Painting 101 – Start with Good Preparation

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By Alan J. Heavens

RISMEDIA, April 30, 2008-(MCT)-I was in my basement office when the doorbell rang. That, in itself, was a miracle because I thought the doorbell was broken, and had even gone to the trouble of disassembling it a couple of weeks before to find out why. I must have done something right for a change.

At the door were two college-age fellows, smiling broadly.

Usually, when young people come to the front door, they are promoting some cause and want my signature on a petition. Although I vote in every election, professional ethics have always prevented me from signing petitions, because I was taught that reporters must be impartial.

Just as I was about to explain this, one of the fellows announced that he and his cohort represented a house-painting consortium and they were offering me a free estimate.

I explained that I had just finished the third and final coat on the exterior and the garage in the fall, then I pointed them down the street to the only other wood-sided house in the neighborhood.

I turned to go back inside but paused to ring the doorbell several times-in case I was hearing things.

I have learned many skills over the last 57 years, and one is how to paint. Though some might have been offended by the offer of a free estimate, I was encouraged by my young visitors’ entrepreneurial spirit. Also, there are fewer wood-sided houses these days than ever, so mine was an obvious target.

When I was in my early teens, a couple of my friends and I painted houses, too. It was miserable work: hair and skin covered with paint chips and dust glued with the sweat of summer labor.

We never charged what we should have, because most of our customers were elderly and on fixed incomes. If we were making $1.50 an hour each, the minimum wage then, I would have been surprised.

But what I learned more than 40 years ago was that surface preparation is the key to a long-lasting, good-looking paint job.

We removed the old paint by hand, using scrapers with replaceable razor blades and sanding down the rest of the surface. We used bleach and warm water to remove mildew and to clean the dust and dirt.

Since most of the houses we painted were clapboard, we used brushes. All the professionals used slow-drying, oil-based paint, and so did we.

If we had no choice but to work in direct sunlight-a surface can be 10 to 20 degrees hotter than the air-two of us held a tarp in front of the third while he painted.

If you’re thinking about painting this spring, get to it before the weather gets too warm and sticky, which affects drying. Windy days also are not good painting days, because you want the paint to set up properly before it dries.

Before you begin to paint, make sure the surface is clean and free of chalk and dirt. Use soap and water with a scrub brush, then rinse.

Or consider using a power washer, which can be rented at a home center. Treat any mildew on the surface with a 1-to-3 mixture of household bleach and water.

Remove any loose, flaking or peeling paint by scraping, sanding or wire-brushing. (You might also consider wearing a mask and safety goggles.) Feather back rough paint edges by sanding. If you are repainting a glossy surface, be sure to sand it, so that the new paint will adhere better. And spot-prime any bare wood.

Finally, brush off any dust or particles left from the sanding and scraping prior to painting.

Buy top-quality paint-for durability, be sure to purchase the best you can. From my recent experience, acrylic latex paint works very well in exterior applications. Its flexibility enables it to expand and contract with the surface when temperatures rise or fall dramatically. That also extends the life of the paint job.

Don’t go cheap on tools. To get the best results, use good-quality brushes, rollers and other application equipment. With brushes and rollers, be sure that you have the right type of applicator for the paint. Use synthetic-bristle brushes that are tightly packed and well-balanced and synthetic-nap rollers for latex paint.

© 2008, The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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