Painting Tips For Hassle Free Experience

Painting could be pain or an absolute pleasure. It all depends on how well you plan and prepare.

Like any other task, whether it be planning a dinner party for 50 or a picnic for 6, the success of your plan to perfection will all depend on the degree preparation you put in, and painting is no exception. A lot should go into achieving a beautiful paint job, long before the first brush stroke is made.

So what’s in a plan? Your plan should be like the road map you follow, step by step, until you reach your destination. One of the first things you’ll need to do is to decide what it is you’re going to paint. Let’s say you’re re-painting the exterior walls of your home; where should you begin?

The first step would be to determine the current condition of the walls. First check for excessive moisture, such as water seeping into the walls, possibly from a broken drain pipe, some worn caulk between the window seams or some other contributing factor.   Moisture can cause all kinds of problems and should be resolved before going any further. So you’ll need to repair any leaking pipes and cracks in the walls.

Next check the surface other problems like fungus and algae. Failure to deal with these problems before you paint, can potentially destroy in a short time, all that you would have worked so hard to accomplish in the new paint job.

If you were painting for the first time, you would need ensure that the concrete has been allowed to cure for at least 45 days before starting the paint job.  But if you’re repainting, so you need only check for other surface problems, such as efflorescence or chalking. Please contact your APCO Representative and let them identify the surface problems, provide solutions, and determine & suggest how you can address the same. This information will allow you not only to have a good gauge of exactly what you will need but most of all how much you will need to budget for.

If you’re planning on painting in different colours, try to purchase the full amount for each specific colour. Oh and don’t forget to allow a little extra, no more than 5% for wastage, spillage and unexpected surface porosity.

With all of the problems now solved, and your walls dry, clean and free from dirt and grease, the next step is to prepare to prime the surface. For longer term durability, APCO recommends one primer coat and two topcoats. The more layers you have, the greater number of layers the sun, rain and wind will need to break through to damage the surface beneath.

Before your prime & paint however, you’ll need to cover and protect those areas that are not a part of your painting plan. Use drop cloths or plastic sheets. Use painter’s tape to ensure you paint only those areas for the intended paint. Remember that two thin coats are better than one thick coat, which may sag and not dry properly, creating other problems. So follow the label directions for application and drying time of primers before applying your topcoats.

So what topcoat should you use? Villa Sunfast Luxury Exterior finish comes with 15 year warranty and is the best you can get for you exteriors in the South Pacific. More often than not the more expensive paint proves to be less expensive per year in the long run, than repainting every 3 years. Let’s say for example that one paint job costs $6000.00 in paint and labour and will last 3 years; that equates to $2,000.00 per year. If the same job was done using a different paint with a 15 year life at a cost of $9000.00, the annual cost would be Only $600.00! So whilst the longer lasting paint would cost more at the outset, the annual cost would work out to less, which means that the home owner looking for long term durability should go for the more durable coating because it will give a longer repainting cycle and cost less per year in maintenance.