When you replace wallboard you’ll need to remove any trim.   Door and window casings will have to come off, along with any base or crown molding.   Baseboard heating or radiators will need to be removed, the same goes for any light fixtures mounted on walls or ceilings.   After you remove all the stuff, then comes the demolition.   Breaking up and disposing of drywall is a dirty,  labor intensive job. And that’s the easy part.

After removing all the old drywall along with any screws or nails left in the framing,  you now need to purchase and transport full sheets of dry wall into the room where you are working.   You’ll need to cut and screw pieces into place, tape and spackle the new boards and then replace all that stuff you removed before you took down the old wallboard.   Even if you managed to get your moldings off in one piece, you’re still going to need to nail them back in place, putty the nail holes, caulk the gaps and paint.

Removing wallcovering, even when done by an expert may damage the face paper on wallboard.   Sometimes pulling off strippable wallcoverings will also pull up the facing.   Wet stripping wallcovering can make the underlying wallboard soft.   If the walls are too wet, you may wind up scraping or pulling paint off the wall or putting nicks or small gouges in the wallboard.  Taking down paneling can also leave you with a less than desirable surface to work with.  Fear not.  This stuff can be repaired.

The first thing you need to do is to stabilize the surface.  If you have taken down paneling and are left with peeling face paper and adhesive on the wall you need to clean it up.  If you take a razor knife and outline the glombs of adhesive you can scrape or pull off the glue and limit the damage.  Do the same thing with loose face paper.  Don’t worry if there’s still some tattered and loose areas, that’s what the primer is for.  We use Zinsser Gardz primer.  This product is designed to reglue loose face paper back to the wallboard.  Follow directions and let it dry thoroughly.  You might need to go back and remove some more of the loose paper and spot prime some areas where the paper is not laying down.  After the surface is good and dry, give the walls a light sanding and you’re ready to skim coat.

Skim coating might best be left to a professional, but if you want to give it a try, my advice is to put your joint compound on very thin.  Thin coats eliminate ridges and tool marks.  The compound will dry quicker so you can go over it sooner and when you’re done you’ll have less to sand.

I?m extremely familiar with customers agonizing over choosing the right color.  First Point: If you’re having real difficulty choosing between two colors, particularly if there is just a shade or two difference between them, it’s not about the color.  It has to do with you’re your inability to be decisive and to commit.  People in a quandary over color probably have a similar problem ordering off the menu in a restaurant.  Do I get the Chicken Marsalis or the Chicken Francaise?

Second Point:  It’s only paint.  If you decide on a color and it turns out you can’t live with it, you can always paint over it with another color.  It’s not like installing new kitchen cabinets and counter tops then finding out you don’t like them.  If you make a wrong decision there, changing your mind has real consequences.

Third Point: You’ll never look this hard again.  Suppose you are again, trying to choose between three shades of the same basic color.  I can put the lightest of the three on one wall and go to the opposite wall in the room and apply the darkest shade and if I didn’t tell you, you wouldn’t know they were different.  I could apply the lightest color on one wall and apply the middle tone on the adjacent wall and again if I didn’t tell you…  Sure, if you look closely you might see the difference.? But a week after the painting project is completed you are not going to enter your bedroom and scrutinize the color.  You’ll be going into the bedroom to sleep or get dressed or to hang something up in your closet; you won’t be thinking to yourself  “Gee, if I only went a shade lighter”.  If you are thinking that, see “First Point” above.

Final Point (I could go on):  It’s your house and you have to live with it.  There are two basic choices in color selection, neutral and bold.  Granted, you do have to decide if you want to bring out a certain color in your scheme (ROY G BIV).  If you want to keep the room neutral, think of the color as a background, not as a focal point.  Look for your color in washed out or muted tones.

If you want to go bold, well then, bold is just that. I once had a customer who had her hall bathroom painted red.  Not “autumn red” or “sunset red” I mean fire engine red.  She had the right fixtures and tile to go with the color.  It was bold, it was different, it was definitely a statement and she loved it.  I’ve also painted a kitchen ceiling black.  Same thing -with the right wallcovering and cabinets, it was very stylish.

I use particular products because through the process of elimination they’ve become my favorites.  I’ve become comfortable using certain items over the years mainly because I’m familiar with how they perform.  When I open a can of Benjamin Moore paint or a can of Sherwin Williams stain I understand from experience, the best way to apply them; I know what’s needed in the way of surface preparation.  I know first hand the dry time and the re-coat time.

If you’re reading this post, you’re doing so to gain from my experience.  My experience consists not only of how I’ve been doing things over the years but also the reasons why I do things a certain way.  In my line of work, what you’re using is as important as how you’re using it.

When you wipe down the wood, if you plan on staining the wood, pay careful attention to areas that are not darkening as you wipe them down.  If the areas are staying rather pale, there might be wood glue sealing the pores of the wood.  If the gluey areas aren’t scraped or sanded clean they will not accept the wood stain and will appear as light blotches on the wood after staining.  Glue residue might be present around dowels used to hide screws.  You might also find glue around joints in the handrail where they break in another direction. Some railing installers might even glue balusters to the banister.  The good installers do a pretty good job of cleaning-up the glue.  The bad guys can leave a mess.

After you clean-up the wood, you’ll want to apply a coat of conditioner to the railing.   The purpose of this step is to allow the more porous areas of the wood to soak up the sealer.  Theoretically you should be evening-out the porosity of the wood’s surface.  There are some companies that manufacture products specifically designed for this purpose.  I thin down the “Seal Coat” with alcohol as per the directions on the can.  Depending on the porosity of the particular wood you are finishing and the amount of sanding you do after the application of the conditioner you might need to adjust the concentration of the conditioner.  It’s always good to have a piece of scrap left over from the railing installation so as to test the final color on the wood.  If you don’t take this step to even the porosity of the wood you will have some porous areas sucking up a lot of stain.  Those areas will be noticeably darker than the other parts of the project.  You can get what we call tiger grain, wild variations in the grain on one single piece of wood.  You really want the stained wood to be of relatively even color with the grain softly highlighted.

When I’m staining a project, I like to use the Sherwin Williams “Wood Classics” stain.  This is a pigmented stain.? By varying the time you let the stain sit before you wipe it, you can control the depth of color.  These satins come in a variety of colors and can be customized by either blending the available colors and/or adding universal tinting color to the stain.  These stains dry within 2-4 hours where most other stains need an overnight dry.

Apply the stain, using a bristle brush.  If you’re smart, you can buy yourself a small edging pad to use on the balusters.  Once you get the hang of them it’ll make the staining go much faster.  Follow the application instructions on the stain can.  Make sure you dispose of any stain soaked rags.  They will spontaneously combust and catch fire!After the stain is dry, I like to apply another coat of alcohol based sealer over the stain.  This ensures that the stain won’t lift up after it is rewet by the polyurethane.  Apply the 2 coats of poly as in the previous post, sanding between coats, but not too hard or you’ll sand through the stain.  After a few days, when the poly is hard, you can use a wax blend stick to fill any holes from any nails used during installation.

Most new railings are done in oak. Oak is a hard open grained wood. There is less raising of the grain on a hard wood such as oak then on soft woods such as pine or fir. Step one is cleaning the railing. Using a 100 or 150 grit sandpaper, look over the railing carefully while giving it a light sanding. Be sure to clean-up any pencil marks, scuffs, scratches or dings that might be present after the installation. Also it’s wise to break any sharp edges on the wood. Balusters whether square cut or turned, along with the banister and newel posts will have sharp edges created during the milling process. Rounding over the edges will ensure that the poly will have a surface to adhere to.

After sanding I usually take a cotton tee-shirt- type rag, dip it into a bucket of water, wring out as much water as possible, and wipe down the railing. The wood is going to become damp, that’s okay. Just try not to get the railing too wet. The oak will darken when you wipe it down. The color of the oak when it is wet is a good indication of the color you will get when you’re just putting clear polyurethane on the wood. After the wood is thoroughly dry it’s time to apply some sort of sealer to the wood. I use Zinsser’s Seal Coat for my sealer. It’s a refined shellac designed as a base for varnishes, polyurethanes and acrylic urethanes. Normally you shouldn’t use shellac under polyurethanes. This product is designed to be an exception to that rule. Being alcohol based, the Seal Coat dries quickly and leaves a hard surface that is easy to sand.

The poly manufacturers might recommend the application of a first coat of poly, either full strength or thinned. There’s nothing wrong with that, but the poly takes a long time to dry and remains a bit soft. This makes your sandpaper gum up and you wind up rubbing the finish more than sanding it.

Once your sealing coat is dry, you’ll need to sand everything again. This time you’re sanding to make everything smooth. You’ll sand down any raised grain from the sealer application. I use a 180 or 220 grit paper for this step. The (thin) foam backed sanding pads are a great tool when you’re doing a new railing. The pad will mold to the contours of the rails and balusters, reducing the time it takes to sand in the nooks and crannies. After sanding the whole project, you’ll need to wipe it down with the damp rag, again. Wipe the dust out of the nooks and crannies otherwise that dust will make your first coat of urethane feel like sandpaper after it dries.

After wiping everything down, let the wood dry thoroughly and apply a coat of polyurethane. I suggest using an oil based polyurethane. Sometimes, acrylic urethanes will get a bit gummy after being exposed to the oils from hands constantly being run over their surface. After letting the polyurethane dry over night, it’s time to sand again. Use 220 grit or 320 grit sandpaper. By this time there shouldn’t be too many rough areas left. Most of the roughness comes from the grain raising up after the sealer is applied, so if you did a thorough job of sealing, sanding and wiping the first time, this should be a token sanding. You’ll need to get rid of any residual rough spots and any dust that might have accumulated on the surface while the poly was still tacky. Your second coat of polyurethane will set-up and dry faster than the first coat, reducing the amount of dust that might stick to the finish. After the token sanding, wipe it all down again. Let it dry. Apply another coat of poly, and you’re done.

This post relates to a painting contractor’s first step in any estimate. At the bottom of the post you can access an excel file with an interior take-off sheet that I’ve been using for years. The exterior take-off should be in the next post. When I first started out in business I would go out to do an estimate during the walk through with the customer I would make notes on a legal pad while the customer told me what they needed done. I came to realize that talking to the customer and trying to make notes was a distraction. I would get back to the office to figure the job and find I was missing some information from some part of the job. Since the best way to estimate painting work is to break the area you are painting into its components and all rooms have similar components I designed a take-off sheet. If you download the excel file you will see the interior take-off sheet has the components listed for each of 5 rooms. You may want to print a copy of the take-off sheet for your own use.

Room dimensions are self explanatory. Doors, bucks (door openings), and windows each have room for type and amount. Suppose the room you’re estimating has 2 French doors, 2 raised panel doors and a flush door. Each type of door will vary in the time it will take to paint it. You need to know type and amount to figure your time. The same goes for door trim and windows. How many 6 over 6 double hung windows? How many casement windows? The other elements of the room are listed as basic check boxes with room for a note. A drop ceiling in a room would register: no, in the ceiling box. Bathroom walls tiled half way, I write  in the walls box. Is there a closet to be painted? Check. Are there radiators in the room that need to be painted?

Going down the take-off sheet simplifies my note taking in addition to providing a checklist for the most common elements that are painted in a room. The more detailed your take-off, the more comprehensive your estimate will be. You will ensure that you won’t loose out because you inadvertently omitted something.

Artisan Painting Excel Takeoff Sheet

First of all you want the surface you are painting to be sound. Any peeling paint should be scraped off. Sanding areas where paint has chipped off will make for a smoother appearance and insure the surrounding area isn’t loose or unstable. If you are scraping or sanding any paints, be sure to test for the presence of lead. Follow practical guidelines for dealing with lead based coatings: Click: http://www.pdca.org/consumer_Lead.htm or http://www.paint.org/con_info/leadpaint/guidelines.cfm

After you are done making sure the surface is sound, you need to make sure the surface you are painting is clean. Painting, particularly on the outside, over surfaces that are not clean can cause major problems. The chemistry of exterior paint is designed so that the new coat of paint bonds to the previous sound layer of paint. If you paint over dirt, the new paint will do a fine job sticking to the dirt. Problem is, how well is the dirt sticking to that old layer of paint. I’ve seen plenty of instances where peeling paint will have dirt or algae on the back side of the chip, indicating the coating was applied over a dirty surface. When washing, pay particular attention to areas under porches or eaves, areas that are not exposed to rain. After washing let the house dry at least a day or two.

Priming over bare wood and unsound areas is essential when you’re doing exterior painting. As stated above, paints are designed to adhere to previous layers of paint. Bare wood is not paint! Primers on the other hand, have a different function than finish paints. Today’s primers are designed to adhere to most surfaces, as well as provide a sound surface for finish paints to stick to. Using a quality primer makes good cents, saving time and money in the long run.

Take the time to do the job right. Work safely. Use quality tools and materials. Do this and your painting project will look great and last for a quite a while.