Whether you are a homeowner or your landlord is amenable to you freshening up your space, painting is a dramatic and relatively easy way to make your home more enjoyable.
Rich Rhodes, the paint manager at Aubuchon’s Hardware in Greenfield, grew up with a father who was a painter and has been working in the field himself since 1983. Rhode offered these guidelines and suggestions to help with your first or next painting project.
“The first thing you need to do is prep the walls,” he said. Generally, it is good practice to first clean your walls. You can use a soft cloth and warm water and trisodium phosphate (TSP). You can also mix a solution of Borax, using ¼ cup of Borax to five gallons of water. You then want to rinse with a new cloth and clean, warm water. Let the wall dry thoroughly.
Rhodes listed the following that will be needed:
■Paint (including ceiling paint) and primer.
■Trim brush.
■Roller frame, cover, and tray.
■Tray liners (saves on clean-up time).
■Painter’s tape.
■Drop cloth (plastic or canvas).
■.Trim bucket (basically a smaller container for paint).
■Rags.
■Spackle or patch.
■Flex putty knife.
■Sandpaper or sanding block.
Rhodes said the next step in prepping your walls is to patch/spackle any holes or dings. Once the spackle dries, sand the spot smooth and wipe with a dry rag to take off as much dust as possible. Rhodes said one of the most important things you can do is to always use a primer first.
“Prime all bare surfaces. Otherwise, the paint will penetrate the wall unevenly and you end up with dull spots,” he said. Rhodes said by priming walls first you will cut down on the number of coats of paint you will need to use for the best appearance.
“You can put on eight coats of paint but it will never look as good as if you use primer first,” he said. In general, it takes a coat of primer and two coats of paint for the best outcome. “Primer hides a multitude of sins,” he said. Also, primer creates a surface paint will readily take to.
Rhodes said the use of painter’s tape depends on your skill set and inclination. If you don’t feel confident with straight lines, it’s best to tape around molding and trim. Rhodes said the tape is an area where you want a good quality product as the thicker the tape, the less likely the paint will seep through it. It is a good idea to take the tape off once the paint is dry to the touch to prevent chipping.
Similar to many cleaning projects you want to start from the top-down — ceiling, walls, trim and floors. You also want to remove light switch plates and outlet covers so you don’t get paint on them and you can put plastic bags on doorknobs.
Rhodes said the type of paint you choose depends on what you want out of it. If you don’t care about washing your walls, choose flat paint.
Matte paint is an “in-between” paint that can be washed but isn’t as resistant to damage as satin or semi-gloss, he said. Semi-gloss is used for trim, where you want the most durability. You need a separate paint made for ceilings. Rhodes explained that ceiling paint is “much whiter and brighter.” He said the idea of ceiling paint is to add a sense of spaciousness to a room.
“You can use other colors if you have a really high ceiling,” he said.
When it comes to selecting the colors you want to use, which may seem simple, it can take a little time to figure out. Rhodes suggests using paint samples for a small portion of the room or selecting color “chips” or cards provided at every paint store to place on the wall in various locations. Doing this will help you see how the paint looks under different and changeable lighting.
“The color is going to look different when you get it home than in the store under fluorescent lights,” he said. Also, for example, the color will look different at different times of day or when you put on incandescent light in the evening, he said. The effects of lighting on color is known as metamerism. Written materials in the store stated the colors most prone to metamerism are tans, taupes, greys, blues, mauves, lilacs and “greyed” colors.
Most paint stores have a machine called a spectrometer that can match a color you bring in. Rhodes noted it’s important to have a flat item so the machine can pick up the color better when it essentially photographs it.
“Bumpy items distort the light,” he said.
This is a typical case of “you get what you pay for,” said Rhodes. He noted that the average person often buys cheaper materials to work with because they expect to throw everything away afterward.
He advises for the best and smoothest looking job to buy thick rollers and soft paintbrushes.
“With thick rollers, you get better shading. You have more paint on the roller and it spreads more evenly,” said Rhodes. He said thinner rollers often leave debris behind as they peel and do not provide a good thick coating of paint. Inexpensive brushes are usually made of very stiff plastics he said.
“The softer the brush, the more paint it can hold and the smoother the spread. You’ll also have less streaks,” he said. Rhodes said using cheaper materials for the job will usually lead to you having to pick off “flecks” from the wall once you have painted.
VOCs became a concern for consumers a number of years ago and many paint companies rose to the challenge to create low or zero VOC paints. VOCs also cause the smell we usually associate with paint. ”
About six or seven years ago, Benjamin Moore made most of their interior paint zero VOC, even the lower-cost products” said Rhodes. He pointed out that the amount of VOC is listed on the top of every paint can. Floor paints and oil paints still contain about a rating of 50 VOCs per gallon of paint he said.
If you bought quality materials and you would like to hold onto them for future projects, the good news is, most cleanup is done with water, Rhodes said. The only time you need to use paint thinner is when oil paint is used, he said. If you are taking a break while working, you will want to wrap materials containing paint in plastic and place them in a cool place so the paint doesn’t dry out.
Drying times vary, but darker colors tend to take longer to dry, up to 6 hours in general. Also, high moisture areas such as bathrooms will also take longer to dry.
For more information, call Rhodes at Aubuchon’s Hardware at 413-773-3500.
Cris Carl is an avid local gardener, licensed therapist and certified herbalist. She is an experienced journalist who has written for the Recorder for many years. You can reach her at cstormfox57@gmail.com.