Renovation 4th Edition

by Michael Litchfield

own a few basic tools, your costs will be limited

  start. Prep work is crucial for a good paint job.

  to the few tools you’ll need to rent and the paint

  Whether you’ll be painting a building’s interior or

  you choose.

  exterior, follow these guidelines:

  This chapter covers both exterior and interior

   Correct structural or moisture-related

  painting, including trim, doors, windows, and

  problems.

  cabinets. For information on stripping and fin-

   Scrape or sand down paint that’s poorly

  ishing floors, refer to chapter 20.

  adhered or applied excessively.

  Sometimes art doesn’t hang on a

   Sand surface irregularities.

  wall: It is the wall.

   Choose primer that will adhere well and

  be compatible with the finish coats.

   Follow instructions on paint cans,

  including optimal temperatures for painting.

   Sand lightly between coats for better

  adhesion.

   Wear an appropriate mask or respirator.

  Choosing Paint

  Manufacturers frequently reformulate their

  primers, paints, and stains, so look for a reputa-

  ble supplier who keeps up with changes. Before

  buying paint, examine the surfaces to be painted

  and think about the conditions it must endure.

  Then ask the following questions.

  Four telling questions

   Interior or exterior paint? Beware of

  paint labeled “interior/exterior.” It’s probably

  cheap. Quality exterior paints contain

  additives that repel moisture, block UV rays,

  and discourage mold. These additives are not

  substances you’d want to inhale indoors while

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  the paint is curing. In general, don’t use

  P R O T I P

  exterior paints indoors and vice versa.

   Has the surface been painted before?

  buy the best paint and equip-

  Surfaces should be primed if they (1) have

  ment you can afford. good paint

  never been painted, (2) have been extensively

  adheres better, dries smoother,

  scraped or sanded, or (3) are “chalky” or

  and lasts longer. generally, quality

  poorly prepped. However, if existing paint is

  paint has higher percentages of

  well adhered, priming probably isn’t

  solids (pigments and binders)

  necessary; just paint over the old coat.

  that yield a thicker film of paint

  when dry. using cheap paint is a

   What type of finish (sheen) do you want?

  waste of time and money.

  Topcoat finishes range from flat (also called

  dull or matte) to semigloss (aka eggshell,

  velvet, satin) to gloss. Glossier finishes tend to

  be more durable and easier to clean, so they’re

  favored in high-use areas such as bathrooms

  and kitchens. Enamel, which dries to a hard,

  One big advantage of latex paint is that you can easily

  durable finish, is best for window sashes,

  clean brushes and your hands with soap and water.

  doors, and casings.

   Is the surface unusual? Specialty paints

  are available for masonry; hard, nonporous

  surfaces; high-humidity areas; and nonslip

  surfaces. There are even paints that won’t

  Colorful

  reduce the sound-deadening properties of

  Language: Primers,

  acoustic tile. If you have an unusual surface

  PainTs, and sTains

  to paint, ask your supplier to recommend

  a finish.

   Primer. An important base coat, primer is applied to substrates such as raw wood,

  drywall, plaster, or previously painted surfaces. Above all, primers must stick to the

  oil based versus latex

  substrate; they may also contain stain blockers, preservatives, pigments, or other

  additives to hide flaws and ensure more uniform topcoats of paint.

  Whether you’re painting exterior or interior sur-

  faces, latex paints are probably the best bet. The

   PAint. if primer’s job is adhesion, paint’s is protection—protecting the primer and

  next sections explain why.

  substrate from moisture, mild abuse, and (if it’s exterior paint) UV rays. Paint must

  also hold color, dry smoothly, and withstand weather, so its pigments, solvents, and

  Two essential definitions.

  additives must be carefully blended and held together by a binder, or resin.

   Oil-based paints and stains may contain

  linseed oil, tung oil, or synthetic resins called

   Binder. Binders determine a paint’s penetration, adhesion, drying rate,

  alkyds. Because alkyds are the most common

  flexibility, and durability. in relation to pigment, the more binder a paint has,

  “oil” in oil-based paints, professionals often

  the shinier and more durable its finish will be. Glossy paints tend to have high

  use the term alkyd instead of oil based.

  binder-to-pigment ratios.

  However, oil based is the broader, more

   PiGment. Color is determined by pigment. the more pigment a paint has, the more

  inclusive term for products that must be

  intense its color and the better it hides what’s beneath.

  thinned and cleaned up with solvents.

   VehiCle. A paint’s liquid component, the vehicle, is needed to suspend the

   Latex paints and stains are water based.

  pigments and binders. Oil-based vehicles (linseed oil, tung oil, or modified oils called

  They can be thinned with water and cleaned

  alkyds) thin with mineral spirits, also known as paint thinner. latex paints suspend

  up with warm, soapy water. In recent decades,

  polymer particles (plastic) in water.

  latex paints have improved so dramatically

  that they now account for about 90% of house-

   StAin. Penetrating or semitransparent stains are most often pigmented oils that

  paint sales.

  soak into wood and form a thin film on the wood’s surface; there are also water-based

  stains. You can see wood grain through stain. Although stains may contain water

  Oil based: advantages and disadvantages. Oil-

  repellants, preservatives, and some UV blocking, they don’t protect wood as well as

  based paints are durable and tenacious, adhering

  paint does and so must be reapplied periodically—say, every two to four years.

  even to glossy or chalky surfaces. Thus, many

  pros still insist on an oil-based exterior primer,

   SOlid-COlOr StAin. despite the name, solid-color stain, a fast-growing group of

  even if they’ll be applying latex topcoats. Many

  exterior coatings, is more like thinned paint than stain. it’s popular because wood

  old-school painters also favor oil-based paints for

  texture (but not wood grain) remains visible. however, solid-color stains have only

  interior trim because they dry slowly and level

  about half the life span of painted surfaces. Acrylic latex solid-color stains are the

  well, thus minimizing brushmarks.

  most durable.

  The problem is that oil-based paints never

  completely cure. Rather, they oxidize and, ove
r

  Painting

  505

  apply. However, its quick-drying characteristic

  can be a problem if you’re painting an exterior in

  iCandy: COLOr samPLes by PhOne 90º F heat, which causes the paint to dry on the

  For some of us, choosing the

  brush. In that case, additives such as Flood®

  correct paint color is harder

  Floetrol® will slow drying time and extend its

  brushability.

  than applying it. matching or

  complementing existing color

  tiPs For the Paint store

  schemes is even trickier. no

  matter how perfect the hue on a

  Before heading for the paint store, calculate the

  paint-store color strip, the

  square footage of surfaces to be painted. Then

  color always looks different

  compare those figures with the coverage figures

  when paint is applied to a wall.

  listed on the paint containers. Unless a wall is

  mostly glass, don’t bother to subtract the square

  thanks to a new phone app,

  footage of windows and doors from your total.

  ColorSnap®, the process just

  You’ll need the paint someday for touchups.

  got easier. Use your cell phone

  Predicting the coverage of stains is more diffi-

  to take a photo of a color you

  cult, especially if the wood is untreated. Add 15%

  want to duplicate and the app

  to 25% if you need to special-order the stain and

  will color-match any part of the

  must wait more than a day or two for delivery.

  photo to a Sherwin-Williams®

  That way, you’ll be ensured of having enough

  color code. Using the app, you

  stain to finish the job.

  can adjust saturation and light-

  If the job is big, you’ll save money by buying

  ness or alter hue. the app also

  5-gal. rather than 1-gal. containers. However, if

  Take a cell-phone photo and the ColorSnap app can

  match its color to Sherwin-Williams’s paint codes.

  offers a palette of complemen-

  you need only a few 1-gal. cans, ensure uniform

  tary colors.

  color by mixing their contents in a clean, empty

  5-gal. bucket. This way, you’ll avoid finishing one

  can in the middle of a wall and resuming with a

  noticeably different hue.

  Have the paint store mechanically shake the

  paint for you—unless, of course, the manufactur-

  the years, erode and crack. Any siding, especially

  er’s instructions indicate it shouldn’t be shaken.

  wood, expands and contracts as temperatures

  For example, polyurethanes and varnishes trap

  fluctuate, so the inflexibility of oil-based paints

  air bubbles when shaken.

  leads to cracking and more commonly to chalk-

  ing, a powdery residue of oxidized oil and pig-

  ment. In addition, mold feeds on the organic

  Tools and Equipment

  P R O T I P

  compounds in oil-based paints. But the biggest

  Ladders and scaffolding are essential for many

  problem is their solvents: noxious, volatile, pol-

  painting jobs. For more on them, see chapter 3.

  less expensive than finish

  luting, and tedious to clean off tools and equip-

  paints, tinted primers also hide

  ment. Availability may also be an issue: Because

  more and therefore ensure a more

  of more stringent regulations on volatile organic

  uniform finish color. so you can

  compounds, or VOCs (such as in California), oil-

  Clear Finishes

  save money by having your paint

  based paints are increasingly harder to get.

  store tint the primer closer to the

  Clear finishes include polyurethane, varnish,

  Latex: advantages and disadvantages. Acrylic

  color of the finish coat. this is

  lacquer, and shellac. Polyurethane, also called

  latex has almost everything a painter or a sub-

  especially true if you’re painting

  poly, is the most durable of the clear finishes

  over existing paint that’s darker

  strate could want: As the paint or stain dries, its

  than the new paint.

  water base evaporates with minimal odor, leaving

  and thus the most suitable for heavy-traffic sur-

  a flexible coat of polymer particles (plastic) that

  faces, such as trim and stair parts. Although poly

  rarely cracks, as oil-based paints often do. Latex

  and varnish resist moisture, they may become

  also is semipermeable, so moisture generated

  cloudy with sustained exposure to wet condi-

  inside the house can migrate, through the paint,

  tions. Shellac also clouds up near water. Spar

  to the outdoors. Because latex is synthetic, it’s

  varnish—originally used on boats—has a hard

  inhospitable to mold. Finally, latex cleans up eas-

  finish that stands up well to water, if well main-

  ily and dries quickly.

  tained. For more about clear floor finishes, see

  Inside, latex is the only paint to use on drywall

  chapter 20.

  because it won’t raise the paper facing of panels.

  Exterior latex is colorfast, durable, and easy to

  506 Chapter 18

  Although some artists can hand-tint

  5-gal. quantities to match existing

  paint, the rest of us should rely on

  paint-store mixologists. They have

  color charts, recipes, and accurate

  measuring tools. The blue object

  at the lower right is a power-drill

  paint mixer.

  Masks and resPirators

  TO thin Or nOT TO Thin?

  The level of respiratory protection you need

  depends on how harmful the particles, vapors, or

  most paint manufacturers advise against thinning their paints. Certainly, latex rarely

  chemicals you will be exposed to are. So read the

  needs thinning. But oil-based paints are another story. many professional painters

  fine print on the label, which will list the chemi-

  routinely thin oil-based paints with small amounts of paint thinner and Penetrol

  cals present in the paint, or refer to the Material

  because, they report, today’s alkyds contain lower levels of VOCs, making them thicker

  Safety Data Sheet that comes with the finish or is

  available from the manufacturer. I will use mask

  and more difficult to apply. So, pros thin, following recommendations on the container.

  to denote a lightweight, inexpensive, usually dis-

  posable paper device and respirator to denote a

  more serious apparatus that fits snugly, protects

  against chemicals and vapors, and may have

  replaceable filter cartridges. Following OSHA

  HEPA cartridges (P100 or N100). For most paint

  guidelines, filters are color-coded according to

  applications, a half-face respirator with replace-

  the substances they protect against.

  able cartridges will be adequate. Masks vary, so

  Dust masks will do for most woodworking,

  find one that fits snugly. To test the fit, cover the

  P R O T I P

  s
anding, and general cleanup tasks, but if you are cartridge openings and inhale: No air should

  sanding drywall—especially paperless drywall,

  enter the mask.

  You may be able to extend the

  which has a fiberglass mat facing—wear a sand-

  Respiratory cartridge service life varies

  life of a filter cartridge by remov-

  ing and fiberglass respirator. It’s advisable to wear according to the chemical you’re using, the type

  ing it from the mask, placing it

  a mask or respirator even when the chemicals in

  of filter specified for that chemical, ventilation in

  in a sealed plastic bag, and

  a paint—say, latex—are largely benign.

  your workspace, and the care you take to keep

  putting it in the refrigerator.

  Consequently, you can wear a relatively inexpen-

  cartridges “alive” in storage. Change the cartridges

  if you leave cartridges in a mask

  sive latex paint and odor mask when using any

  whenever you smell fumes or whenever it

  merely hanging in your shop

  product with “nuisance-level vapors.” You could

  becomes difficult to breathe through the respira-

  or garage, they will be dead in

  about three weeks.

  also choose a lightweight respirator. Point being,

  tor. Manufacturers suggest their own change

  concentrates of any vapor can give you head-

  schedules. For example, when filtering epoxy-

  aches or cause more serious health problems in

  based paints (very toxic) or urethanes, filters can

  chemically sensitive people, so you need good

  become loaded in 4 to 8 hours, whereas filters for

  ventilation and some respiratory protection.

  latex-based paints typically have a longer change

  As you’ll learn later in the chapter, for any task schedule. OSHA’s website offers three ways to

  involving leaded paint, wear a respirator with

  calculate when to change filters.

  Painting

  507

  Protect your lungs whenever you

  sand, scrape, or strip paint—even

  if there’s plenty of fresh air. While

  respirator Filters

  heating old paint for scraping,

  this worker is wearing a light-

  weight respirator with

  P100 particulate filters.

  black

   organic vapors

  Yellow  acid gases and organic vapors

  olive

   Multigas (several gases and vapors)

  Purple  any particulates: P100

  orange  any particulates: P95, P99, r99, r100