Project of the month - June 2

We are spraying metal window frames. Again!
I have 2-3 jobs like this every month – units, houses, offices, train stations...

Spray painting it’s an excellent way to give your tired old metal window frames a fresh look! And it cost much less then getting new windows. We use airless spray and 2 pack epoxy paint for extra durability.

Spraying itself does not take that much time. If you prepare everything all house windows can be sprayed in just few hours.

But preparation is a killer! We spend days masking windows of this house (it has lots of windows!). But preparations are not the place to rush and is a very-very careful work. Everything exposed will be painted; everything not sealed off completely will get over-splash. So bit, but bit everything that isn’t getting painted has to be covered up. If it gets too frustrated – just take a deep breath and go back to work. But after everything is sprayed and covering paper is removed – you get a grate painted finish!

Top 10 feature front door colour

Most of people simply continue their colour scheme from the rest of the house to the front door. But you may find going against the common rule very rewarding. After reading this article I was inspired to search for the best feature colours for the entry door.

Check my top 10 picks! What door colour you liked the most?

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source

What is painters guarantee?

Ol’Painting gives 3 years warrantee against faulty workmanship on all work. We also use only premium quality materials that have 10 years manufacturer’s warrantee.

I believe this is the most reasonable deal. If there were any flows in painter's job it will show up in the first few months, definitely within a year or two. Three years will give you extra contingency. It is highly unlikely that there will be any paint damage due to painters fault after the first few years.

Whoever you chose for your painting project I strongly recommend that you never settle for anything less, and question longer warrantees - they are not necessarily better, but you have to know what to look for.

There are 2 parts to every painters guarantee:

• Manufacturer’s guarantee on paint
  Premium quality paints have 10 years manufacturers guarantee (with few general exceptions), but paint must be applied correctly. I previously wrote about in details.

• Warrantee against faulty workmanship.
  99% of poor paint performance is caused by painters mistake in preparations or paint choose. This warrantee requires a painter will fix any faults in their work within specified period for free. Keep in mind that this warrantee does not cover damage from external factors, eg. water damage.

1 year or less warrantee usually is a sign of a poor workmanship and/or low quality materials being used.

More then 3 years warrantee on labour is misleading, as it makes you feel you are getting a better deal, when you don’t. It is highly unlikely that any damage due to painters fault will appear after initial few years. Ussualy it would be caused by external factors that are not covered by any warrantee – eg. water leak, dry rot, timber cracking, decay of lover layers of paint or plaster). Some 5 years warrantees are made under the pressure from a manufacturer in exchange for an advertisement and certification.

10 years warrantee is so excessive, I would seriously question it! Most likely you will receive only a manufacturer’s warrantee on paint, and it does not cover a faulty workmanship at all. In addition, many painting companies are less then 10 years old businesses. When they give you 10 years guarantee – this is just not serious!

What is paint manufacturer’ warrantee?

All paints from the premium quality range are covered by 10 years manufacturer’s guarantee, notwithstanding the paint brand.

The only exceptions are membrane paints – 7 years, and timber varnishes – 1 year. The newly released Taubmans Endurance is Australia’s first with 15 years guarantee.

Paint from any lower quality range would be a compromise on quality and will have shorter manufacturers guarantee.

Modern paints are very good and consistent in quality. I never in my experience had to apply for manufacturers warrantee (Ol’Painting works only with a premium quality paints). But I heart of people having big problems with “designer” & "hand-made" paint brands and taking the manufacturer to the court. I strongly recommend to use paint form the main manufacturers whenever possible!

Keep in mind - a manufacturer warrantee is not valid if psint is applied incorrectly. This is when a personal painter’s warrantee against faulty workmanship steps in.

Project of the Month - June 1

We painted this Mosman house inside out last year during extensive renovation.

But this time we were call to paint a new fence. For the best results we used a combination and spray painting and brush and mini-roller application and 3 coats of paint. Thanks to the glorious weather the job was finished by the end of a day!

Is Dulux a good paint?

Some people believe that any paint other then Dulux is poor quality. This can not be further from the truth. I am rarely choose to work Dulux paint. Here’ why:

• Dulux does a lot of TV ads targeting “normal mum’s & dad’s” who only occasionally are involved in painting – they charge about 30% premium, and no real quality benefits. Their TV commercials sais they are the best – but this is call marketing!

• Taubmans & Bristol target traders and are much more negotiable with the price.

Being a professional painter I personally prefer Taubmans premium quality paint because:

• They are as good in quality as any other paint brand in a premium quality range including Dulux paints (do not believe everything TV commercial says! :))

• Have same 10 years manufacturers guarantee as Dulux or any other paint in the same quality range (Taubmans Endure is actually the first Australian paint with 15 years guarantee).

• Have same have extra “Dirt Shield” (dirt sticks less to it) – something Dulux paint do not have;

• My prices for Taubmans paint are about 30% less compare to Dulux – so I’m just passed this saving to the client.

I would not change a warrantee on my work depending on a brand of paint. I only work with premium quality range paints. I know for sure that within the same quality range all paints are basically the same. So why would not take the best value?

If a client really wants to use Dulux, I don’t mind, but I would have to charge extra to cover additional material cost. But in my opinion it would be a waist of money with no real benefits gained.