting to write a product spotlight on PPG Ultralast for some time now.  We’ve been using this product for a little over a year now and I can’t think of really anything bad to say about it.  Ultralast is PPG’s new ultra premium (I know, how many superlatives can we think of!) paint that is supposed to specialize is scuff resistance and cleanable.  The literature tells us they’ve incorporated technology from the automotive paint industry.  While I am sure this is true, PPG stops short of telling you what that technology is or exactly how it works (at least, not that I could find.)

So let’s dig in.  First, the price point.  Our contractor pricing is a bit below the ultra premium paints from Sherwin Williams, Behr, and Benjamin Moore, so it ticks that box.  When lined up against Emerald, Aura, and Dynasty, this paint prices out well below most of those.  If price is your main concern, we would go with PPG Ultralast every day of the week.  If price isn’t that important, we think it’s a toss up between Scuff-X and Ultralast.

What about scuff resistance?  The only paints we trust with being truly scuff resistant are Benjamin Moore Scuff-X and Ultralast.  To be fair, we have not used must Behr Scuff Defense to have an opinion, but, in our experience, both Sherwin and Behr have yet to come up with a product that can be honestly compared to these two.

Being able to clean the walls in your business or home has been a major priority for many of our customers.  Being scuff resistant is key to being cleanable, so it should be no surprise that we recommend this product to all of our clients for whom cleanable is a concern.  Maybe this is a good place to insert a short tutorial on how to clean your interior paint.  First, never use hot water.  Water is a great solvent (chemically speaking) and hot water is an even better solvent.  Your paint is most likely water based and will soften when exposed to water which will make it more susceptible to scuffing.  Use room temperature water and a very mild detergent that is not alcohol based.  Denatured or isopropyl alcohol will immediately soften and degrade latex paint!  You will need to get a microfiber rag (new, not used before is best) and use the soft side to clean the wall.  This will give you the best chance of not damaging your paint.  NEVER use a cotton rag!  Cotton is very coarse and will scratch your paint.  We have has a great experience with most PPG paints.  For years we used SpeedHide at our office and you could clean it with little to no burnishing!  PPG Ultralast is even better.

Finally, what about the look of the finished product?  Some clients have said it has a slight “plasticky” look.  I agree, but I don’t find it necessarily off-putting.  If you want a paint that looks phenomenal, try Ben Moore Regal Select Eggshell – I’m not sure it gets any better than that look!  All in all, PPG Ultralast is a solid performer at a great prices. And given the choice between a scuff-able great looking finish and a durable scuff-resistant finish that has a slight plastic look – I’ll take the latter any day of the week!  

Ranking – 4.8 stars out of 5!  Highly Recommended!

Sitting at one of my favorite Downton Indy work spots, I couldn’t help but notice same really poor panting had recently taken place.  I started to ask myself, what if this was our team that did this?  How would I want my customer to respond?  Unfortunately, we see too much of this and most building owners and facility managers probably just chalk it up to “well, it’s bad, but most people won’t notice” or “we’ll fix it next year during our repaint.”  This is problematic on a few levels.

First, if you paid a reputable contractor a fair contract price, you owe it to your company to get better results than that.  Second, you aren’t doing any favors to the company you hired or to their crew who underperformed.  Every company will experience a “bad” job, even good companies because we are human and we tend to skip steps in our quality assurance program when we get overbooked.  If it was my team that did this, I’d want to know.  First, our company has standards and we want to be held accountable to those standards.  Acceptable is just another word for minimally okay.  We like to think we are better than that and if we are continually let off the hook by sub standard work, that will then become the standard for an Indiana Painting job.

Second, as an owner, I want to understand how our company is performing – especially when things aren’t going well.  We are in the business of improving things.  We improve your property and we constantly are improving our services and performance so we can serve you better.  Can you imagine the momentum we’d have and the incredible service that companies could offer if we all worked toward becoming just .5% better today than we were yesterday?  Over a year that would be 175% better than we were last year.  And that doesn’t capture the compounding nature of investments.

Finally, we are all created in God’s image.  The implications of this are far reaching.  We all see really good service or a really good product and we understand the feeling.  It is the feeling you get when someone is living within their God given role and reaching their potential.  There is no feeling quite so good and the joy and the urging for better that it brings to others is really phenomenal.  Now let’s see the problems and what we would want if this was on one of our projects.

My point to this article is not to shame a building owner or another contractor, far from it. My purpose is to let you know that if you paid a decent price for this job, you should expect better for your sake, the end user’s sake, and the sake of your contractor. As the business owner, I would want to be called right away.  I am proud of our work and proud of our team’s consistently pushing for improvement.  Misalignment is always more demoralizing when you see it a year after the project was completed!  We don’t require perfection, but we require ourselves to get as close to it as we are capable of in that moment.  We have a sign in our office that reads “Do your job!”  Perhaps we should add to it “Then do your job better.”

Many business owners install FRP (fiberglass reinforced panel) in an effort to get a durable and cleanable protective panel for their wall in high traffic areas and wet walls in janitors closets and restrooms.  Unfortunately, these panels have a few drawbacks.  The first is that they will yellow over time.  The second is that while they are very durable, they are not stain proof. If you get automotive grease, cooking oils, skin oils, or other contaminants, they are very susceptible to staining.  The good news is that they are also very each to paint!  Use the guide below if you will be attempting to paint FRP yourself or to gain an understanding of how we would go about painting it were you to hire us.

Prep

Our first step is to thoroughly clean the panel.  How we would approach this step depends on what is on the panel.  If it is in a restaurant or mechanic shop, we would start with a heavy degreaser and scrub brush to remove any trace of oils.  If it is in a janitors closet or restroom, we would begin with a light cleaning.  We would follow this up with a denatured alcohol wipe down.  Once this final wipe down is complete, we would sand the panel either manually with a sanding block if the area is small or with an electric sander if the area is larger.  This is to ensure that the paint has a profiled surface to adhere to. Any silicone caulking will either need to be removed or covered up so you can paint it.  Now you are ready to paint the paneling.

Priming

We always recommend a high quality primer. If you are using a high quality waterborne acrylic coating like PPG Ultralast or SWP Emerald, you can normally skip this step.  If you hire use, we will always plan to apply a bonding primer to ensure you get the best paint job possible and to ensure the panel will minimize scratching for years to come.  We use PPG SealGrip or SWP Xtreme Bond as our go to primers of choice for more challenging surfaces.  Always apply this primer at the recommended thickness.  Also, take care that you let the primer cure for at least 24 hours so that you get a good bond before you introduce a topcoat.  Topcoats have the tendency to put stress on the paint coating underneath it as it cures.

Painting

Once the primer is dry, you can put just about any topcoat over the primer.  Our favorite product for FRP is PPG Aquapon semi-gloss so that you will have both a durable and very cleanable surface.  Aways use a good quality brush to reduce brush marks and a good 3/8 nap microfiber rolls to ensure you get a smooth, factory like finish.  If you don’t need a super durable finish, we would use PPG Ultralast semi-gloss finish to create a good, functional finish that you will be able to repaint as frequently as needed.

Caution

As with all painted surfaces, this will create a surface that will be more difficult to scratch, but all painted surface will be susceptible to scratching.  Just like an automobile paint finish, it may be scratch resistant, but any sharp metal, like a key or stock cart can scratch the paint.  You need to have the correct understanding so your expectations will be realistic.

When clients call us for interior painting, one of the questions we often get is whether it is possible to paint over stained woodwork.  The short answer is yes, you can absolutely paint over stained trim and doors. Today’s coating technologies make almost any surface paintable.  Converting your stained wood to painted wood is time consuming and takes an expensive primer, but if you are willing to put the effort in or pay a professional to do it, it is not only possible, but can make quite a difference in the appearance of your home.  Both stained wood and painted wood have a long tradition in decorating and have been used in very high end settings.  From the mahogany panels in the late medieval era to the high gloss painted wood in the Georgian era, wood is a very versatile decorative element that adds value to any home.

Prep Work

If you are a DIY expert, you can follow these following guidelines to paint your own wood trim.  First, you will want to clean the finish to ensure any years of furniture polish, wax, skin oils, and other contaminants are removed.  Our crew uses denatured alcohol to clean the current finish.  You may find that you need a more industrial cleaner if you run into gummy contaminants.  In these situations, we use a Goo-Gone cleaner followed by the denatured alcohol.  Once you are sure it is clean, you can now start the next step.

Our crew then sands down the finish to abrade it.  We want to make sure that the finish is porous so the bonding primer has another way to key into the current coating.  You can use a liquid sanding agent to make this step easier, but we always recommend you at least lightly sand the surface to ensure you get a good bond.  Nothing will be more disappointing and difficult to fix than paint peeling off your woodwork.  If you take the time to prep it well, you will be rewarded for your efforts.

Priming

The next step is to apply a high quality bonding primer.  Some painters will caulk before this step, but we want to make sure that the caulk has a good quality primer under it to make sure it adheres well for years to come.  Most caulking failures are due to the caulk disbonding from the substrate, not the caulk itself failing.  We recommend you apply primer on a few areas of the woodwork and let it set for 24 hours.  After a short cure, try to scratch the primer off.  If it is adhered well to the woodwork, you are good to go with the primer.  Make sure you apply the primer with a high quality brush and lay it off well to avoid heavy brush texture.  Our crews normally prefer to spray the woodwork to get a smooth finish.

Caulking

One the primer is dry, you will be able to apply a fine bead of caulk to all the joints.  Stained trim is not normally caulked unless someone has used a clear caulk, but this is unlikely.  If your woodwork is caulked, you will need to determine if it is silicone or acrylic caulk.  You may want to consult a professional at this point to see how to proceed.  Our crew would identify this first and make a plan of attack.  If all is well, just use a very thin bead and wipe it down with a damp rag to make sure you still have good profiling and that it will look clean and tight when your final coats are applied.  This is a tedious step and doing it well will again pay big dividends.  Any nail holes that have not been previously filled should be obvious once you prime.  These should be filled with filler like Drydex.  Do not attempt to caulk them, this will not look good.  Shortcuts will show and the effect you were hoping to achieve will be diminished or ruined altogether.

Painting

It is important to give the caulk time cure.  If you attempt to paint over caulk that is not fully dried and, at least partly cured, you risk the caulk cracking and prematurely failing.  Once you are sure the wood is ready to paint, we recommend using a top quality trim paint.  Our go to products are Sherwin Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel, Sherwin Williams Gallery, or Benjamin Moore’s Advance.  You have quite a few lower cost options, but these are the ones we recommend with Advance most likely being the lowest cost option of these choices.  Make sure you apply the paint evenly and laying off the brush marks with long, light, smooth strokes.  Our crew always prefers to spray, but some decorators like the brush texture.

If you would like a quote or advice on painting your stained woodwork, we would be happy to schedule a time to meet at your home and take a look at your project.  You can reach our sales team by calling 317-528-9500.

It’s been a rather warm winter here in Central Indiana and with Spring just around the corner (okay, maybe seven weeks isn’t close enough for some of us) our thoughts turn to all those Spring projects we want to get to!  Pressure washing our home and driveway is usually at the top of my list.  Get the exterior of the house and visible parts of the property not only looking good, but ready to take on all that the late Spring and Summer weather has to throw at it.  Concrete needs to be cleaned and protected every four or five years.  If you don’t, the damage being done will go unnoticed until your pressure wash it and it begins to spall.  This is caused by water getting into the top layer of the concrete through small, unnoticeable cracks in the surface and then freezing.  Once this starts, it is very difficult to stop.  Whether you take the pressure washing and sealing on yourself or hire it out, if it has been more than a few years, you will want to prioritize this project this Spring before it gets too hot out.

Letting mildew grow on vinyl or even brick will only speed up the degradation process.  That once slick vinyl might be looking a little dull and porous and that brick that once looked new and crisp is probably taking on some of the atmospheric residue.  If you are doing this yourself, you should use a 2,600 psi pressure washer that is capable of 2.8 gallons per minute or more.  Be sure you remove all the residue or staining that you can.  For driveways we use a professional spinner tool that does a great job at 3,200 psi and 3.2 gallons per minute or more.  Once you are finished, make sure you seal the masonry surfaces to help extend the life of those surfaces.  If you pressure wash your vinyl, you can apply a vinyl renewer that will seal it up and make it less porous.  This will keep the UV rays at bay and keep your vinyl siding serviceable for many years to come.  If you don’t feel up to the task or you just don’t have enough time to do the work, give us a call.  We typically charges around $375 for a smaller home and up to $750 for a larger home.  Sealer would double that price.  Driveways for most tract homes would cost about $300 to clean and another $300 to seal with a one coat system.

If you’d like a quote, we would be happy to stop by and give you a quote in person or you can use our online system found on our contact page.  Give us a call at (317) 528-9500.  If you have a commercial building, we will need to price it out in person.

When you are trying to get the exterior of your home to look its best, it’s sometimes a good idea to also consider your impact on the environment — and the things that you can do to help lessen that impact on the environment.

The good thing that you should come to realize is that there are positive things that you are going to be able to do to help make for a better looking home exterior while sticking to eco-friendly methods.

Let’s have a look at some tips and methods for transforming homes with eco-friendly exterior painting that gets your home looking its best.

1. Use Recycled / Mis-Tinted Paint

One thing you’re going to want to consider when you are looking to paint the exterior of your home is the use of paint that has gone to be recycled – such as when a person perhaps has purchased too much.

Knowing that you have finished with your painting project and have nothing to do with your paint (as is sometimes the case that one overestimates how much paint is needed) it’s possible to go to certain community centers to get paint recycled.

Additionally, you can sometimes luck out and find paints at paint stores that were tinted a certain color that did not meet the expectations of the customers and so they will sell those at a discount.

The sole caveat here is that you have to accept that you will have a limited selection on what you are going to be finding as far as colors go but if you are open to different colors, that is okay!

2. Prepare For Painting Ecologically

In preparing to paint your home exterior there are a number of things that you will need to do in terms of making sure that your painting project goes smoothly and with minimal mess.

When you are painting, you are going to want to protect areas that are not being painted and though of course you can make use of new drop cloths to protect these areas, there are better ways to go about doing this while being ecologically minded.

Old sheets can often protect areas that you don’t want to get paint on them just as well as a thick drop cloth can and will be much better from an environmental perspective.

You can also make clean-up a lot easier for yourself when you make use of torn up clothing that you thought served no more purpose, and cleaning products that will not be harsh on the environment.

3. Make Use Of Water Based Solvents

There are many ways that you are going to be able to clean your paintbrushes, and though you can use strong chemicals such as turpentine and the like, there are alternatives that are not only safer for you but easier for the environment.

There are soaps that are much safer for the environment — and they will do a great amount of good in terms of getting your paintbrushes and other painting equipment clean properly.

You won’t have to worry about runoff from the cleaning process and what to do with the cleaning water and soap after you have finished cleaning your paintbrushes and rollers.

4. Proper Paint Disposal

Lastly, you should know that when you have finished painting your home exterior, you are not just going to be able to dump the leftover paint that you did not use, or the primer.

As mentioned earlier, paint and primer have to be properly processed and so if you have no plans to make use of the paint or primer in the future and you have no friends or family who want it, the best thing is to take it to a community center that will be able to process the paint correctly.

At We Paint Indy, we are a dedicated team with full-time, professional field staff to make sure your jobs are done on time and to your satisfaction.  We are active members of the Mooresville and Plainfield communities. You can contact us by phone — call or text (317) 528-9500 to set up an appointment time convenient for you.

Related: Maintaining Exterior Paint in Plainfield, IN: A Homeowner’s Guide

Tips For Painting Your Brick Exterior In Mooresville, IN

When you talk about painting the exterior of your home, most people don’t think about how the act of painting your shutters can really make a big difference in how your home looks.

The important thing to do prior to painting shutters is to first learn about some of the key tricks that will help you do a better job painting them and leave you with nicer looking shutters for a good price.

These are the sorts of tricks and techniques that will greatly improve your overall painting experience as well, which is a good thing to have while you are painting your shutters.

With that being the case, let’s have a look at some shutter painting tricks to learn when you want to have a nicer home exterior.

1. Properly Prepare Your Shutters

It’s fundamentally important that you prepare your shutters prior to beginning your painting project or you will not have shutters that look right when you have finished painting them.

What this means is that you’re going to want to clean the shutters and remove any sort of dirt and sometimes even lingering old paint that has started peeling or just isn’t looking quite right on the shutters — making use of detergent if necessary.

After you make the time to clean your shutters and especially if you need to get them at all wet during the cleaning process, be sure to allow time for your shutters to fully dry before you move onto the next step in the process.

2. Paint With Removed Shutters

While there is much to be said about the quality of keeping your shutters on while you paint them, it’s entirely possible that you will find it a lot easier to get them painted if you remove them first.

Indeed, for you may have few issues covering your shutters entirely while they are attached to your home, it is almost always a lot easier to do so when the shutters have been detached from the house first.

It helps not just in terms of properly applying primer and paint but in getting the shutters properly sanded and prepared before you start the painting process.

3. Primer Before Paint

Speaking of primer, you are going to find that your shutters are going to be much better painted when you first apply a coat of primer before you apply the first coat of paint.

This is because you will get paint to go on more smoothly when you have the primer there — primer makes for a more smooth surface that will be more receptive of paint.

Moreover, it will stay on longer as the primer coat makes the overall surface more adhesive – and this will get the painting work to last you longer.

4. Apply Thin Coats

Though you may want to apply thicker coats to your shutters, this would not ultimately serve you as you are going to end up having shutters that are not quite so well painted.

By making use of thinner coats of paint, your paint will not look quite right — and you are more likely to make painting mistakes as a result of it, which then have to be corrected.

As mentioned above, letting the paint dry after you apply it so that if you do end up applying a second coat, you aren’t going to have issues with the first coat of paint sticking to your brush.

5. Clean As You Paint

Lastly, remember that it’s important to clean as you paint whether you remove the shutters prior to painting or not.

Doing this will help you to have less of a mess to clean up after your painting project has ended and you are looking to clean up any spills that have occurred.

At We Paint Indy, we are a dedicated team with full-time, professional field staff to make sure your jobs are done on time and to your satisfaction.  We are active members of the Mooresville and Plainfield communities. You can contact us by phone — call or text (317) 528-9500 to set up an appointment time convenient for you.

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