Alpha Omega Painting Blog

The single most influential sector of our economy is housing, particularly new construction.  That sector is currently down.  This is felt first by the contractors that build and supply new construction services.  In the painting sector I have noticed the drop in work even in the repaint business. I think that our debt is catching up with us. It seems that homeowners have less to spend on home improvements.

Generally our home is our largest asset. Maintaining a home is one way of increasing our net worth.  Keeping up with home maintenence will provide the highest price for resale.  It is easier and less costly to keep up with items as they come up, than to find one day a laundry list of things to do, or worse more costly repairs due to neglect. It pays to maintain!

Give me a call and I will come and inspect your home and help devise a plan to keep your home at top value.

Doug

Parker paint has a new color system.  If you are selecting new paint colors for either interior or exterior painting you may want to get into any Parker Paint Store and see if you can find one of their new colors to do the job.  Paint stores come out with new systems occasionally to keep up with changing color trends in decorating, colors are coordinated across most industries like cars and furniture fabrics.

One of the questions that I am asked quite often for interior painting is “how can I help”.  I usually ask my customers to remove pictures and hangings from the walls.  Items that are on top of desks and furniture that I will move.  I especially like the owner to take down or handle the delicate possessions like china and keepsakes that are easily broken.  I don’t want to be responsible, or have to replace items like that. Getting as much small furniture out of the room to be painted is also quite helpful.  It would be great if all items could be removed although I know that is not usually possible. We also need to unplug most items from the walls so that would help.  We figure the price, or cost, based on the amount of time it will take.  The more a person can do to help the lower the cost.  Its also a good time to clean switch and plug covers.  Sometimes the paint is still fresh when we leave and if the customer could clean the covers and reinstall in the morning that would be good also.  Other related items include cold air return grills and hot air grills, which I usually advise on painting.

These are just some things that I have found myself repeatedly advising my customers on. I hope you can use this.

I recently asked a colleague to add a comment to my blog.  Warren is an experienced representative of a major national paint company. He chose to comment on a timely subject, that of surfactant bleeding or leaching.  Lets hear what he has to tell us. You will find his comment under “winter, to paint or not”

Thanks Warren E.

Hiring someone in any construction trade can be made easier with one simple task. If you  take the time to write out what you want, preparing a bid will be easier for the contractor, and you will both benefit. 

This can be a simple itemized list showing the areas of work. For painting, list the colors for each room and any doors or millwork included. For you, the customer, you will know that all the bidders are quoting the same job.  This will be fair for the contractors since they will be on the same playing field.  For the customer, you will get firm quotes that have what you want the way you want it. You should have your colors choosen before you call for the bids. This is because the number of coats required will be determined by the new and old colors involved. Generally if there is a color difference two coats will be required, this will affect the price.  You will want to decide if you want to get the paint or have the contractor handle that.  Most contractors like to use certain paint manufacturers. They may get a better price and have some preferences about certain products, some paints do handle differently. They are the ones doing the coating and should have some input on the paint.  Ultimately you, the consumer, does have the final say.

I hope these tips will help you with your interior painting project.

While I was shopping at Costco I met Ann serving up those great samples.  We got into a conversation about organic food which turned into a discussion about mildew.  This article is for her. Most of us like that fresh painted look that we receive after the repaint.  Well, Alpha Omega Painting can help you with that.

Regular cleaning will do more than simply that. The unsightly mold and mildew that we are accustomed to in the northwest is due in part to environmental dirt.  You see the dirt is food for the mildew, so add a little moisture and they are happy campers in unwanted territory namely your siding, concrete, or wood deck.  This is why we always wash a house prior to painting, with a bleach injection to kill the mold spores.  And since they are always present in the environment the only way to keep them at bay is to wash every say couple of years. If you have a shaded lot with lots of vegatation near then annually may be for you, similarly if you have much sun and little trees and shrubs then you may go three or more years.

I would suggest that power washing after the fall leaves would be best timing. Just to get the last slime from the leaves. There shouldn’t be much build up of dirt during the winter. All the rain will keep the air cleaner, and cooler or cold temps will inhibit the growth of molds.  The other good time would be the first of summer after that burst of spring pollen. Please keep Alpha Omega Painting in mind and call any time.

Now is a great time to get your deck ready to handle the soggy northwest winter. Taking a few steps to winterize now will save you time and money in repair work.

If you don’t want to give up your weekend to do it yourself, give Alpha Omega Painting a call. There are some products that I like. Flood makes an extensive line of deck and siding products. Whether you choose a solid latex or semi transparent oil, their products are excellent and have 2 to 5 year warranties.

Coating your deck now will keep water from penetrating it, and causing damage to the wood over the wet months, thus saving you future expense.

Well, we all thought summer was over a month ago, but were still painting up a storm.  I have faith though, that fall will eventually turn into winter, and our outdoor painting days will be diminished. This doesn’t mean the end to outdoor painting, just fewer days in which to conduct them.

You probably won’t get to clean and stain decks, unless they are on the south side.  They will need all the sun to properly dry for stains and sealers. That’s the requirment for all painting any way. Surfaces must be dry, although remember most paints are water based. That being said if a small amount of moisture is present is must be able to dry along with the coating applied. There is a lot to paint chemistry. In the winter temperature is key since evaporation takes place better with warmer temperatures.  Chemistry to the rescue. Manufacturers have formulated paints to cure in lower temperatures (into the mid 30’s).  This low temp paint is good for painters and consumers both, since we both would like to be able to complete painting tasks all seasons. 

The bottom line is yes paint anytime.  As long as the conditions are favorable it’s not important what month it is.

Welcome to fall. We all thought we were going from summer to winter and skipping fall.  Slam! The rain came and that was going to be that.  Steve Poole said, “Well folks, that’s the last of the 80 degree days.” Well I wonder what he would say if we rewound the tape now.  We were sweating in those 80 degree days, busily painting those houses, not unheard of in September.  In fact, October is typically a good month as well. We will be keeping busy this month with exterior work.