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Home | Painting & Decorating : Tips | Contact Us |
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Painting tips and solutions to painting problems in Spain... |
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As the title suggests this page contains a few tips and solutions to painting problems. It does not cover every aspect of painting but hopefully some of the important and more common issues. Many people think that painting is simple and so try to paint their own property to save money. Painting is more involved than most people think and can be extremely hard work, a fact that people generally start to realise when they try to undertake the job themselves... but if you do, then some of this short list of tips and solutions might help you. |
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Washing down surfaces to be painted! |
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Washing down surfaces is a very important part of a painter's preparation. Unfortunately a lot of people and a frightening number of painters, probably “to make the price cheaper” do not wash the property down properly. The annoying thing is that once the property has been painted without washing down, the salt and grime is then trapped between layers of paint and will very probably cause problems in the future. |
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Interior surfaces - These need a good wipe down to remove any dust and dirt, wash down around switches and other surfaces with grime and grease using sugar soap (or similar) and then with clean water. Extra care needs to be taken while washing around electrical items such as switches and power sockets - if you are not sure about this then turn the electric off while you wash down... electric shocks can kill! |
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Exterior surfaces - In the south of Spain especially near the sea it doesn't take long for a layer of grime and salt to build up on the exterior walls and woodwork of your property. It is important to wash down any surfaces to be painted with a pressure washer before painting, then scrap off any loose paint and make repairs. Doing this will make the painted finish last longer, not doing this can produce problems in the future. |
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Care needs to be taken when using a pressure washer, they may not look it but these are powerful machines that can do a lot of damage in the hands of inexperienced users. It is important to make sure the pressure is not too high for the surface you are cleaning. |
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If using a painting contractor, ask if they are going to pressure wash the exterior before painting. If they say no then you are probably choosing the wrong one, if they say yes then make sure they do! |
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Preparation! |
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I know, here he goes again... more hard work you don't want to hear about, but preparation is one of the single most important aspects of painting a surface. As mentioned before, wash down well... then you will need to remove any loose paint. Small cracks will need to be filled with a good exterior filler, hand mixed is best, or a masonry seal 'caulk'. Use exterior filler or cement for larger cracks and sand down any filled surface before painting. Loose render or plaster needs to be repaired. If the surface remains powdery then a coat of stabilizer can be applied before painting but note: do not be liberal with a stabilizing solution as it can create problems for paint adhesion if applied to a surface that doesn't need it. It should not be applied to new render and only used for the reason I gave before. If painting a newly rendered surface the render must be fully dry, first apply one diluted coat of paint to seal up the surface then one or two coats as directed on the tin. |
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It is estimated that around 80% of paint failures are due to improper surface preparation. |
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Cracking / peeling paint! |
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If your paint is cracking or peeling then there can be several causes, listed here are a few: |
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The cause for this on exterior walls is generally because the surface has not been washed down and properly prepared before applying the paint. This could have happened between any of the times the building was painted and generally the paint starts to peel 'pull' back or fall off when this is the case. The solution is to strip the paint back to remove any badly adhered paint then rub down with sandpaper and make repairs before repainting. |
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The causes for this on railings could be that the railings where not washed and/or then not rubbed down with a fine grit sandpaper before they where painted. You can also use wire wool but the important thing is to remove the top surface from the paint so the new paint gets a grip on the old paint. Peeling on railings can also happen if an oil based paint has been applied over a water based paint or vice versa. As a general rule I find it is best not apply water based paint to metalwork. |
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Higher priced or cheap paint? |
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Higher priced paints are generally more expensive for a reason, we advise you never to buy cheap paint as it generally tends to be of poor quality. If you are not sure then ask for paints that are in the professional range or 'gama professional' such as from the paint manufacturers mentioned below. It is tempting to use cheaper paints as high quality paints can be frighteningly expensive when you first discover their price... but these high quality paints offer a greater resistance to sun and weathering and a stability that the cheaper paints generally don't and when properly applied can make your property look better and protect it for longer. |
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You asked the sales person and he said it was very good or 'muy bueno' ...well it might be very good for the price... but it is unlikely to be anywhere near as good as the higher quality products. You are probably about to spend quite a lot of money to paint your property and hopefully have spent a lot of time preparing the surfaces, so why ruin it all by using low quality paint? |
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Some of the high quality paints I recommend are: |
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For exterior walls - Seigneurie, Dulux Weathershield Masonry and Dulux Weathershield Maximum Exposure. For interior walls & ceilings – Seigneurie, Dulux Diamond Matt, for ceilings Seigneurie or Dulux Vinyl Matt. For gloss work - TKrom industrial, Emulcril esmalte and Dulux gloss paints. For exterior metalwork – Rust Bullet (Import only) and then a topcoat of finishing colour. For woodwork – Sikkens, Dulux, T-Krom or Emulcril |
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This paint can be user over rusted metalwork! |
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The paint tin tells me I can apply straight over rust so I don't need to do anything more... well not really true. Metalwork needs to have any loose paint and rust removed, then be rubbed down so the paint can adhere better, generally first using a scraper, then a wire bush and 80 then 150 grit sandpaper. It can also help to apply some kind of rust eater or remover to the rust areas before painting unless you have imported some Rust Bullet or POR-15 for the undercoat, in these cases loose rust should be removed along with all old paint for the latter while rubbing down with 150 grit on old paint is enough for Rust Bullet (If using these products then read instructions 'in detail' for the painting proceedure as these two products are not like normal paints or undercoats). |
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Something to understand about using colours on exterior walls! |
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You want to paint your property exterior and have decided to go for a colour, great... but something to be aware of is that generally most colours in paints mixed using machines in your paint shop will use organic pigments which will fade in sunlight... rapidly. Weaker colours can be best but the stronger colours and even some weaker ones can be a problem. So what is the solution? Use a pre-mixed colour from the high quality paint suppliers´ colour card or buy Dulux Weathershield which uses light-fast non-lead pigments. |
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Never paint again! |
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The advertisement might tell you 'You need never paint again' to get your attention, then later you are told you have up to 15 years protection... there is a big difference! Why not just tell the truth? EGBS believe in saying how it is from the outset, no fancy words and no deceiving statements... if you spend the money to have professional painting done with top quality products and proper preparation then there is not any real way of bettering your painting project. With proper preparation and the application of 'Dulux Weathershield Masonry' or 'Dulux Weathershield Maximum Exposure' paints your property will have up to 15 years protection, and you do not need to spend 2 to 3 times more for the same! |
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How much paint will you need? |
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Firstly, what it tells you on the tin should be used as a guide only and is for only one coat. This will also depend on the surface to be painted. If you are painting an already painted smooth wall then you might get 10 to 15 sq metres per litre of paint (Relative to product), and your second coat should go a little further. If painting roughcast or pebbledash walls then the coverage will be a lot less, on extreme roughcast I have seen paint cover as little as 2 sq metres per litre on the first coat. |
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Painting roughcast! |
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The roughness of the roughcast is will decide how it should be treated. If it is normal roughcast and has been painted before then you might get away with a long-haired roller then pushing paint into the missed bits with a 2.5 to 3 inch brush. If it is very rough then you may find the only way is to use a 2.5 to 3 inch brush and push or 'stab' the paint into the surface. To be honest I personally would not try and spray the paint on for various reasons and have found old fashioned elbow grease is the best way to paint roughcast. |
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Protecting floors and furniture |
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It is best to move any furniture away from the walls and into the center of the room when painting interiors, cover anything that needs protected including the floor with heavy dust sheets. In Spain it is not common to have carpets so sometimes it can be handy to have a bucket and mop, if painting halls and passages or rooms where there is no furniture it can help to mop the floor as you paint, this then clears any painting drops or specks from the floor but if you do use a mop rather than dust sheets then just be careful you are wearing footware that prevents you from slipping, my personal preference is to use dust sheets. |
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Clothing |
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It is best not to wear wool clothing when painting as the hairs tend to get into the paint and stick to the newly painted surface, it really does pay to wear overalls. If you have long hair then tie it up as this will stop you getting hair onto a newly painted surface and also save you the hassle of trying to get paint out of your hair. Wearing a pair of linen or light cloth gloves when rubbing down and even when painting will keep old paint dust out of your skin pores and make it easier to wash up at the end of the day. |
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Important! |
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Generally it is good practice to wear protective eyewear when painting, this is even more important when painting roughcast as the paint will tend to squirt out when being pushed into the hollow areas and it always seems to go in the painter's direction! If you do get paint in your eye it can be painful and cause discomfort, do follow the manufacturer's safety notes on how to treat this, generally it will involve washing your eye out with clean water and visiting a Doctor if the eye still gives you problems. |
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I will try to add more to this as time permits but hopefully this will have been helpful to you on your painting project if undertaking it yourself, or if you prefer give me a call for a free quote on: 609 504 427 |
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© Econ Gombra Services 2000 - 2010 |
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Painting services costa del sol, painting contractors costa del sol, painting and decoration Marbella, fuengirola, mijas, mijas costa, san pedro, benalmadena, arroyo de la miel, benhavis, las chapas, los naranjos, torremolinos, malaga, la cala, calahonda, andalucia, professional painters in andalucia. apartment painters, villa painters, urganisation painters, apartment block painters. Exterior painting marbella, exterior painting marbela. Superior quality painters. Exterior painting costa del sol. |
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