Frequently Asked Questions

Interior
Painting Questions

  • Generally speaking latex products normally dry to the touch within a hour, pending on moisture in the home. 

    As for curing… wall products generally take around three weeks and trim products normally take about six weeks.

  • Products have been reformulated to make interior painting, much more safer for children and expecting mothers. Most products are designed with low VOC…

    “Volatile organic compounds” for this reason.

    Although some hybrid products…meaning, both oil and latex mixed together need to be ventilated and all oil based products do require proper ventilation.

  • It depends on the amount of traffic such as children dogs, etc. etc. Most commonly walls are finished in a eggshell or a satin for washability purposes. There are low sheen products as well that are also washable with different vendors. A flat finish can also be used but offer very limited washability. As a professional, I strongly suggest a low sheen finish such as a matte or eggshell in rooms with a lot of natural sunlight. The more sheen you have on the walls combined with natural sunlight tends to show imperfections in walls. A flat or a matte finish reduces seeing imperfections in walls due to natural sunlight. This is one of my strong points when meeting with you to provide a free quote is to review the interior and offer strong suggestions as to what finished to use.

  • Touching up is a challenging process with hopes of getting things to blend, especially after walls in most cases having already been painted for a long time. Even interior wall paint will fade at some point and it makes touching up and blending a challenge. There are proper techniques used to help with that effort such as not using a brush and using a small roller to keep the consistency on the walls. If attempting to touch up with a brush…from a side view, you will most likely see brush marks as opposed to using a small roller to blend helps. The other challenge is with colors. I find that trying to touch up a darker color is more challenging than lighter colors. Touching up in general is a gamble with hopes of blending. In most cases, I strongly suggest at least going from corner to corner on walls that are in really bad shape.

  • Generally speaking most interior walls, pending moisture in the house allowing walls to dry properly, things can be redecorated at least one day after painting is completed. The rule of thumb is the longer you can wait the better however, I’m sure in most cases that’s a challenge as homeowners want to have their home back to normal as soon as possible.

    It is strongly recommended not putting things on freshly painted horizontal surfaces for at least 5 to 7 days. Reason being is because the weight of the item placed on freshly painted surfaces can cause things to stick and when cleaning or redecorating it could stick causing damage to the surface.

    Painting or staining banister rail systems must be kept from touching for 5 to 7 days. The longer you can wait on those areas the better as generally speaking they get a lot of hand traffic.

  • My strong suggestion is to wait at least 4 weeks before attempting to wash anything from the walls. If Paint hasn’t cured properly and pending the color, you could wash some of the finish off. I also strongly suggest that when doing so only use a rag with warm water, followed by a dry towel immediately.

  • I would suggest waiting 4 to 6 weeks with changing colors as you’ll want the previous color to cure properly before adding more coats with a different color. Otherwise, you could risk the chance of trapping moisture which then causes curing issues.

  • It is true that when painting a room with limited natural sunlight along with a darker color can make the room appear to be smaller. Rooms with adequate sunlight doesn’t seem to change the visual aspect at all.

  • In most cases that’s not an issue however, with bigger gaps and with surfaces moving slightly with the different seasons, I have seen that happen. But that’s only when trying to caulk a bigger gap than normal which is not recommended to begin with. In those cases, I strongly recommend a carpenter help with adding a smaller piece of trim to cover areas with bigger gaps.

Exterior Painting Questions

  • Yes the sun will cause the exterior paint to fade over a period of time. It’s recommended to use high end products that helps with keeping things looking great and protect for a longer period of time.

  • Yes it’s very important to caulk all areas, it keeps moisture from getting in and rotting wood and looks complete.

  • There’s a few variables concerning protection, start by making sure all surfaces are primed if raw wood is showing and caulked properly. Using a high end product helps. Always paint when needed such as when you see things fading or peeling.

  • It depends on the homeowners desire. Some think that if they’ve never been painted then leave them and others enjoy a uniform look to match the freshly painted trim of the exterior.

    Products have been reformulated to bond to metal without the concern of peeling.

  • A professional painting company should inspect all areas for rotted wood before painting as part of the prepping process. At that time they need to bring it to your attention to be repaired. Painting over rotted wood will not last.

  • Yes, as long as the product is kept in a warm environment and sealed properly year round. If it freezes it’ll go bad.

  • Normally when using a high end product you could get 5-7 years of protection pending how much sun you get. Meaning some homes are surrounded by trees that help protect from harsh U.V. rays from the sun however, things will need to dry out as well otherwise mold and mildew could be factors.

  • 100%, the reason being because paint won’t bond properly over dirt or dust causing paint failure. As a professional I need to strongly suggest waiting to clean windows until after pressure washing is complete.