Five Star Painting Franchise

Painting is one of the most commonly due to renovation or restore. It gives your home a new look without making any changes to its structure. Although many people like to upgrade their own home, it is advisable to hire a Painting Contractor for the task. They will give you the perfect completion and also good professional services.

If you’re considering the do-it-yourself route, be sure to compare the two. There’s cost and time involved with each. Personally I’d rather hire an expert if possible and use that time to work or with my family.

If you’re really concerned about hiring a Painting Contractor, ask for referrals and references. There is nothing like a good referral – the process become much easier for you.

A team of expert painters, such as Five Star Painting, cover the insurance and liability for the work they tackle. They quote competitive prices for the job that aren’t too high or too low, which reflects a compromise on the attribute of work. A Painting Contractor is well aware of weather conditions in your area, has a great expert opinion on color and design, and also can finish the job perfectly and in a quick manner. If you were to perform this huge task on your own, it might not be worth it in the end.

One ending tip – a Painting Contractor will save you time and hassle. Please visit our website and call us at 1-866-965-STAR for a FREE estimate. If interested in starting your own painting franchise, click here.

In 1978, contractors in the United States finally recognized the dangers of using lead-based paints. Although that especially toxic element made for a long-lasting paint job and lead-based paints were available in a bright array of colors that were fashionable in the 60’s and 70’s, it’s now thought of as best to lean away from those sorts of paints; in fact, it’s best to not just lean away from it, but to maybe start running full sprint. So what happens when the paint in your older home starts fading and/or chipping? You should just start stripping it right away, yeah?

Seriously? Did you eat paint chips as a kid?

That sort of job really needs to be left to the professionals. And hey, guess what? We’re as pro as they come. We’ll strip that lead away and leave you with a freshly painted wall, sans the toxic waste.

As a side note, don’t be concerned if you’re lead-based paint job is still in good condition; it’s only a worry if it’s starting to peel or chip. Of course, why wait for it to be hazardous before you finally remedy the situation?

You’ve got to be wondering at this point: why did we ever use lead in the first place? It was always a known toxin, right?

Well, obviously, the negative health effects weren’t fully understood. In the early 20th century, paint was commonly mixed with lead and other various forms of metal to prevent flaking while also easily fighting off the bleaching effects of the sun’s rays. It resists mildew and mold, is anti-corrosive (so stuff painted with lead can resist rust) and last but not least: the stuff is super cheap nowadays.

The thing is, even in small doses, the stuff is ghastly. It can cause reproductive problems in adults and when children come into contact with it, behavioral and learning problems may develop, among many others in the list of potential maladies. As early as the 18th century, Benjamin Franklin was warning others about the potential harms of lead ingestion (it was a common folk remedy in various doses and forms). In the 19th century, painters were known to advertise their various forms of lead-free paints, and then finally in 1978 it became illegal for more than .06% of the poisonous matter to be used in residential structures, hospitals and children’s structures. Although lead is still frequently used in various forms of paint, its use has been decreased dramatically. Most paint contains the much safer alternative: zinc.

If your home needs renovation to remove lead-based paint products, give Five Star Painting a call 1-866-965-STAR. We’d love to make your home a safer place.

When there are roller marks on the wall, it is from the unintentional textured pattern left in the paint by the roller. This can happen from using the roller incorrectly or having the wrong roller cover. This is what it can look like:

The following are appropriate roller cover types and nap sizes to use for specific paints:

• Latex paints use synthetic fiber covers
• Alkyd/oil paints use lambs’ wool, mohair, or other natural fiber covers.
• Smooth surfaces: flats and satins use 3/8″ covers; semi-gloss and gloss use 1/4″ covers.
• Textured surfaces: (depending on the texture) 1/2″, 3/4″, or longer.

Good quality rollers ensure adequate film thickness and uniformity. When using latex paints, pre-dampen the rollers with water and shake out any excess water. Condition the paint by soaking it in the paint for about five minutes prior to painting. Try not to let the paint build up on the ends of the rollers. Also, be sure to sand and buff out any rough areas before painting.

For more questions regarding how to avoid roller marks, please visit Sherwin Williams website or give Five Star Painting a call 1-866-965-STAR.

When kids live in a home, the walls are bound to get a few marks and scuffs. Accidents and experiments happen. Parents, take a deep breath. You may not prevent kids from spoiling your furniture, but you can likely repair the damage.

Save Left-Over Paint, Wallpaper, and Carpeting

When removing marks from the walls, some come off fine and others will remove the paint or wallpaper with it. In cases like these, parents will be grateful that they saved those cans of left-over paint or extra rolls of wallpaper. One important tip parents will want to remember when painting over a stain is to first use a primer. This will prevent the mark from bleeding through the new coat.

When Repainting, Go With Glossy

If you don’t have left-over paint and the store can’t match a paint chip to do a touch up, you’ll need to find a creative way to hide it the stain, or think about repainting the room. One silver lining to this dark cloud might be in nipping future marks in the bud. Instead of redecorating with more wallpaper or repainting with matte or satin, parents can try painting with a high-gloss finish. They’ll love the way marks, food, and whatever else their kids dish out next time wipes away with cleaner and a wet cloth.

Remodeling? Paint your walls with oil paint, a surface from which crayon can be easily cleaned. For new art supplies, go with soap-based crayons. To rid ink stains from the walls, wipe ink marks with bleach.

Consider painting a large area of your child’s bedroom with chalkboard paint. This gives children a big creative space where they won’t get into trouble when drawing on the walls. It turns out really cute too!

How to Remove Crayon from the Walls

To remove crayon from painted walls and wallpaper that you can scrub, put baking soda on crayon stains and scrubbing them clean with a wet toothbrush, as well as mixing dishwasher detergent and water and rubbing the solution with a damp sponge. Another great way is to put a blow dryer on it to melt the wax and remove with a damp washcloth.

Only allow young children to use washable art materials, such as markers, tempera and watercolor paint. It will save you a lot of headaches.

If you need help taking care of this problem, give Five Star Painting a call and we can help you out 1-866-965-7827.

Do you want to give your home a face lift? If so, Five Star Painting is here for your service. Cleanliness, timeliness and being on budget are the hallmarks of our company. We would be pleased to give you a FREE estimate for any painting project you have in mind. Visit our website or give us a call to set up an appointment with your local estimator.

When it comes to decorating, choosing paint color can really be a challenge. There are so many choices to choose from, you would think you’re bound to find the right one, but you may not know where to even begin! Five Star Painting can help you decide what colors will radiant your home. Check out the tips below if you have a painting project in the works.

Patience

It’s great to collect paint chips when planning a room, but hold off making final choices until you’ve developed an overall room scheme. Paint is available in millions of colors and is the most versatile element of your room decor, the easiest to change, and the least expensive. Get ideas but make the final decision after rugs, wallpaper, and fabrics are finalized.

Color Shopping

When you go shopping, you’ll need to refer to your fabric, carpet, tile, wallpaper, and trim samples constantly. Be sure to take everything with you wherever you go. You never know when you might see something wonderful. Consider which paint finish might be best for your project. Matte or flat finishes hide wall imperfections, but glossier finishes will reflect more light.

Colors for Trim

The shade of white or off-white for the moldings, doors, and windows are the most popular. If you’re feeling brave, consider the palest shade of color to coordinate with the walls. For a really striking look, try lighter walls and dark tones or bright color for trim.

Paint stores encourage their consumers to use a primer under the top coat of paint. This makes them a lot of money of course, but is not the best advice. When someone wants to use primer, they only think of two different capabilities – priming and sealing. In reality, primer is about two different applications and probably two different products.

1. A sealer is meant to ‘seal’ something into the wall, like water stains or ink from a pen. Have you ever tried to paint over a pen mark on the wall? If so, you probably noticed that the ink bled right through the paint you just put on. Then you paint it again, and the same thing happens – you still see the ink. A sealer will fix this. The sealer will seal the ink into the wall and not allow it to bleed through the finish coat of paint. You will notice that the ink will bleed through the sealer, but that’s fine because you will still need to apply the top coat. Once that is done, you will never know that there was ink on the wall.
2. A primer does something a little different. It primes the surface to make it ready for the top coat. For example, you need to prime raw wood for the top coat to stick to it. There are three main substrates that need priming – raw wood, new drywall, and raw metal. Some paints have a primer built into it and you may be able to use it as a primer and a top coat all at once. But most of the time, you will have to prime these substrates before applying your latex topcoat.

Remember this rule – If the substrate is already painted, you DON’T NEED a primer anymore. You may need a sealer if there are pen marks or a water stain, but not a primer.

So the next time you question buying primer, remember these tips. If you have any questions or would like a FREE estimate, call Five Star Painting at 1-866-965-STAR (7827).

Spring is the perfect time to give your home a fresh look. Liven up traditional design with the hottest spring colors, serving as inspiration for the entire home. Spring traditionally awakens a sense of freshness and new beginnings, with sprouting shoots and blossoming flowers that inspire people to breakout of the winter blues. From serene shades to vivid hues, here are some color schemes you’ll want to try this season.

Bright & Clean

Spring hues are ideal for a girl’s bedroom. Use a polka-dot pillow and damask fabric in apple green as inspiration to complement a pink wall. A white headboard would make the pink wall pop.

Energizing Appeal

One of the most appealing shades of spring is the deep blue. Combine it with other favorite hues, like tomato red, turquoise and apple green, to create an energetic and bright design.

Luxurious Surroundings

The classic blue and yellow combo is always a favorite. While white is often paired with this palette to keep it light and airy, using black accents to create a richer, more sophisticated atmosphere also works well.

Serene and Restful

Welcome nature into the bedroom with a soft green. The great thing about shades of green is that they look fabulous and they’ve got a nice calming effect. Add some floral textiles to create this calming retreat. Refer back to a previous blog post on Color Trends for 2010 for more details.

Accessorize Your Home

Create a fresh and open space with cheery spring accessories. Use a color to paint the walls and the remaining colors for pillows, lampshades, rugs and other great accessories.

Five Star Painting would be happy to present some helpful color schemes, as well as decorating tips to give your home a fresh look. Please call us at 1-866-965-STAR.

New Concrete

Do your homework on the concrete before painting it. Please don’t just apply the paint and hope it will stick – this will cause many headaches for you down the road. It is important to know if there were any kinds of concrete hardeners or membranes that were used by the floor finishers. If water beads on the surface, or etching the surface still doesn’t seem to work, then there was probably a membrane or hardener used in the concrete. Membranes can be removed with paint thinner, but hardeners must be removed with shot-blasting or some sort of bead-blasting. Please talk to the concrete finisher before proceeding with anything, as he will give you the best advice on what to do.

Muriatic Acid

Muriatic acid is sometimes used to clean surfaces before painting. The proper mixture is 1part acid to 3 parts water. Please use caution as we are dealing with an acid here – make sure that when you are mixing the two together (the acid and the water) that the acid is poured in to the water, and not the other way around. Heat is created in the mixing process, and foaming might also occur – just be sure that the solution does not splash onto you. Always be sure to wear the proper attire when mixing chemicals. Also, be sure to allow 72 hours of drying before applying any coat of paint to the surface.

Etching

Using Muriatic acid is a very good way to etch a floor. People often use mops to apply the solution across the floor. This causes heavy and light spots around the floor. Try using a plastic watering can in a criss-cross method instead. This method seems to work better for consistency. The mixture must sit for about 30 minutes, or until the fizzing stops. The surface must then be rinsed with water to remove the salts from the reaction of the acid and the concrete. Always be sure to use the proper attire when working with chemicals.

Curing Time for Concrete

Painting concrete before the moisture has left it will cause the paint to peel and lift as the moisture tries to escape. Typically, concrete cures after 30 days. However, there is still moisture within the concrete trying to escape for up to 60 days after it has been poured. Be sure to wait at least 60 days before painting new concrete.

Laitence

Laitence is a thin film of cement and sand that ends up on the top of the concrete when a machine has done the finish floating of a concrete floor. The mixture of Muriatic acid and water will remove the laitance, please refer to the ‘Muriatic Acid’ section for more instructions. You can also use any kind of etching solution to remove the laitence as well. Laitence sluffs off and makes the floor dusty. In fact, laitence is what is often found on the back of the paint when it has failed on a concrete surface.

Moisture Testing

Here is a simple moisture test to see if the concrete is ready for paint. Cut a piece of 4 mil plastic into a 3’ X 3’ square. Completely seal the edges with duct tape – make sure that it is completely sealed around all the edges. Allow it to sit for 48 hour. If no condensation forms, the concrete should be ready for paint. Sometimes, if the proper vapor barrier was not used when the concrete was formed, you might have continual moisture problems with that slab of concrete. If this is the case, the paint might not ever ‘stick’ properly.

If you have some concrete that needs to be painted, give Five Star Painting a call for a FREE estimate, 1-866-965-STAR or visit our website.

Decorative ceilings are back, you can call it “the fifth wall”. Eileen Smith Dallabrida with Painting and Wallcovering Contractor (PWC) has accommodated Five Star Painting with great insight on decorative ceilings. Many people living in contemporary homes are now wanting to get a bit of personality, so ceiling decorations, along with complementary wall trims, are on their way back. A decorated ceiling can beat out any painting project, making it an eye-popping room.

Art filled ceilings are becoming more popular whether they are finished as a stand-alone project or part of a larger job. The market in this field is increasing for all manner of dramatic and subtle finishes high above the traditional wall space. The talented painters behind these projects are busier than ever.

Options for ceilings cover the spectrum of decorative techniques. These include faux painting, wood graining, stenciling, plaster work, gold leafing, murals on canvas, and any other technique that springs from an artist’s inspiration. Mixing a variety of textures and sheens boosts the sophistication level of a room.

When considering a ceiling project, photos are worth a thousand words. Viewing before-and-after shots are very effective in showing the difference a well-appointed ceiling can make. Also, seeing past projects in person can be especially helpful. Preparing overhead surfaces can be a lot heftier compared to prepping and painting walls. Most likely, the primary cost will be labor.

Decorating your ceilings can be more than just a paint job, with classic decorative pieces adding character and charm to your home’s interior. Please feel free to visit the PWC website.

Service Temperatures

Here is the scale for the maximum service temperature for paints:

• Latex and oil: 200˚F or 90˚C
• Epoxies: 300˚F or 150˚C
• Aluminum: 400˚F or 200˚C
• Inorganic Zinc: 750˚F or 400˚C

*These products will fail if they are exposed to temperatures higher than listed above.

Thermal Tack

Thermal tack is caused when the humidity and temperature rise enough to make the coating soften on latex gloss and semi-gloss paints. Even if the paint was applied a long time ago, this problem may still occur. The surface will become tacky to the touch initially, but will go away once the temperature and humidity drop. In areas where this might happen on a frequent basis, it would be wise to paint front doors and jams in an oil based paint instead. If the doors become tacky, they tend to stick to the weatherproofing and cause a mess.

Paint Viscosity

The thickness or viscosity of the paint depends greatly on the temperature of the paint. When a paint is colder, the molecules huddle together as if they were cold, which makes the paint thick. When you try and apply that paint to the wall, it will tend to sag and will not flow very well because of its viscosity level. On the flip side, warmer molecules want to spread out, which almost thin the paint. Because of this, the paint will go on too lightly and you will have problems with coverage. For the best results, try and regulate the temperature of your paint by having it be between 70˚F or 21˚C and 77˚F or 25˚C before you start to paint.

Sheens and Touch Ups

Touching something up can sometimes be a difficult thing to do. It is quite dependant on the sheen, the type (latex or oil), and the age of the paint. First, let’s talk about oil paints. Oil eggshell and semi-glosses will lose a quarter to a third of their sheen after about three months. Trying to touch up a surface that has been painted with that type of paint after the three months could be very obvious. It is better to repaint the entire area instead of just touching it up. Latex paints also tend to lose their gloss, but at a much slower rate and quantity as oil paints. Latex paints are easier to touch up, but remember that you might have some flashing depending on the amount of time since the original paint was applied. With oil and latex paint, you also might run into the problem of fading paint due to sun or other environmental issues. Fortunately, both oil and latex flats are the easiest to touch up, even after a period of time. A quick tip: using an HVLP to touch up the surfaces seems to blend the sheen differences the best.

Temperature Ranges

Be sure to do any touch ups to a surface at the same temperature in which the original paint was applied. There is a rule of thumb in the painting world, that you should not paint any surface below 50˚F or 10˚C, or if that surface will dip down below that temperature at night, until the paint has sufficiently dried. There are, however, some paints out there that have been developed to extend the exterior painting season that will allow the paint to be applied in 35˚F or 2˚C, (ICI’s Fortis and This Old House). If you do touch up something under the recommended temperature, it might dry a little lighter than the original paint. Therefore be sure to apply the touch up paint at the same temperature in which the original coat was applied.

Touch Up Applicators

(This is especially true for smooth walls.) If you are going to touch up a surface, make sure that you use the same applicator as was used originally. Different applicators leave different finishes on the surface. It would be very obvious if there were a brush mark in the middle of a rolled wall. Try and be consistent with the applicators you use and you will find that you will have better results. The more the wall is textured, the easier it is to touch up using any tool, even using a brush over a rolled surface.