Last week I touched on some painting tips and received some positive feedback. So I'm going to go all out, and do a guide to painting. The mantra here will be do it cheap, but do it well. And of course, you'll have some fun along the way.
I love paint. Paint was always my favorite department when I worked at hardware store, and it became my baby. I'm even a "certified paint specialist," or so says the certificate I was issued after trekking out to Annapolis for a paint training conference. Nothing says fun like paint training at a Holiday Inn in Annapolis on a cold February day.
So you want to paint your house, apartment, room, etc. Where do you begin? A good place to start is color selection. You have a lot of options here. If you've painted before you're probably familiar with the paint chip rack (small paper samples of colors) and fandecks (those big books of color swatches). Don't feel limited to one manufacturer's colors, any decent hardware or paint store should be able to match another brand's color. You can also bring in a sample for them to measure, though the results are often not quite perfect.
When picking a color, think about how much light the room gets, and what mood you want to set. Also consider that bright, bold colors will often require more paint, and therefore increase the price of the project. A very bright green color, for example, may require three or four coats. A pastel color will probably only need two coats.
To cut down costs, consider taking the accent wall approach. Select a bold color, but paint only one or two walls in a room, leaving the others white. Consider leaving the trim white as well. Personally I prefer the look of a bold color and white trim.
So you know what color you want, what's next?
Think about where you will get your paint. Most paint and hardware stores offer a few different lines of paint. There are usually 2 or 3 different lines; a budget paint, a premium paint, and a super-premium paint. Some super-premium paints can run as much as $60/gallon. Premium ranges about $18-20 per gallon, and budget can be significantly less. Super-premium paints are not necessary unless you have a specific need (5th Street Hardware at CityVista sells a completely non-toxic, odorless paint which is great for pregnant women or a baby's room, for example). I recommend going with a middle of the road paint. You'll probably be disappointed with a budget paint.
Last week I mentioned the tip of using primer to save money. As a rule, you should always use primer. However, there are few instances where you can skip it. If you have white walls that are clean, and you're painting with a light or pastel color, you can skip primer. Otherwise, you'll want to pick some up.
Say you picked up an awesome, bold color. A deep red or purple color. Or say a bright accent color. You could easily go through a gallon painting one wall. Bright colors don't "hide." You'll keep painting and painting, coat after coat, and you'll STILL see your white wall. So what can you do?
HOLD on now, you say. "Why does my paint suck, why can I still see the wall?"
Here's a quick intro to how paint works. When you go to a paint store, and ask for one of 10,000 colors they offer, they have to custom tint the paint. They don't have 10,000 cans of paint in the back, one for each color. So, they take a "base" and add "colorant" to it. Deeper and bolder colors require more colorant. Since you're squirting colorant into a can, if you need to add more colorant that means there's less "other stuff" in the can. That "other stuff" includes pigment. The base for a bright green color, for example, might be called "neutral base" and if you took that base and put it on your wall without any colorant added, it would be clear. Alternatively, the base for a pastel blue color might be called "ultra white" and is essentially a can of white paint with a few ounces of blue colorant added to it. So naturally, "neutral base" won't cover up your wall as well as "ultra white."
Here's a tip that will save your ass and save you a few dollars.
Get tinted primer. A lot of stores will sell "tintable primer," where they can tint a gallon of primer to a color similiar to the one you'll be painting with. This is all fine and dandy, but often these "tintable primers" cost more than a gallon of Kilz 2 Latex Primer. Here's a secret. All primers are tintable. Every single one. Look on a can of primer, it's never 128 fl. oz. Take a can of Kilz 2 up to the paint area, and ask them to tint it gray.
Why gray you ask? Because it HIDES! It's easier to put a deep color over grey than it is to put it over white. The grey will hide the surface of your wall. Trust me, professional painters do this all the time. It will save you at least 1-2 coats of paint.
If you heed this advice, you will end up using less paint. You will notice better results. Putting up a coat of light gray primer will also result in a more uniform top coat. You'll save some money and the job will look better in the end.
That's enough information for this week. Next time I'm going to tackle paint applicators (rollers, brushes, etc).
God loves a cheerful giver.
This is a great intro to painting!
One thing I do to keep costs down (I use toooons of house paints) is check out the "mis-tints" section. All paint stores will have piles of paints that they mis-colored that sell for very, very cheap. It's worth checking out if you don't have an exact idea of the color you want.
Does anybody have first-hand experience with "Acousti-Coat" paint, which claims to reduce sound transmission through walls?
I agree, I collect oops paint. it's 5 dollars a gallon. and I have a great enough variety that I can paint almost anything any color I want. I'm an artist though, so it helps to have many gallons of random colors available to pre-coat paintings and sculptures with. If you want to paint your room but aren't sure about the color just go to home depot and look through the rack about once every two weeks you'll probably find something that'll jump out at you, and be stoked about it. One gallon is usually enough to paint a small room or a large wall with... you need to be careful as mentioned earlier about the paint base though, you wouldn't want an exterior or oil based paint for your bedroom...
"I collect oops paint. it’s 5 dollars a gallon."
Make sure you open the "oops" paint .. caz some people just water down the paint and bring it back or they glob some old paint into the can and bring that back.
Home Despot .. doles out the "oops" paint, especially the colors you might want sparingly. Why? Because they are in the business of selling $40 a gallon exterior Glidden (for example) not $5 "oops" paint.
Having said that .. you can pick up some really high quality paint like the Glidden Exterior which I found in a nice wood brown at HD , 5 gallons for $15. The paint guy told me they had four of these 5 gallon brown paints so you know they doled them out, because everyone who has a fence or anything made of wood will jump on this color. Right?
Here is the deal with "oops" paint painting ... Here is the secret of "oops" paint painting. Remember we are in a recession and who what to pay big $$ bucks for paint?
Plus you don't really have to be an "artist" to do this.
Fist you stumble across a weird looking color ... say a weird red.
Then you ask the paint guy to put some BLACK into your primer say Kilz 2 Latex .. usually the cheapest and easiest to work with.
Lets say you want to paint something a candy apple red ... you ask the paint guy to put candy apple red into the primer. Make him fill up the primer can with it.
Try to make sure you use the color from the color chart of the brand of "oops" paint you are buying.
Now all you have to do is buy a spray can of quality candy apple red and you are all set.
You apply the primer to your project (a rocking chair, night stand) whatever you want painted a bright red. Then you use the "oops paint" and then the primer over it, and then the "oops" paint over that .. and the primer over that. You get the idea.
Now for the final touch you put a thin coat of primer over your project and then you spray paint it with the color of choice .. in my example candy apple red.
You can do this, and turn some thing that is old and rusty into something that looks shiny and new, using the "oop" paint method.
Point is ... when using primer .. it is the LAST coat that counts. So you can build up a deep rich color. Color of your choice .. using the "oops" paint method. Primer is cheap paint can be very expensive and the last coat is all anyone will ever see..... Good luck ! Oh let me know what you think?
Ok ... so the "oops" paint method is not for you? It takes too long ... you have to wait till the primer dries .. put more paint on ... come on you have a life! Right?
Well there is the tried and true ... "Goop" paint method. I have seen this and you may have also.
I am officially coining "Goop" paint and will be getting a Copy right for the term "Goop paint" and or "Goop paint method". You will need to pay me a residual every time you want to use this term.
Moving on ... "Goop" painting is fun .. anyone with an IQ of 80 or above can do it and most that do have an average IQ in the 80s ... Anyways this is the deal. You "oops paint" collectors out there go out and collect. various brands .. colors.
If you are truly retarded you will want to collect water based latex and oil based paints and mix them .. hey why not?
But say you have a few living brain cells and you just load up on water based latex.
You want to paint a room. Screw the primer .. remember you have better things to do and primer costs money .. who needs it ... paint is paint and it will stick.
Ok now you just get a bucket and you dump all the "oops" paint in and mix, it turn into .. yes "Goop". Then you apply liberally to the wall.
The paint glides on and you are done in one hour flat. As the paint dries you notice a Psychedelic change taking place in the paint .... the colors you put together come out in places ... and you feel like you are on an acid trip .. with all the wonderful greens and yellows, reds of course the purples and greens take over but you can see some of each color you bought in various spots ... ( you can apply for Obama stimulus $$ money for your efforts as you are creating true "art")
Now you are done .. the "Gloop" job looks great. You can bring your drunken friends from the bar .. and have fun watching them vomit once they enter the room and look upon the fruits of your labor.
A few months go by and your kids decide to have a food fight .. they fling all manor off things at each other and most of it ends up on the walls .... no problem ... you just take a damp clothe and wipe up the mess.
Only problem is ... well you didn't use any primer .. primer is a glue that bonds paint to paint or paint to walls ... but it is a pain to put on. Well some of your Goop paint comes off as you wipe the wall with your wet rag. No problem because you have some of the "Goop paint" stashed and you just glob more on ... easy fix.
I actually know a doctor who used a weekend to paint his office with "Goop" paint .. to save a buck or two .. anyways "Obama care" is coming so who really cares what his patients think ... after all it is free so why complain?
Lets just say .. it was ugly ... the main color was green but you could see yellow and blue in places. Too each his own .. anyone can use a paint brush ... right?
In this country we have the right to life liberty and ugly paint on our walls !!! Go Goop !!!
Say you are cheap or just unemployed, I am both.
Well the Obama recovery/recession is trudging along, your taxes are going up .. your kid is learning to accept gay marriage ( but not religions .. well unless it is the Muslim faith) in school. Like me you will want your unemployment check to go further ... at least till you can get a government job .. building Government cars at GM (Government Motors?)
now you want to paint your porch a nice Obama tan color?
So as you sit outside on your porch eating governmen cheese. You look at the old lead paint that you used enjoy eating as a kid pealing away.
What do you do?
Ok .. its time for action .. first off you get primer, say Kiltz you put that on. Then you look around the big box stores for exterior paints ... latex.
You Glop all the paints in a 5 gallon bucket ( you might luck into a 5 gallon bucket of really neat bright orange paint) and you mix it all together.
Trick is to get THE SAME BRAND PAINT ... Say Glidden.
The paint has to be exterior paint so get all the purple , mustard neon yellow and other nasty looking paints (check to see if they have been diluted or altered by the freaks who returned them).
Now you are ready. Put the primer on .. you are on a budget but primer is not too expensive so do a good job covering the area.
Now put on the Goop. Thin layers ... go for two coats.
Oh man .. that is nasty looking ... right?
Ok my fearless Gooper .. you next go back to the big box store and get more primer .. latex Kiltz 2 is good have them put in a dash of black and then the Obama tan as much as they can put into the primer. After all you did vote for him? And now you must buy medical coverage or pay a fine or go directly to Obamacare jail.
so you put the primer over the nasty goop paint thin it out as it will be thicker because of the added color.
Your wall should now look a little darker than Obama Tan. Not as Dark as OJ and not as light as Micheal Jackson (Now in pedophile heaven running naked with all the little boys for eternity).
You are almost there. Even though money is tight, you want the paint job to last. So when the bank takes it back there will always be a reminder that you actually once owned a house.
So .. you go for glory .. you buy a gallon or two of Glidden oil based exterior paint. Why? well it lasts longer also I think it grips the surface better and yes you can put it on over latex primer.
I like gloss and oil based gloss is the "boss"!
You thin the paint out and you put it on the walls in thin coats covering the primer.
The area will smell bad for a few months. But in the long run it is worth it. You can use this method for fences or any exterior surface. Once it sets it will last for decades and you will have spend a fraction of the price for the base paint. Again don't skimp on the primer .. primer is your friend.
Since the topic is paint, our next priority is to make sure that the White House is "White" again. So make sure you vote Republican in Nov and again 2012. We can take our Country back !
Don't tell Dave .. but I don't think anyone reads this blog?
For my pinko fema-Nazi friends ....
What is red back and blue ( mentioning colors makes this post relevant!) sits in the dumpster behind a late-term abortion clinic. See through plastic bag full of aborted babies ...
What is red black and blue .. sits in the dumpster behind a
late-term abortion and wiggles and moves. Oh you guessed it .. same bag of late-term abortions with a live one at the bottom trying to eat it's way out !!! eeeek !!!
What could be worse? You say? Same bag of dead babies, with all contents taken out. Oh did I mention the abortion clinic is next to a Korean restaurant?
Ok campers happy painting
Anyone reading this?
Where is Part II??