House Painting The Pros And Not Quite Pros

HOUSE PAINTING: THE PROS AND THE NOT-QUITE PROS


PART 1A PRIMER ON CHOOSING THE RIGHT PAINTChoosing the right paint for your home isn’t just about picking colors and grabbing a paint brush. The colors you want for your house are a big part of it,, but just as important as getting your home’s color scheme right is choosing the right type of paint for the job.


A PRIMER ON CHOOSING THE RIGHT PAINT

OIL VERSUS ACRYLIC

The paint you buy for your home will either be oil-based, or acrylic. While one is water-soluble and the other is not, the main consideration

is how they dry: oil-based paints form a hard, impermeable coating on the surface you paint it on, whereas acrylic paints “breathe,” let moisture pass, and will expand and contract with the surface it’s painted on.

How does this affect your choice? Think of the climate where you live. If you get a lot of moisture intrusion, then where an oil-based finish might blister as the moisture from within tries to escape, an acrylic finish will let the moisture through. If you have extremes of hot and cold where you live, then as your siding expands and contracts, an oil-based finish may crack, whereas an acrylic finish is unlikely to do so.


A PRIMER ON CHOOSING THE RIGHT PAINT

GOING WITH WHAT WORKSThis is not to say that an acrylic paint is better all-around than an oil-based one. These examples simply highlight how the two are different. Since you can’t paint a coat of one over an existing coat of the other, if your house already has an existing coat, and it worked fine in the past, then there’s nothing wrong with going with what you’ve had all along.

CHOOSING COLORSWhen picking out colors to paint your house, consider also the other existing colors already in and around your home. If your house is built of brick or stone, or if you have a lot of foliage around, you can pick out colors that play up these features. This not only saves on paint, but also helps harmonize your home’s colors.

Now that you’ve got your paint, you’re ready to get the job started, but are you sure you want to pick up that paint brush yourself? Part II lists some things you might want to

consider.


PART 2THE DIY EXPERIENCE, WITHOUT THE

SUGAR COATINGWhile there’s certainly nothing wrong with painting your house yourself – you’ve picked out the color and all already, after all – actually getting the job done isn’t necessarily as easy as picking up a paint brush, dipping it in the paint, and getting to work. Do-it-yourself guides tend to gloss over a couple of things – things which a prospective do-it-yourself

house painter needs to keep in mind.


THE DIY EXPERIENCE, WITHOUT THE SUGAR COATING

PAINTING YOUR HOME TAKES TIMEReading through a do-it-yourself guide or watching a video, it’s easy to miss how these compress the amount of time actually involved in getting the job done. It’s easy to underestimate just how big your home can be, and how long it can take to finish painting it yourself.

Considering that your average homeowner is also juggling a regular job, you could easily end up spending a month or more painting your house. And it’s not an easy job by any means. Painting is no easy walk in the park. Under the worst conditions it’s hard, back-breaking labor. Are you sure you want to spend the next three or four weekends putting in all that work?

PAINTING YOUR HOME CAN BE DANGEROUSIt’s virtually certain that if you choose to paint your house yourself you’ll be spending a lot of time on a ladder, reaching up to paint those hard-to-reach places. If you’re not comfortable on a ladder and are not in good physical condition, the results could be catastrophic.


THE DIY EXPERIENCE, WITHOUT THE SUGAR COATING

PAINTING YOUR HOME REQUIRES SKILLAs with all things, there’s a right way to do things, and many ways to get it wrong. Unless you yourself are experienced in painting, chances are that you’ll not know all the little tips and tricks to getting the job just right. Instead of saving on the cost of hiring a professional, you could end up spending more to get the job done right.

If you haven’t quite decided whether to go ahead and paint your house yourself or hire

a professional to do it, first read Part III.


PART 3THE BRUSH-OFF: GIVING YOUR HOME

THAT PROFESSIONAL TOUCHWhen you get right down to it, hiring a professional to paint your home for you makes good, hard sense. With a job as important as getting your home’s look right, if you’ve already gone the extra mile to get just the right paint, why not go even further and get the right people to do it for you? Here are a couple of points to consider before

choosing to go the do-it-yourself way.


THE BRUSH-OFF: GIVING YOUR HOME THAT PROFESSIONAL TOUCH

GETTING THE JOB DONE QUICKLYWhat might take the average homeowner with a regular job a month of weekends, plus whatever spare time they have after coming home, to finish, a professional crew can do, literally, in a matter of days. Professional painters typically work in crews, and where a single homeowner, or even a small group of homeowners, might be limited to painting just one part of a house at a time, your professionals can paint multiple areas simultaneously. Where different coats or accents are required, it’s often just a case of waiting for the paint to dry before applying the next one.


THE BRUSH-OFF: GIVING YOUR HOME THAT PROFESSIONAL TOUCH

A MATTER OF SAFETYIn this case, it’s a matter of safety for you, the homeowner. Aside from keeping you safely on the ground instead of up on a ladder, or walking on your roof in order to apply paint to hard-to-reach areas, letting the professionals handle it also makes it easier on you if something unfortunate does happen.

Since reputable professionals will be carrying their own insurance, in case of accidents in the workplace you, the homeowner, are absolved of any liability or responsibility. Where you might have to pay out of pocket if you were doing the work yourself, you can be confident that what you’re already paying for to have the pros do the job is all you’re actually going to be paying for.

GETTING THE JOB DONE RIGHTA big part of hiring a professional to paint your home is getting the look just right. It’s hard to argue with the clean lines and smooth look of a professional paint job. Why risk getting it wrong, when you can pay a little extra to make sure it’s done right?


Address:

MID SOUTH COATINGS4636 Sanford Street Metairie, LA 70006

Phone Number:

(855) 828-2683 (Toll Free)

(504) 662-1616 (Local)

(504) 455-5469 (Fax)

www.midsouthcoatings.com

http://www.midsouthcoatings.com

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House Painting The Pros And Not Quite Pros