Don't Paint the Hardware!

Once of the main things that will make your painting work look unprofessional is painting the hinges and other hardware. At my apartment project I'm finally to the painting stage. (This is what I do in my "spare" time.. :)

Much of my work seems to be at older homes, where it's a rare thing to find unpainted hardware. Somewhere along the way it was painted to save time.

Don't do it!

Take the time to remove those window locks, handles, door knobs, strike plates, deadbolts or whatever. The one exception may be the hinges. You can leave them on, but don't paint them. Put some painters tape on them if that's easier for you.

Leaving the door on the hinges makes painting the door easier because you can get to both sides and it can dry in place. Just don't close it until it's had plenty of time to dry or the paint will stick to the door frame.

After the paint dries, put the hardware on or take the time to upgrade them. Either way it will look much better and more professional to not paint the hardware.

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

Painting Cabinets with an Airless Paint Sprayer

We're adding another kitchen to our home for our apartment conversion project. Kitchen cabinets can be pricey, but for our purposes we just needed the most simple and basic (and inexpensive) cabinets I could find

After a little digging, I had a friend tell me about some decent cabinets that they had purchased from Southeastern Salvage. The cabinets were made out of plywood with oak fronts and came unfinished in many standard sizes. This was perfect for our purposes and kept us within our budget.

I've given them a coat of dark brown paint and they look great. To paint them, I borrowed an airless paint sprayer. (Airless just means that it uses electric power rather than compressed air.) The sprayer was the Wagner Wide Shot Pro 2400.

I started by painted some vanity drawers and had no problems. I cleaned the gun and took a break to get the kitchen cabinets ready. Later, as I started painting the cabinet doors, the sprayer started 'spitting' large globs of paint. This was not cool! I cleaned it several times, and replaced the 'atomizer' in the nozzle and it still wouldn't work.

That was yesterday, this morning I finally got it to work. Here's the secret:

1. Thin the paint. I had been advised that this paint wouldn't need to be thinned, but they were incorrect. For the Behr latex paint I was using, I added around 6 ounces of water and 6 ounces of Flo-trol to a nearly full gallon of paint. You may want to start by adding less and increase the amount as needed to get an even spray.

2. Watch how you hold the sprayer. My biggest problems came when I was painting cabinet doors that were laying flat on some saw horses. When I pointed the spray gun down toward them, it was sucking air instead of getting the paint from the reservoir. It's really best to just aim the gun straight ahead and position the item to be painted so that this will work.

3. Clean the gun really well after each use. To clean the paint sprayer, you have to take the pieces apart and clean them individually. After taking the nozzle off, don't forget that the next piece comes off as well to reveal the piston inside. All of this should be cleaned up so that no paint can dry and become a nuisance for you. After you've done that, run some clean water through the gun to make sure the nozzles and all the parts are free

For jobs like painting cabinets, fences, louvered doors and more, you might consider trying out a paint sprayer. This Wagner model has some good and bad reviews online, but it worked great for me, once I got it setup right and thinned my paint. It takes a few minutes to clean and can have some hassles, but it will greatly cut down on how long it takes to paint these tricky items.

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

Caulking Basics

Today I was helping some homeowners in the Courtside subdivision in Brentwood. They have their home on the market and wanted to take care of some trim joints that need re-caulked after a few years of humidity and possibly some settling. They had beautiful crown moulding throughout the entire home, but most of it looked like this:

I thought I'd cover some of the basics of how I handle caulking. First, it helps so much to have a great caulk gun. The last time I bought one I splurged and bought the heavy duty one. Boy, am I glad that I did!

For one, the handle is solid so it will never bend from use. There's nothing more annoying than a cheap bent handle on a caulk gun! :) It also has a clipper to take off the end of the spout as well as a little 'poker' to break the seal with. No more searching through the nail pouch for something else to break that seal.

Basic Steps to a Good Caulk:

1. Make sure you have the right caulk for the job. It amazes me how many types there are, but they are designed for a specific purpose and it's best to use them accordingly.

2. In addition to the caulk gun, I take a roll of paper towels, an old cardboard box, and my index finger.

3. For trim caulking, I trim off less than 1/4" of the spout. Any more, and you'll likely have way too much to deal with.

4. Use the least amount of pressure on the handle to get the caulk you need out. If you over-squeeze too much will come out again. The key is to stay in control of the caulk... Run it along the joint.

5. Use your finger to smooth the caulk into the joint and remove the excess. Wipe your finger often with paper towels to keep it relatively clean. This is key to not making a mess. Plan to use lots of paper towels. For tight spots like inside corners of crown moulding, I take some fresh paper towel to get the excess out and make the joint look sharp.

6. Use the cardboard box to deposit the used paper towels or to set the gun down. This is mainly important if you're in a finished space like I was today. You don't want to accidentally leave a pile of caulk on the carpet.

BIG TIP OF THE DAY: After you apply your bead of caulk, quickly hit the 'switch' to release the pressure on the caulk tube. This is the secret to stopping the caulk from coming out when you don't want it to. Before I figured this one out, I'd waste more caulk than I would use. Now that you know the secret, I guess you're in the caulking club.

There's really not much to it. Like anything else, take it easy and watch where you point that gun.

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

Porch Painting

I love porches, especially if it's attached to an older home. It is one of the great characteristics of homes in the South that isn't as common in the North where the snow would cover them for much of the year.

Anyway, today I was painting a porch in East Nashville to spruce up a home before it is listed for sale. A fresh coat of paint around the front door of your home is always great when you are trying to sell it because that's where the buyers will get their first impression of your home. They are often left waiting here a few minutes while their Realtor unlocks the door, giving them a chance to give it a good look.

Here you can see the difference:

It was a beautiful day to spend outside, although I have a feeling that it will soon be hot and humid again soon...

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

Painting is All Smiles

Once in while, I'll have time to do a project around our house. A little while ago, I was preparing to paint our nursery and had a little help from my four-year-old, Noah. This was such a great picture that I had to post it:


Whenever I get out my tools, Noah is ready to join in the work. He especially likes the electric screw driver and anything messy like painting or digging. I have to keep an eye on him, but I wouldn't want it any other way!

Working on the house is downright fun for the whole family.

-Peter

http://www.carpentryguy.com/