Have you ever painted an exterior--it looks great--then the next morning there are amber streaks or droplets marring the newly painted surface? As a Bay Area painting contractor, I often encounter "surfactant leaching". Surfactant leaching, or exudation, occurs when water soluble components exude out of the paint. This happens with all water-based paints, but is Read more...
When discussing interior painting jobs, clients often ask our professional house painter whether they should paint or re-finish the floors first. From my experience as a house painter and painting contractor, my advice is generally to re-finish the floors first, then paint afterward. This because sanding of floors invariably creates a ton of dust, which would Read more...
(Newel Post with a coat of "sizing") (A layer of gold leaf applied...) My team of professional painters is often asked to apply gold leaf to Victorian exteriors. Here are some tips: First off, I choose patent gold leaf, which means that the gold is actually lightly adhered to the Read more...
I was talking to a potential client and they told me about a San Francisco restoration artist who's created a line of ornamental plaster (cartouches, scrolls, onlays, medallions..) They will be using one of her Cartouches on the front of their San Francisco home. Her name is Lorna Kollmeyer. She's got a great website! Check Read more...
An interesting thing about the new Glidden Stores. Over a decade ago, several US paint brands (Fuller O'Brien, Sinclair, and Glidden among them) were bought out by the international giant ICI (Imperial Chemical Industries). Former Fuller Obrien/Sinclair locations were converted into ICI/Dulux stores. Dulux is an internationally available brand of paint, produced by AkzoNobel (formerly Read more...
We recently used XIM Peel Bond’s Trim Magic, a low VOC, high-build primer, recommended for smoothing out rough surfaces including crackled paint and T1-11. We used it on a peeling stucco substrate to help blend the patches. We found that the product leveled well, and formed a smooth, flexible, low-lustre film. Recommended dry film thickness Read more...
Last year we painted the exterior of "Pet Camp", a pet-boarding facility in San Francisco. The exterior of this building is factory painted corrugated steel, and there was a fair amount of visible rust. We needed a product that would handle the rust, without the fumes or mess of traditional "red-oxide" rust converters. We researched Read more...
On our latest exterior project the owner chose Sherwin Williams' "Duration". It's a great (if pricey) product! SW claims one coat coverage, due to "Duration's" thicker film. I'm skeptical, as I feel that two coats help to fill any pin-holes or misses from the first coat. So, we'll be applying two coats. Had it been Read more...
Where exterior wood is really beat-up and soft, apply a coat of Zinsser's "Peel-stop". We don't really use this product to prevent loose paint from peeling, but we have found it to be a great (eco-friendly) solution for hardening a soft wood substrate prior to priming.
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