Residential Painting tips Affinity Painting Company

Three Decorative Paint Finishes to Beautify Your Home

Posted by Albert Abad on

Decorative paint is one of the simplest yet most effective ways to add more visual interest and aesthetic feel to your living spaces.

While a basic application can spruce up any space, there are several decorative techniques that can take the look to the next level.

Careful using of one of these finishes provides a pop of color and texture. Consider one of these finishing techniques for different spaces in your home.

Rag Rolling

The rag rolling technique results in a translucent textured, mottled look instead of a solid blanket of color on a wall.

With rag rolling, we use a specialty rag roller in combination with med weight cotton cloth that is cut and shaped.

When the cotton is pounce it will produce the look of a traditional rag blotting technique.

After applying a base coat of paint, we apply a glaze that is kept wet so the use the rag roller and cotton rags can remove the excess glaze.

Resulting in textures, that can be left heavy or a soft.

Rag rolling is a beautiful choice for an entryway, bathroom or four-season sun room.

 

Tuscany
A Tuscany style of painting involves applying two coordinating colors of paint to create an aged look that mimics Tuscan architecture.

Our experienced painters do this by applying a warm-hued base coat to the wall. We then prepare a glaze mix that combines a clear glaze with a paint shade that is slightly darker than the base coat.

The dried base coat is lightly misted with water, and our painters then apply the glaze using a scrubbing motion for a one-of-a-kind finish.

This effect is beautiful for light-filled spaces such as a kitchen, hallways or a master suite.

 

Antiquing

What is Antiquing? Just like it sounds it is a faux distressing finish that makes something new look like it’s old.

This technique is often used on furniture and small decorative items or trims, but it also works well for other parts of your home, such as a built-in bookshelf, fireplace mantle, crown moldings or decorative doors. Antiquing also delivers a powerful visual effect when it’s done on a single wall of a room.

Our painters perform the antiquing technique by applying glaze, sanding, waxing and flecking additional paint.

Looking for more information?
Why don’t you give us a call at 877-ASK-WE-PAINT or Contact Us Here

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Effective Pressure Washing

Posted by Albert Abad on with 1 Comment

Effective Pressure-washing: A Key to Creating Exceptional Paint Jobs

Whether you own business or personal property, it’s in your best interests to keep your property in the best possible condition. In order to stay on top of maintenance, there are many routine tasks that must be periodically performed. Painting is one such task, and a good paint job can revitalize the look and feel of your property, not to mention preserving its value.

In order to lay the groundwork for the best possible paint job, it’s often necessary to thoroughly clean any surfaces that need paint. One of the best ways to pre-clean surfaces is to pressure-wash them, but producing an exceptional pressure-washing job is easier said than done.

Keys to Effective Pressure-washing of Surfaces

1. Use the Best Equipment: The two popular types of pressure washers include electric powered and gas powered. Whichever type is preferred by a given homeowner, professional-grade models usually do the best job. Professional-grade equipment brings power to the table for you and easily cleans resistant stains.

2. Use the Best Techniques: Even the best machines need skilled operators to get the best out of them. Our pressure-washing specialists have significant experience in the field and can perform to a professional level as a result. This saves you time, money and effort while simultaneously protecting your property.

3. The use of chemical cleaners like TSP (Trisudium Phosphate) or degreasers such as Simple Green, Krud Kutter thru a chemical injector or various size tips will save time and prevent severer damage to the surface.

Some Benefits of Professional Pressure-washing

Ensuring the cleanliness of your walls, patio, decking, roof and other areas can extend the life of these structures. Professional pressure-washing can strip away contaminants from walls, making it easy for primer and paint to adhere to these surfaces. This allows for superior and long-lasting paint jobs.

There is a lot that goes into maintaining your property. Pressure-washing before a paint job allows your building to look not only pristine but importantly uncover any hidden damage that is beneath the paint.

Why don’t you give us a call 877-ASK-WE-PAINT.

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How to Prime and Sand Different Surfaces

Posted by Albert Abad on

How to Prime Surfaces Before Painting

Look for an experience painter that knows how to prepare and paint the common materials used to construct homes and commercial properties. The most common painted materials for the exterior of a home or commercial property are surfaces like, plasters/ stuccos, woods, metals or aluminums. There are some similarities in the way you treat each material, but there are also some important differences. Here is an overview of what treatments to prepare-sand and prime each material.

Treatments and Scraping the Surface

The surface of all the materials may require special treatments or solutions like TSP (Trisudium Phosphate) or degreasers such as Simple Green, Krud Kutter, Ajax.

Your surface as well may need to be pressured washed, scraped with a paint scraper, paint or stain removers / strippers, sanders to remove all the loose and hanging pieces of old paint.

Remove the Ridges Along the Edges of the Old Paint

Ridges typically form along the edges where the old paint meets bare material. We recommend the ridges to be feathered back so that they won't show through the new coat of paint or patching compound. The ridges can be sanded / feathered down with 80 to 220 grit sandpaper, until the there is a smooth slope going from the bare material to the thick part of the paint on the surface. We recommend sanding with the grain of the surface to increase an even better finish.

Clean Surface

The surface is cleaned with a mild detergent to remove any oil, grease, mold, dirt and debris solutions like TSP (Trisudium Phosphate) or degreasers such as Simple Green, Krud Kutter, Ajax, clarinet before sanding or the primer is applied.

Sanding Process

How to sand a surface to remove stains, rust and paint.

• Wood: Wood should first be sanded using 60-grit sandpaper and a sander to remove ridges and paint. Finer 100-grit sandpaper is used to smooth the wood to a nice finish before you apply the primer.

• Metal: All the rust, loose paint and ridges are removed from using 120 to 150-grit sandpaper and a palm or orbital sander.

• Aluminum: Aluminum can be sanded down using 120-220 grit sandpaper with a handheld random orbital sander.

Apply Primer

The primer is applied using long, straight strokes with a soft-bristled or a tight nap roller and even a paint sprayer. For wood and aluminum surfaces, an acrylic-based primer is used in most cases. Metal requires a primer that is specially formulated to adhere to the metal and has rust-inhibiting ingredients in it.

Properly priming a surface before painting helps make a home or commercial property look fresh and new.

Why don’t you give us a call at 877-ASK-WE-PAINT.

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Hiring a Painting Contractor

Posted by Albert Abad on

Why Hiring a Residential Painting Contractor Is a Wise Investment

It’s understandable to want to save money and tackle some improvement projects yourself. This is especially true when it comes to painting. While smaller painting projects may be do-it-yourself jobs, there are several good reasons why hiring a painting contractor can be a wise choice. It can also be a great way to save time, money, and needless stress in the long run.

Painting Involves More Than Applying Paint

The process of interior and exterior painting involves more than applying a fresh coat of paint. Before a preparatory process you must consider certain factors.

What kind of prep and paint can be required on the surface like walls, ceilings, trims, doors, and base boards? Because it helps with adhesion of the paint and increases its durability, paint preparations may also involve fixing imperfections such as holes from nails or cracks in plaster.

Painting contractors come prepared with safety gear, caulk, patching tools, and other essential accessories that will save you even more time and cost.

Painting Is Often More Time-Consuming Than Anticipated

One of the most compelling reasons to hire your painting contractor is getting a reliable estimate of when everything should be done.

Doing the painting project yourself can require stopping to take care of other responsibilities you may have or, you may have to save it for weekends.

This can be a challenge if it’s going to take more than a few days to do the work.

There’s Something to Be Said for Project Planning Assistance

Painting contractors often have a knack for knowing what colors and textures will likely work better in a certain room or spaces. You also won’t have to worry about figuring out how much paint to buy or what supplies you will need. Since painting contractors typically have firsthand experience working with various surfaces, they also tend to know how to pick the right type of paint or products that fit best.

While hiring a painting contractor is an investment, it’s definitely one to considering as most contractors provide free estimates. Often, it means saving time since the job will be done by our professionals who do this type of work for a living. We’ll let you know how long it should take to complete the project as well be here with you until it’s finished. A professional contractor can also save you cost if you consider the quality of the results you’ll likely receive.

 

Why don’t you give us a call 877-ASK-WE-PAINT

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Are 5-Year Paint Products Different From 20-Year Paint Products?

Posted by Albert Abad on

If you’re looking to paint the interior or exterior of your home, you want to invest in a paint product that’s made to last. Perhaps you’ve noticed that some paints are warrantied for 10 or 20 years while others are only warrantied for five. The longer-lasting paints usually cost more, so it’s tempting to just reach for the cheaper can and assume that everything will be fine. Before you stock up on budget paints, consider some of the important factors that can impact paint quality.

All Paints Are Not Created Equal

There are numerous factors that determine how long a paint will last, especially on the exterior of a home. For instance, water-based paints hold up much better than their oil-based alternative because they naturally stretch. Oil-based paints remain stationary and are therefore more prone to cracking and peeling when changing weather conditions cause the siding to expand and contract.

A five-year paint may be water- or oil-based, but it usually doesn’t offer much in the way of premium ingredients like high-quality pigments or abrasion-resistant coatings. Paints with these types of protective formulas tend to have longer warranties because they really do last longer.

What Sets Premium Paints Apart?

Though water-based paints offer greater durability, these paints themselves can vary drastically in quality. All paints consist of solid polymers known as binders, which are used to hold the pigment (color) in place. The binders in a water-based paint may consist of 100 percent acrylic, vinyl acrylic, or another acrylic compound. Higher-quality binders provide greater color protection and a longer-lasting paint job, so a truly premium paint will use a superior binder like 100 percent acrylic.

It’s also important to consider the ratio of pigment to solid. The binder is your solid material, and the pigment represents your color in liquid form. A premium-grade paint may consist of as much as 45 percent solids, while a cheaper five-year paint may contain less than 30 percent solids.

Finally, premium-grade paints typically contain helpful additives for enhanced protection and longevity. These additives may include thickeners for denser brush strokes and surfactants for faster adhesion to the surface. When it comes to paint, it’s almost always worth it to spend a bit more. The results will save you a great deal of money in the long run.

Why don’t you give us a call ?

877-ASK-WE-PAINT