Category FAQ

This is a great question, but a better question might be what is involved in painting the service center of my auto dealership.  We work with quite a few general managers who need to maintain their service centers while keeping them open.  With an experience paint crew, this is not a problem.  Our team can work with you to establish your priorities and come up with a plan to get the work done in the least painful way possible for your team.

Now, what is involved in the work highly depends on your scope.  Are we painting walls only?  Are we painting the open deck ceilings?  Do you have any other contractors involved including new equipment installers, floor coating contractors, electricians, or plumbers?  We will need to understand the entire scope of work, not just ours.  This will help determine sequencing and how you can build out a schedule that will save you time, hassle, and money.  

Typically, on projects with a walls only scope, we will clear one area each night to clean and paint. This is the least intrusive work to your service team.  We will meet with you to develop a job timeline and job plan.  Each afternoon at the end of the shift, your crew will move their tools 10’ away from the wall.  We will cover the tools, wash the walls, and paint the new color scheme or freshen up your existing one overnight. Your team will need to put their tools back in place in the morning, but that is it.  We find that the smoothest jobs are those that communicate early with their team and get involved in making sure there is followthrough.

It is important to remove all grease and grime from the surfaces to be painted to ensure good adhesion.  In most shops, this is mostly on the lower 8’ of the wall or so.  During the quote phase, we will determine the best prep for your surfaces and those methods will be built into and detailed in the quote.  For most automotive shops, we will need to use scissor lifts to access the upper walls.  These will be stored in a location convenient for you so they won’t interfere with your work.

Most 50×100 service shops will cost around $10,000 for a budget paint job on the walls only and close to $20,000 for a three tone and epoxy paint job.  Our project consulting team is here to help – just give us a call for your personalized quote today!   Call 317-528-9500 to reach our sales team today!

The point of this post is not to tell you how much it costs to paint your exterior, but to give you a good idea of what goes into painting the exterior of a home and how much it costs.  First, we would discuss our process.  Our team begins with pressure washing your home’s exterior.  All the painted and unpainted surfaces should be cleaned thoroughly so the your home looks freshly painted and clean at the end of the job!  Plus, we want to make sure all the faded paint and dirt doesn’t end up on your brick or patio!

Second, we inspect and repair all damaged siding, wood, and trim.  If we find more than was visually inspected at the time of quote, we will let you know about it, show you, and provide an additional quote that includes all the additional work.  It is important to know that sometimes damage is unknown until we reveal weak wood with our cleaning process.  This additional work occurs in about 10% of our quotes and it usually isn’t more than an addition 5% to 10% of our quoted price.  Damage can hide pretty well under more modern acrylic paints.  Part of our prep is replacing all damaged caulk and making sure your eaves and siding are sealed well to keep all the wether out.  This is the most important step in preserving your home as an investment.  Water intrusion is the number one cause of major expense in non-cosmetic home repairs and it doesn’t take very much time for wood rot to impact your home.

Next, we cover all your shrubs and landscaping with sheets to protect them from paint overspray and damage.  We also mask off all areas not recieving paint.  This step is important in keeping your windows and brick looking great after the paint job.  Once we are all cleaned up, sealed up, and covered up, the painting begins.  We will spot prime if you have bare wood.  Now we are ready to apply two full coats or premium paint.  Our team uses PPG AcriShield, Behr Premium Plus, or Sherwin SuperPaint Exterior as our entry level paints for your homes exterior.  We stand behind our exterior work for 7 full years from the date of completion.  Our team uses the best methods and paints for your project.

A smaller ranch about 1,500 sqft costs around $5,000 to paint whereas a larger house twice that size will often cost in the $11,000 range.  We’d be happy to discuss your project with you if you would like.  Just give our team a call at 317-528-9500 or pick a time that is convenient for you!  We look forward to seeing your project!

We get quite a few clients ask why painting prices vary so much?  This is always a question I am happy to field because the answer is pretty simple and revealing of a company’s core commitments.  Our two main expenses are labor and materials so let’s talk about those to categories first. 

First, let’s examine a company’s materials costs.  What is their baseline materials?  Many companies with lower cost quotes use an entry level material.  We often call these top line commercial products.  For us, these would be Sherwin Williams ProMar 200, Behr i300, and PPG SpeedHide.  We like all these products – for commercial new work.  They don’t belong in your home or even in your business repaint work.  What makes these good products for the new build market is that they are competitive and they are serviceable for a shorter period of time.  They lack the ability to clean them and  are really difficult to touch up a year after the install.  They are great at giving you that initial canvas at a lower cost.  We always try to get our customers to spring for the next step up.  It usually doesn’t affect the price very much – typically only 5% or so, but new work is very competitive.  In your business or home, our entry level product is Sherwin Williams SuperPaint, Behr Premium, or PPG Pure Performance.  Yes, thy are more costly, but they will be very serviceable.  

Second is labor prices.  Like anything else in life, you get what you pay for.  Lower cost companies will use less skilled and less reliable labor.  Indiana Painting has committed to a more disciplined and skill workforce because we believe that it is worth the extra investment, and most of our customers do too!  If your contractor is sending you unskilled labor, you have a very low probability of getting a good outcome.  We believe our team makes up for the extra cost by being hard working and efficient.

I believe doing the work right is where most of the discrepancy comes from.  Take wood decks and fences for instance.  Quite a few painting companies won’t touch them because they don’t have the knowledge or the discipline in their crew to succeed.  Our team follows a rigorous step by step process that will ensure your outdoor wood surfaces get the longest life possible.  These extra steps include a chemical treatment, sanding or wire brushing, moisture testing, and applying three full coats on all horizontal surface to ensure complete coverage and durability.  If you do it right, your deck coating should last over 5 years with normal use.  The real way companies cut costs is by taking shortcuts.  This is the main way to get quote prices lower.

There are so many examples I could give on price differences, but the best way to determine if the contractor your are negotiating with is right for you, is to ask them to go into detail about their process.  If the salesman cannot go into detail about their process, than their process is not that special and their crews performing the work are most likely not trained in the methods of getting a thorough paint job that will last a long time.

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.

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’re looking to paint the exterior of your home, one thing that may come to mind in your considerations is the cost of the painting project.

However, it’s good to know that there are things that you can do to bring down the price of your painting project — and this is often an important thing to do.

With that being the case, let’s have a look at some tips for budget exterior painting that will keep your house looking really good.

1. Use Moderately Priced Paint

One thing that is going to ultimately lower the price of your painting project is the use of moderately priced paint — not cheaper paint, as you might expect this sort of guide to suggest.

However, not only is this a bad idea in the short term (the cheaper paint, that is) but over the years you will find that you will be spending more for your paintwork if you go for cheaper paint over a more moderately priced paint.

The reason that this is the case is that quite often the cheaper and low end priced paints come with ingredients that make them fade quite a bit faster than your more moderately priced paints — and so you will find that you are going to be starting a new painting project even sooner than if you had just stayed with a more moderately priced paint.

2. Primer Before Paint

Another important way that you’re going to be able to bring down the price of your painting project involves the use of a primer before you apply the first coat of paint.

The reason that this is the case is that you will find that paint adheres much better to a surface that has gotten primer applied to it than one that has not gotten any primer applied to it.

The adhesive quality of primer is such that it helps paint stay on there longer, making for a painting project that lasts longer overall — and that lowers the overall cost of your painting project.

3. Paint More Slowly

There are few things that make your painting project cost more than wasted paint and when you are painting too quickly, you will find that you often will either spill paint or apply too much of it.

Though you might think of painting more quickly as a good way to get your paintwork done more quickly, instead what will happen is that you are more prone to making painting mistakes that need to be corrected and waste paint.

Taking your time while painting will help to get the paint on more evenly and help to ensure that you don’t waste a lot of paint during the painting process.

4. Borrow Painting Equipment When Possible

Though it’s entirely possible that you are going to want to paint other areas of your home, it’s also possible that this is going to be your only painting project that you have for the foreseeable future.

If you don’t see yourself having any painting projects in the future, it is a bit unnecessary to spend quite a lot of money on the equipment that you are going to want to use to paint your home — especially if it is possible to borrow the equipment in some manner.

Whether you end up borrowing the painting equipment from friends, family, or an equipment library (they do exist) you should make sure to return the equipment in the same condition in which you borrowed it, or possibly better if it is at all feasible — surely to be appreciated by those who lend you the equipment.

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

Weatherproofing Your Home with Exterior Painting in Plainfield

As we meet more residential clients, one question we always get is ho do you remove old wallpaper without damaging the drywall. I should start off this post with a few caveats. First, it is always possible. It depends on the type of wallpaper and the type of glue used. The best scenario is that you have vinyl faced wall paper and the glue is a simple starch based glue. The worst case is you have paper faced wall paper and the glue is not a water soluble glue. Here is the reasoning. Vinyl faced paper can be easily peeled. Your goal is to peel the vinyl face off leaving only paper and glue behind. Once peeled, you can roll on the wallpaper removal gel and within 5 minutes the paper and glue residue will easily scrape off. If it is paper, you will have to lightly score the face with a “Tiger” tool to make lots of small holes through which the water can seep to reactivate the glue. Now for the nightmare scenario – a solvent based glue. It is rare, but we occasionally meet a glue that does not dissolve when re-hydrated with water. These are very difficult to deal with. If you run into that scenario, call a professional, he is well worth the money and will earn his keep for the day!

So, here are the steps to remove wallpaper as safely as we know how. Peel the vinyl face or, if it is paper (you will know because the face comes off is small pieces), score it with a “Tiger” tool to allow the gel to penetrate more quickly. Patience is the key here in the next step. Roll the gel (available at most box stores that sell wallpaper tools) on generously. The key here is to catch it at the right moment. If you don’t let it dwell long enough, it won’t come off easily and will be very difficult to work with. Waiting too long and the water will soften the drywall paper and paint underneath. We usually work in a five to six foot section of wall at a time to avoid over hydrating the drywall paper. You will know that you have over-wetted if the drywall surface tears easily and comes off with the wallpaper and glue. Once you’ve let this happen, it will never be the same and your strategy will need to change.

It is inevitable that you will do some damage to the wall with your broad knife while scraping off the glue. Our process includes taking a warm rage and removing as much residue as possible without harming the drywall itself. Then, we apply a layer of Gardz primer to the wall affected. Don’t skip this step! This seals any glue residue into the Gardz so it can reactivate with the application of drywall mud or paint. Let the Gardz dry for 24 hours – this time frame is necessary unless you are a professional who knows what to look for and can competently determine that the surface is ready for mud or paint.

Now you can begin the repair work. Some walls might require a full skim coat, if you are lucky, you’ll just need some drywall patching. Once your walls are smooth and acceptable, prime the drywall patches and now your are ready for paint! Wallpaper removal is for the patient. Don’t hesitate to give us a call with any questions you have, we are always happy to give you our advice when we think we can be helpful!

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From time to time, we get asked a question that shows how thoughtful our clientele can be. One such question is do you caulk or prime first. This is a great question to ask your painter! Not only do we have an answer, but we have an explanation and are happy to tell you all about it. In fact, there are a few different ways to approach this question. First, is the siding and trim painted or is it raw wood or other substrate. Second, what kind of caulk are we using on the project. The assumption we will make here are that the wood or siding is bare and the caulk is a premium grade urethanized acrylic.

The short answer is that we prime and then caulk. No matter the gap size, the job that is asked of caulk is not easy task – to expand and contract at all the wrong moments. So, let’s say it is 110 degrees outside. This pushes the gap together as the substrate expand with heat and the caulk compresses. So far, not too difficult! But take the winter months, the bulk is cold and more rigid at the same point the substrate is shrinking and stretching the caulk. Okay, don’t stress out! This is what caulk is designed to do. So why is is so important to prime first. It has to do with the grip of the adhesion. Caulk stick to primed wood quite a bit better than bare wood. So as the tension build to pull the caulk away from the wood and then back to pushing it into the wood, your caulk has a good and compatible surface to adhere to. This gives your caulk a better chance of sticking to it.

The short answer is that we prime and then caulk. No matter the gap size, the job that is asked of caulk is not easy task – to expand and contract at all the wrong moments. So, let’s say it is 110 degrees outside. This pushes the gap together as the substrate expand with heat and the caulk compresses. So far, not too difficult! But take the winter months, the bulk is cold and more rigid at the same point the substrate is shrinking and stretching the caulk. Okay, don’t stress out! This is what caulk is designed to do. So why is is so important to prime first. It has to do with the grip of the adhesion. Caulk stick to primed wood quite a bit better than bare wood. So as the tension build to pull the caulk away from the wood and then back to pushing it into the wood, your caulk has a good and compatible surface to adhere to. This gives your caulk a better chance of sticking to it.

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Perhaps the most helpful article on why deck coating failure is so common is one found at this link https://thepaintpeople.com/painting-101/why-is-my-deck-stain-failing/. We get a lot of calls to stain decks and, honestly, it used to be one of our least favorite surfaces to paint. The ugly truth is that decks are one of the most difficult things to paint or stain. Combine that with the fact that most customers want the deck coating to last for five to ten years, every painting contractor cringes at the thought of staining deck. Here are the unique challenges that your deck and your painting contractor face when finishing decks.

First, is the condition and nature of the wood. Most homeowners call us only after the wood on their deck degrades past a realistic state where you can actually get coatings to adhere. Wood fibers degrade rather quickly with water and UV exposure. If you stained a piece of paper and left it outside for a week, you would see the effects of the sun and rain on the paper. Why, if it was coated well, does it matter if it is exposed to water or sun? The simple answer is that most coatings are breathable or permeable and they are for very good reasons. The second has to do with the nature of paper. When exposed to the elements it will expand and contract and experience a lot of movement. The wood fiber in the paper is basically the same as the degraded wood fibers in your deck. One way to help minimize deck failures is to clean them thoroughly and sand them down thoroughly. This will help removed any degraded fibers and to open areas so the stain can penetrate down to a stable fiber to help them stay in tact for longer. And keep in mind that every time your stain or paint is scratched, it give water a new opportunity to get underneath the stain or paint and work to separate or delaminate the paint from the wood fibers. The article explains this well. If you pull the loose paint off the the deck and you can see wood fibers on the back of the paint, you have unstable wood on your deck and this will have to be dealt with. Sanding and wire brushing will go a long ways to a better prep job. Wood that is deeply split will need to be brushed out well to ensure all the wood inside the split is coated too.

The second has to do with surface contaminants. Most of us keep our grills on the deck, a very logical place to cook your food out on nice afternoons. I would never argue that you shouldn’t cook on your deck, but I do want you to understand how this works to affect the adhesion of the stain or paint to the wood. Grease sinks very deep into the wood fibers and is nearly impossible to remove it all from the wood fibers. If you stain or paint is popping off in areas where your grill is or was placed, chances are the oils are causing an adhesion issue.

Finally, conditions in nature will often have a huge effect on paint or stain performance. UV rays and water are the main enemies of paint. This is one reason we try our best to steer customers away for transparent or semi-transparent stains for decks. The best way to keep the UV rays from degrading your wood is to block them by using an opaque stain. With any deck job, the two main objectives for a coating is they must keep the water from touching the wood fibers and it must block the UV rays from getting to the wood fibers. If you could achieve this with a coating, you could have a real chance of a long lasting job! Trouble is, this is harder to do than you think. My advice is to have it done right with a quality solid stain and get the deck re-stained at least every four years.

Nothing is more disheartening than finding extreme damage to your concrete block walls. If you own a CMU building, you probably know what I am talking about. Loose paint, stair steps, water bags, missing mortar joints, and efflorescence are just a few of the problem building owner face and the maintenance of these buildings can be a painful lesson in vigilance.

Some problems are caused by movement as the wall heats up and cools down. On a winter day it isn’t uncommon for the walls to reach ambient temperatures as low at -20 degrees F and, if your walls are painted a dark color, to reach 50 degrees in the daytime sunshine. That is a huge and fast temperature swing in a relatively short time – and this can happen day in and ay out. In the summer, you walls can reach over 120 degrees in the hot summer sun. Most builders put expansion joints in the walls every 20 to 40 feet. Older buildings didn’t usually get this treatment so they are prone to cracking at these stressed areas.

Peeling and missing mortar joints are often the result of getting water inside your wall. Water is a pernicious ruiner of buildings. It can enter through a leaky roof, a cracked mortar joint, a poor paint job that didn’t seal all the pores, a leaky coping, or through failing caulk joints. Once water enters, it will be drawn out by the heat of the day and nothing will stop it. It’s hard to imaging the amount of hydraulic pressure involved as the water is drawn out or as it freezes in the block overnight. Our sprayers operate at around 3,200 psi. Larger hydraulic presses can operate at over 20,000 psi. Freezing water can generate up to 25,000 psi! Nature and her God are incredible! You can only imagine the damage freezing water can do to your building. You should really get this taken care of sooner than later!

Now for the cure. I hate to tell you that once you see peeling paint, the cost to repair it can be multiples of a simple clean and paint. The loose paint will have to be stripped from the block and the failed joints will have to be repaired and this takes very large pressure washers and an abundance of time. A simple fast food exterior repaint goes for around $5,000 but if your building has this kind of damage, that can easily exceed $12,000. The good news is that, once the remedy is applied, your building will be good to go for another decade or so with little to think about. Of course, this doesn’t include the other solutions like a new roof or replaced caulk joints, so you should be prepared to spend a good deal of money!