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Hi, I am Brad (The Painter!).
I am a professional painter for over 30 years, and I am now passing on tips and trade secrets to you.
Latex Paints: SKIN: Don’t use soap! (not yet) Soak in water for a long time (a bath might be best) and gently keep rubbing. Let the goo absorb water and it will get very soft. Too much rubbing and you’ll
Finally, time to paint over the smoke smell. This is the last of 3 posts.
Cleaning smoke damage is not fun, but it is do-able. Just psych up for the work and the nightmare will be over soon.
Recently we were hit with some wildfire smoke. Simple to wait it out if you have a good air purifier.
Here are machines you need for the toxins in paint and many other pollutants you have to breathe nowadays, not to mention all the wildfire smoke. What is the world coming to?
The Dri-Eaz 700 is featured in my full review of the best air purifiers. Here are the filters and below is how to use them best. 8-Pack of the Primary HEPA Filter (2″)(125028) 6-Pack of the 2-in. MERV 8 Pre-Filter
The 2nd chart below says it all. Below that look for details of your concern.
Crazy expensive, but when money is not an object, this is the best on the market. Medical grade.
Here are filters (including some 3rd party budget filters) for the IQAir Pro Plus and Compact.
Spraying paint or rolling paint? That is an easy question for a pro painter of over 30 years.
News that the makers and insurers were wrong and they must pay into a fund to help remove old lead paint.
Paint chemistry has improved and the paint and primer in one has come of age.
This is the shortest possible post you’ll find explaining any primer for every situation.
Key point: don’t buy budget primer (or paint). I like Ben Moore and Sherwin Williams, but BM is better in my opinion.
For all cases, put on your topcoat of paint within a day of priming, or as the window on your primer specifies.
Act fast: keep it wet. 2 minute read
A guide to choosing sheen…but a warning…not all paints have equal grades of sheen.
How to avoid washing walls. The quick way to touch up.
Some important tips, then the list of things to plan for and to shop for, then the complete how-to steps for painting a movie projector screen on any wall. I read other sites on applying this paint. Rookies.
If you paint over old oil-based paint, your new paint will flake off with just a fingernail. Here is the test and what to do if you have old oil.
I’ve read some other websites about how to apply this and they leave out what I put in step 3 below. Here I offer just a few tips that will save you from having to paint your screen twice.
Showing just how easy it is to skim coat a wall. You don’t need much, and you’ll save hundreds. It’s just not hard.
How to paint and what to paint over smoke (fire or cigarette) damaged walls.
How to handle old paints: you can do it just be careful.
A reader says he has a method of making paint live longer on the shelf. Hmm.
This is a key time-saving painting tip. Painters don’t waste time. Always let the paint roller do as much of the work as it can. Only use the brush when you have to.
If you eliminate or minimize brush strokes or brush marks and roller marks for that matter, your paint job will look much better. It almost looks like you know what you’re doing.
The best air purifier is the one I bought for myself. I did not want to spend so much, but now I am glad I did. Others don’t compare. Here are 3 good air purifiers for 3 budgets.
The salespeople in TV commercials make paint edgers look great, but are they worth the money? I’ve been at this well over 30 years: here is the good and bad of the two top paint edgers, (with a look at how they stack up against a quality paintbrush).
The biggest cause of painting concrete failure (not bonding, delamination, bubbling, etc.), is poor prep. We will explained how to paint concrete floors step by step. With links to the all-important concrete prep (testing, to etch or now, cleaning, rinsing, etc).
What concrete paint to put on your floor depends on your comfort with the look and lifespan. Some customers of ours are very picky and want a perfect high-gloss epoxy and others just want a budget facelift. We also link you to every topic you need to consider: from cleaning to cleanup.
Concrete that has either been sealed or trowled to a very smooth profile is not paintable without etching. Concrete etching is done either mechanically with a grinder (several options this way) or chemically with an acid wash (two options this way).
Here are the main methods for concrete testing: several for moisture and one for alkalinity. If you have any doubt, do these tests before painting concrete. Most of these you can do yourself, but what you need a professional for is discussed as well.
Painting stained trim and painting varnished wood trim is very do-able, but the sequence is a bit time-consuming. The one “must” is deglossing, and using a quality primer. Doing it yourself will likely save you many hundreds of clams.
Thinking of painting your trim with a brush? Sit down, my friend. Let me show you the way of the Force. We FLY when we’re painting wood trim, or when we’re painting trim of any kind.
Whether you’re painting plywood walls, shelves, a shed, etc, you do have some good choices when it comes to plywood paint. Prep is key.
Learning how to touch up paint takes experience. But don’t worry, we’ll hold your hand through these steps. In decades of painting, we’ve done it a few times.
Mold resistant paint does not kill mold! But you can relax, the process of stopping mold is very do-able. A little elbow grease, a little mold killing primer (the good stuff) and you are ready to paint. Whew. I’m glad I stopped you from just painting over that mold!
Here is my research and a few tips from my experience with newly constructed walls. The best drywall primer is not necessarily the most expensive primer. For new walls (with no stains or imperfections etc) you do not need a stain-blocker or a hole-filler. Here is my recommendation for the best primers for new drywall, and my steps of application.
Yes, we know how to paint behind a toilet! Here the professional painters’ secret.
Let’s knock this puppy O-U-T. The short list of what you need: First, choices for the best basement floor paints around, then how to paint a basement floor made easy.
Painting plaster walls is not at all difficult. If your house is old, it will have plaster, sometimes called ‘horsehair plaster’ on the walls. The old workers used the tail hair from horses to mix in with the plaster to give it strength.
We’ll list the steps you will need to know how to prepare for painting drywall.
We’ll explain each step from the start of a brand new wall up to the finished product.
We will start by how to prep drywall for paint.
For re-painting walls, below you’ll find all the steps you need for preparing walls for painting, from before you start up to the finished product. We will review all the potential problems you might encounter.
We are not your normal painting company: we are giving away our secrets. I’m near retirement age, and I like blogging more than painting, so here are some room painting tips that your painter won’t tell you.
You paint the trim first, but not using a brush! Here are 3 steps and 1 awesome secret (some pros don’t even know) on how to make this quick and easy (video included).
How to Paint a Wall? Let me count the ways. Ok, here is the short version: you will see all over the internet all these people telling you how to use tape, and how to clean the walls, brush first, etc etc. Well, they clearly read the manual written by someone who read a manual, but in practice, you just jump in. It’s just not brain surgery.
My time living and working in Canada has always been great. One problem for a painter though: painters in the US mostly use a 5-gallon bucket, a screen, and a 9-inch roller frame/cage. Why is that? It’s fast man. Nobody ever stepped in a big bucket! Well, not as far as you know.
