How to paint ceilings without damaging walls & furniture

Want to paint ceilings and worry that your walls or belongings can get damaged? Can’t move all furniture away? No need to stress out about!

This is what the preparation for a ceiling panting should look like. We seal with plastic drop sheets & tape all walls and cover all furniture. Obviously this is in addition to the canvas drop sheets that cover all floors. Only after everything is safely covered we would start repairs and painting.

I’m not going to hide – it is time & labour consuming work. But once we safely cover everything your walls and furniture will be protected even from tiny paint over-splash from a roller.

We always use new plastic drop sheet. We never reuse them, as over-splash from previous work would get on your furniture and can stick to it, or just create dust and dirt around your house. New drop sheets ensure your house will stay clean.

Feel confident your ceiling painting will be quick and safe? Concact Ol’ Painting for no obligation quote.

How to get timber turn a beautiful silver grey?

The naturally aged “silver grey” timber becomes very popular, as we search for low maintenance, environmental solutions and a look. Cedar is best known for it’s beautiful natural grey. But any exterior timber can be used to reach this effect.

However, without regular treatment any wood will become discoloured, weathered, mouldy, and cracked. The best product to let timber age naturally into a beautiful silver grey is Cutek® Wood Preservative, or its low VOC version Cutek CD50® LVOC. It’s quite expensive, but it’s worth it.

Cutek® Wood Preservative is a timber oil. Literally! It’s a fatty liquid, like a cooking oil you buy in a supermarket, but specially formulated for the timber. It does not create a hard finish coat, like a decking coat or varnish. Instead it gets absorbed deep into the timber, like shown on a picture.

If you want to get a silver grey timber look – use colourless oil. Initially timber will look golden, as if varnished. But with time it will turn a nice silver grey.

Cutek oil is water repellent, fungus and mould resistant. It does not peel or crack. Instead it will fade gracefully over the time. It has to be reapplied every 1-3 years – when oil starts to wash off. Application takes time. It requires 2-3 coats at least 1 week apart, so oil can absorb in a timber. If your timber is old and weathered it has to be cleaned and restored first.

Picture source

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!

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.

Project of a Month - AUGUST 1

BEFORE

AFTER

This sad looking Stanmore terrace has just received a facelift. You always hear that painting can change the whole look of a house – here’s a proof. It looks charming after brickwork was painted and rusted ironwork repaired and repainted?

Tip for DIY’ers:
It takes 3-6 coats to paint the brick wall, depending on a brick quality. The first coat usually almost completely gets absorbed in a brick. So you can use a paint of almost any colour (be reasonable) as long as it is an undercoat or a self-priming exterior paint. Use your left-over paint or buy mis-tinted paint from a paint shop for a fraction of a price.

Choosing Paint for DIY Project

As a DIY'er you probably want a good quality at the reasonable price. So I recommend you do follow:

• Go to one of the major paint manufacturer stores or a retailer that stocks a range of mainstream brands. Stay away from small,” designer”, hand-made pant brands. They are expensive, often require more coats and may vary from dram to drum in colour and texture.
  
• Ask them: “Which exterior paint in a premium quality range you can give at the lowest price?”.

I honestly do not see any particular panit brand standing up in quality significantly (do not believe everything they say in TV commercials). So you can get a much better deal if you shop for the quality range, not for a particular brand.

Simple!

The Best Exterior Paint

Which paint is the best for outside painting? You can not go wrong it you choose a a premium quality paint from one of the main manufacturer like:

• BRISTOL - Weathertough;
• DULUX – Weathershield;
• TAUBMANs - All Weather;
• BERGER - Solarscreen;
• BRITISH PAINTS - 4 Seasons;

All these paints are very-very similar and I do not think any brand stand up in quality. They are of a premium range quality, self-priming, have very similar coverage, performance & features (like durability & UV protection). They all have 10 years manufacturers’ warrantee. They also were on Australian market for many years and are fully tested in Australian conditions. So really - just choose the best priced premium qiality paint.

Which Paint Brand is the Best

I'm a big fun of paint from the main manufacturers (eg. Bristol, Dulux, Taubmans, Berger, British Paints) in a premium quality range!

I do not believe that any particular paint brand stands up significantly in quality, even if they have a different pricing and amount of TV commercials :))). Paints of the same quality range are actually very-very similar. They all are consistent, with a good coverage and long term performance. They are widely available as many shops stock them.

I try to avoid “Designer”, “Boutique” and "Hand-Made" type of paints unless the client specifically requests them. I found these often require more coats, may differ from drum to drum in colour and texture. I've seen some paints changing colour or texture significantly in a short period of time. Also they usually are much more expensive.

But it is true that some designer brands have some unique finishes that can't be reproduced by any major paint manufacturer.

Which Paint has the Best Quality?

I’m often asked how to tell which paint is good. It’s actually much easier then it seems. All main manufacturers produce paints in 3 main quality categories:

• Premium Range;
• Medium (or trader's) Range;
• Low Quality Range (different brands use different pretty names for this range);

Different brand paints of the same quality range are actually very similar. I do not see any particular brand standing up significantly from the competition (do not believe everything you see in TV commercials).

Premium range paints are highest in quality, give the best performance and coverage, and usually have 10 years manufacturer’s warrantee. They cost extra, but provide saving in a long term, as they last longer.

Ol’ Painting uses only premium quality paints. Right now I mostly work with Bristol and Taubmans - simply because their premium qiality paints are priced almost 20% lower then other brands. I just pass this saving to my clients.

See this article on how to choose paint for your DIY project.