Category Archives: DIY Corner

Tips and tricks of the painting trade for those of you who like to do it yourself

Do It Yourself painting tips and techniques

Painting a room by yourself can be a rewarding experience.

If everything goes right, you not only get a freshly painted room that looks great, but you may also get a feeling of pride knowing that you did it yourself.

I put this page here to give you a few tricks of the trade from a professional painter. Obviously, I can’t predict every contingency you might come across, but here’s a few ideas to get you started…

paint brush When caulking seams around windows and doors, between trim and walls or anywhere else in a room, try using a wet t-shirt type cloth wrapped tightly around your finger. This will help give you a smooth bead of caulk and will also help prevent your fingers from getting all sticky with the caulking.

paint brush When filling nail holes in trim that’s going to be painted, use vinyl spackle or hardening wood putty. (wood putty dries harder, but vinyl spackle is easier to sand – both are effective). Fill the hole slightly above level to allow for any shrinkage. When it’s dry, you can sand it smooth with fine grit sandpaper. With a little practice, you should have a hard time even telling where the nail holes were once it’s been painted.

paint brush If you’re painting the ceiling and walls in a room, always paint the ceiling first. If you paint the walls first, you might lean against them while painting the ceiling. It’s highly unlikely you’ll ever lean against the ceiling while painting the walls.

paint brush If you have any heavy-duty screw anchors in your walls from a large hanging picture and you want to fill the holes, it’s often better to push them into the wall and fill a small hole, rather than trying to pull them out and possibly patching a much larger hole if they tear the wall on the way out.

paint brush If you’re painting with oil-based paint, don’t waste your time trying to clean the roller nap when you’re finished. It makes no sense spending ½ hour of your time and $6.00 worth of mineral spirits just to clean a $5.00 roller nap. A quality brush is worth cleaning, but just thank the roller nap for its service and give it a proper send off.

paint brush Don’t store left over paint in an unheated garage or shed for the winter. Most paint in a sealed container can handle one or two freeze/thaw cycles, but if you leave it out all winter, you’ll have little more than a huge paperweight by the time spring rolls around.

paint brush  When you’re spackling holes in your walls, it’s better to use multiple thin layers of spackle (allowing each layer to dry before applying the next) rather than laying it on heavy thinking you’ll sand it smooth later. I’ve worked with many so called “professionals” that think they’ll save time by laying the spackle on thick and sanding it later. What usually happens is…
1- They spend the same amount of time sanding, that they thought they were going to save, or
2- It doesn’t really sand smooth and you end up with a visible hump on the wall after it’s painted, or
3- They sand it smoothly but create a dust cloud you’ll be cleaning up for days

It does take a little patience to wait for one layer to dry before applying the next, but with 2 or 3 thin layers of wall patch, you’ll eliminate 95+% of the sanding and you’ll end up with far better results in the end.

paint brush (More to come)

If you’re looking for more in depth DIY tips, you can go to our Contact us page and email me directly with any questions you have. I will personally respond to all inquiries as soon as possible. Or if you’d like a little professional help with your project, you can always hire me for a day.

Serving Southern New Hampshire and surrounding areas since 1995
Now Serving Martinsville Virginia and Surrounding Areas

For A Quality Interior House Painter Call

(603) 864-9783

 

When to hire a professional

Painting a room in your home can be a rewarding experience.

If everything goes right, you not only get a freshly painted room that looks great, but you may also get a feeling of pride knowing that you did it yourself.

But before you start, here’s a small checklist of things you’ll need…

√ Paint (obviously)
√ Primer (if needed for any unpainted surfaces)
√ Brushes (1 for each different type of paint)
√ Paint bucket
√ Roller pan / Roller frame / Roller nap
√ Drop cloths
√ Ladder(s)
√ Painters masking tape
√ Patience (lots and lots of patience)
√ Spackle
√ Drywall tape and mud (if needed)
√ Spackling tools
√ Caulking and caulking gun
√ Sand paper
√ A steady hand
√ Clothes that you don’t mind getting paint on
√ A free day or two with nothing else to do

If you already have these things, then you’ve probably painted a room or two in your time.
If not, then this could represent a significant investment in time and money.

Even if you usually do your own painting, perhaps you’re just too busy to paint a room, but you still want, or need, to have it done.

Whether you’ve done all of your own painting, or have never painted a room, there may come a time when you’ll want to hire a professional. But whom do you hire?

Here are a few guidelines to use when choosing a painter.

Ask them about their work experience.

How many years have they been painting? Perhaps they have some pictures of past jobs.

Inexperienced painters may be a little cheaper in price, but you’ll probably find out you get what you pay for. Think about it this way – If you pay a little more than you think you should… your talking about pennies. But if you pay less than you ought to, and the quality of the work is crappy… then you’ve lost it all.

Don’t necessarily go for the highest price either, thinking the quality must be better. I’ve met painters that charge $50 or more per hour, and won’t do any better of a job than one who’s much less expensive. Your best bet is to find someone who’s competitively priced and who has a proven track record.

When it comes to price, keep in mind that the prep work is usually the most time consuming and labor intensive part of any job. Therefore, it’s usually the most expensive part of any job. So if the cost seems a little high or unusually low, ask specifically what’s going to be done before the paintbrush comes out. This may help you to determine the value for your dollar.

Are they professional in appearance?

Are they wearing painter’s clothes that are reasonably clean? (Not counting paint of course)

If someone shows up for an estimate looking like a total slob, then you may not want him or her swinging a paintbrush in your home. This type of standard should apply to all professionals, not just painters or other tradesmen.

On the other hand, don’t judge your painter on the basis of dirty clothes alone. They may have just come from another job, and believed that showing up for your estimate on time was more important than going home and changing clothes.

Be sure they have references.

Multiple references are better. Anyone can have a couple of references from a family member or a friend, so ask for 4 or 5 and don’t be shy about calling a few. You can never tell how qualified someone is from their own advertising, but you can get a pretty good idea from the people who have done business with them in the past.

Serving Southern New Hampshire and surrounding areas since 1995
Now Serving Martinsville Virginia and Surrounding Areas

For A Quality Interior House Painter Call

(603) 864-9783

 

 

Hire me for a day

Do you want to paint a room by yourself, but don’t know where to start? Or perhaps you’ve already started your project and ran into something you didn’t count on?

Help is on the way!

Whether it’s crumbling horsehair plaster, water damage, smoke damage, basic drywall repair, or many other situations that require a professional… if you don’t want to pay someone else to do the entire job, or you simply want to take pride in doing it yourself, and just need a little help, give me a call.

For a low, low fee, I’ll come to you and give you step-by-step instructions on how to repair your ceilings, walls, and/or trim. And I’ll work with you for a half day, or a full day to get your job moving along in the right direction.

Once your project is professionally finished, you’ll be able to take pride in honestly telling everyone “you had a little help from a friend, but did most of the work yourself.”

It will only cost you $175 for a half day (up to 5 hours),
In return you’ll get…
– A professional craftsman with an eye for detail and nearly 3 decades of experience…
– A half day of professional labor to get your job moving along in the right direction…
– Step-by-step instructions to finish the job once I’m gone…
– My personal cell phone number so you can call me if you run into something else you didn’t count on.

That price is dirt cheap for having an expert come to you… show you, teach you, and work with you… to get the best possible results for your interior home project.

Why would a professional like myself offer to do all that for such a low price, 
when I could easily charge more (and usually do charge more) for my services?

- Because I really like what I do, and I really like helping people 
turn their houses into homes. And you'll be doing much of the work.

So if you want to save money by doing it yourself, or if you’re just a real do-it-yourselfer and simply need a little help getting high quality results, give me a call or use the contact us form and drop me a line.

If your project is something I can help you with, then for just a few dollars you’ll get high quality results that will last for years, and pride in knowing that you did it yourself (with a little help from a friend).

Serving Southern New Hampshire and surrounding areas since 1995
Now Serving Martinsville Virginia and Surrounding Areas

For A Quality Interior House Painter Call

(603) 864-9783