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Painting the Exterior of Your Home: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

2012-05-14T17:07:49Z

Here are some Exterior Painting FAQ from our customers here on the Central Coast:

Q: What does it cost for paint?

A: A gallon can range from $12 to more than $100! Higher cost paints have better-quality and better additives, binders, solvents and minerals, which help the longevity and durability of the paint job. (check out the blog post "Ingredience of Paint")

Q: Hire a pro or DIY?

A: Anyone can slap paint on the wall! But doing a complete exterior is a big deal and requires not just painting, but lots and lots of preparation work! If you don't have patience for prep work or you are afraid of being on a ladder, you might want to hire a pro. (Check out a great DIY blog post we recently did on "5 Preparation Tips on Painting the Exterior of your Home" and if you are going to hire a pro, here are some tips on hiring a contractor.)

Q: When to Paint?

A: Here on the Central Coast the weather is pretty much the same year round and it's always a good temperature. The prime temperature for painting is between 50 and 90 degrees and low humidity.

Q: How long should the paint job last?

A: It all depends on what type of paint you use and what it's applied to. Two coats of top notch paint on stucco should last a lifetime and on wood 20-30 years. If you use cheap paint, it will last years less.

Here are just some questions I get. If you would like more questions answered, email me at noah@newlifepainting.com

New Life Painting was established on the Central Coast of California, and services Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo, Nipomo, Orcutt, Los Osos, Los Alamos, Santa Ynez, Arroyo Grande, Pismo Beach, Avila Beach, Oceano, Morro Bay, Grover Beach, 5 Cities, and all areas on the Central Coast. Call us at 805-NEW-LIFE (805-639-5433) if you would like our skilled painters to do this project for you.

How to Pick your Sheen

2012-05-09T21:12:30Z

There are generally 3-4 sheens that paint companies carry and a paints gloss or lack of gloss does not only just change the way your home looks, it affects the way the paint performs over a long period of time. On the Central Coast, we at New Life Painting usually have three sheens we like to use and have set surfaces that we recommend when painting your home. The three sheens we are referring to is flat, stain or eggshell, and semi-gloss.

1.) Flat: This is best for wood siding that gets a lot of sun and heat which allows for the wood to breath more. Here on the central coast, where the weather is cold and overcast in the nights and mornings, and sunny and warm during the days, the painted wood is constantly expanding and contracting. If the wood cannot breath, the paint is more than likely going to crack and peel.

Recommended surfaces: wood siding.

2.) Satin/Eggshell: This is best for our stucco homes on the Central Coast. This low reflective sheen is good for hiding surface imperfections, reflects dirt better, and is easier to wash. It is still durable like flat and it also fights against moisture.

Recommended surfaces: stucco, fascia, eaves, and trim.

3.) Semi-Gloss: Dirt-repellent, lots of resin, adds richness to colors, and perfect for doors, shutters, and jambs. It also requires a skillful painter. The downside to this sheen, is if you put it on wood that gets a lot of sun, it would cause cracking and peeling.

Recommended surfaces: doors, shutters, and jambs.

If you have any questions about picking out sheens, call the professional painters at New Life Painting at 805-NEW-LIFE.

New Life Painting serves Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo, Nipomo, Orcutt, Los Osos, Los Alamos, Santa Ynez, Arroyo Grande, Pismo Beach, Avila Beach, Oceano, Morro Bay, Grover Beach, 5 Cities, and all areas on the Central Coast.

4 Tips on How to Choose the Right Exterior Color

2012-04-17T21:43:07Z

Homeowners on the Central Coast have a hard time choosing a color, and I don't blame them. The colors on the exterior is what everyone looks at when they drive up to your home and first impressions are everything. We would love to give you 4 tips on how to choose the right exterior color. If you are still having trouble with picking a color, as a service provided by New Life Painting, we will send a professional colorist to help you pick the right color! Gredsa Johnson with Chic Interiors does such a great job when helping out our customers and she's passionate about what she does!

Here are the 4 tips:

1.) House: Pick complements to colors that already exsist on your home. Things such as bricks on your foundation, the color of your roof, or what color your concrete is.

2.) Neighborhood: Check out the block you live on. You want your home to stand out but in a good way. If you're in a neighborhood of beige and gray, you don't want to go with bright pink.

3.) Landscape: Play off the landscape you have around the home. If you have tons of trees and lots of shade, it wouldn't be a bad idea to go with a light green.

4.) Weather: The more the intense sun you get from mother nature (the more south you go), use bright and saturated colors that won't appear washed out in the harsh light.

I hope this helps you out when choosing a color. If you have any questions, call the professional painters at New Life Painting at 805-937-9836.

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Coordinating Paint and Furniture

2012-04-11T16:33:46Z

In order to create a room that is balanced, stylish, and harmonious, consider a design that integrates all of the aspects of your space. Do you have a special item or piece of furniture that you want to highlight? A special couch, rug, vase or painting can be the beginning point for a wonderfully colorful room.

If you are working from a multicolored item, like a painting or a patterned carpet, it works very nicely to choose one of the less dominant colors and use it elsewhere in the room. You could choose curtains, trim, a door or even an accent wall in the matching color. This will bring harmony to the room and make your item stand out.

Another effective technique, best when you have a solid-color piece of furniture to match, is to make it stand out by contrast. If you have a boldly colored couch or vase, a complementary (opposite) colored wall will put it to best advantage. A neutral background, such as tan, gray, white or beige, will also have a similar effect. If your furniture is a neutral color, try bringing it out by painting the walls boldly behind it.

For any interior color and design ideas you may have, contact New Life Painting at 805-NEW-LIFE to perfect your ideas and have them turned into reality!

5 Preparation Tips on Painting the Exterior of your Home

2012-03-13T16:01:51Z

If your are a DIY'er and want to conquer painting the exterior of your home, I want to give you 5 crucial tips on how to do so. Now, doing the exterior is not for the faint of heart and if you don't have time to do it during the weekday, you may be doing it over several weekends. A good paint job will last anywhere from 15 to 20 years. Having a paint job last this long depends on several factors: quality of the paint being applied, the substrate, but most importantly – PREPARATION PREPARATION PREPARATION! Proper preparation is the single most important part of any painting project. Any professional painter should be able to explain exactly what is going to take place during this process. Preparation is most of the labor on the job and the most important part to the outcome of the job! Here are 4 Tips when painting the exterior of the home:

1.) Power Wash/Clean your home: This is the first thing to do and one of the most important! The substrate has to be clean and if your home is still chalky and dirty, your job will fail.

2.) Scrape and Sand: Remove all loose paint and loose coatings. You can do this by scraping with a puddy knife and sand paper. If loose coats are present, your job will fail.

3.) Caulking: Caulk all joints, cracks, gaps, transitions with premium acrylic caulk. This prevents moisture from infiltrating the substrate.

4.) Prime: Priming all bare areas which include newly installed wood and the areas that you scraped and sanded.

5.) Cover and Mask: Mask all your landscape, your windows, doors, sidewalks, furniture, fixtures, and necessary areas that are appropriate from over-spray and paint drips.

These tips are crucial when painting the exterior of your home and remember, preparation is everything and if you are going to spend the time painting your home, spend the time prepping. If you have any questions, call the professional painters at New Life Painting at 805-937-9836.

How to Tell When Paint is Too Old

2012-03-09T19:57:55Z

When is paint too old? How long can someone keep a can of paint before it goes bad? Is storing paint for 10 years too long?

Most paint manufacturers say that the shelf life of unopened paint is about three years, so ten years is quite a stretch. To find out for sure, it is highly recommended that you perform the stir-stick test. Mix the paint thoroughly for five minutes, then dip a paint stir stick into the can, lift it out, and watch how the paint flows off. If it flows evenly and looks clumpy or watery or smells bad, get rid of it. If it smells bad, the odor won't go away after you spread it on the walls. But even if the paint looks and smells alright, we suggest brushing it on the same material you plan to coat, to make sure it dries okay. The best way to keep paint fresh, is to minimize contact with air by sealing the can tightly after each use and transferring the paint to a smaller container when the can is half empty. And you'll thank yourself later if you label and date it.

Painting Horizontal Lines/Stripes on the Interior

2012-02-21T21:45:53Z

We just finished painting the interior of a beautiful home on the Central Coast that had vertical stripes on the entry way and hallway. The job turned out great, and if you want to try this at home, I will give you step-by-step instructions to do so. It’s time consuming but should be pretty easy to tackle.

New Life Painting was established on the Central Coast of California, and services from Santa Ynez to Morro Bay and the surrounding areas of the Central Coast. Call us at 805-NEW-LIFE (805-639-5433) if you would like our skilled painters to do this project for you. Or if you are interested in tackling the project yourself, follow these steps:

What you need:

- Paintbrush or a roller

- Large roll or rolls of the Green Frogger tape

- Tape measure

- Drop cloths and paper to cover your floors

- A pencil

- And a leveler to make sure your lines are straight

What to do:

1.) Before you start making your lines and painting you will want to cover your floors with drop cloths and rosin paper.

2.) You will want to first paint the wall with a base coat. On the house we recently did, the base coat color we used was a Kelley Moore color called "Crisp Linen".

3.) After the paint has dried, you need to figure out where you want to make your stripes and how wide you want to make them. Start from the floor, and with your measuring stick make all your marks with a pencil at the width you want your stripes to be.

4.) Then, when you’re done making the marks, start to go around with a leveler and make your straight lines with a pencil.

5.) With your Frogger Tape, go along those lines that are perfectly straight and horizontal. Make sure that you make the tape flat and that there is no air bubbles so the paint can't seep under.

6.) Once you’re done tapping the lines, you can start painting the stripes with your roller or paintbrush. The stripe color that we used at the home on the central coast was Kelley-Moore "Silver Queen".

This is what the customer had to say about the job: "Our house looks so amazing!!!! I love love love it!!!! Cruz and Juan worked so hard and were so gracious every time I changed my mind on a color or idea about something! Striping my whole hall way was NOT easy but they did a perfect job!!! This just turned my whole week around!!! =) New Life is awesome!!!"

If you have any questions about striping or any sort of painting idea, don’t hesitate to call us at New Life Painting!

How to Create A Dry Erase Wall

2012-02-16T17:07:24Z

The world thrives off creativity and originality, but unfortunately in today’s society creativity is often thwarted with overabundant sources of technology and less outlets for artistry. A great and easy solution to encourage inventiveness is to provide creativity space with dry-erase walls. Not only are dry-erase walls a great source for exploration and expression of imagination and creativity, but they are also resourceful and economical.

Whiteboard paint is especially recommended for kitchens, bedrooms, offices, and kid’s rooms. All you have to do is apply it just like any other paint, invest in some dry-erase markers, and you have your own, eco-friendly drawing surface, calendar, imagination station – you name it!

New Life Painting, established on the Central Coast of California, services from Santa Ynez to Morro Bay and the surrounding areas of Central Coast. Call us at 805-NEW-LIFE (805-639-5433) if you would like our skilled painters to do this project for you. Or if you are interested in tackling the project yourself, follow these steps:

Thoroughly clean the wall(s) you want to paint with a damp cloth or soft sponge. If there are any holes in the wall, apply some lightweight spackle. While the spackle dries, mark around the wall or area you want to paint with some painters tape (we suggest the blue-core from 3M).
When the spackle is dry, sand down the rough areas with 280-300 grit sandpaper. (If we do this for you, typically we would use drywall mud, which is more difficult for homeowners to use since it requires specials tools and more practice.) After you’ve sanded the walls, wipe away the drywall dust with a dry (or mildly damp) rag.
Next, apply one coat of Zinsser Primer or another good drywall primer.
Now use either Rust-Oleum‘s whiteboard paint or IdeaPaint for your wall. (Follow the specifications on the paint can for number of coats and drying time allocation.)
After the paint dries completely, carefully remove the painters tape and let imagination run wild!

If you prefer chalkboards to whiteboards, or if you want a ultra-child-safe option for a child’s room, try using chalkboard paint instead.

Let us know if you have any questions. And leave a comment to let us know your thoughts on Dry-Erase Paint!

Valentine's Day Dessert Recipe - White Chocolate Creme Brulee

2012-02-14T20:23:58Z

White Chocolate Creme Brulee Recipe:

Looking for a tasty, romantic treat this Valentine's Day? The perfect dessert for that special someone. This is a fabulous recipe for two, or even for the family.

Prep: 15 min. Bake: 50 Min. + chilling Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients

3 eggs yolks
6 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 ounces white baking chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks and 2 tablespoons sugar; set aside. In a small saucepan, combine the cream, chocolate and 2 tablespoons sugar. Heat over medium-low heat until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth, stirring constantly.
Remove from the heat. Stir in vanilla. Stir in small amount of hot filling into egg yolk mixture; return all to the pan, stirring constantly.
Pour into two 10-oz. ramekins. Place in a baking pan. Add 1 in. of boiling water to pan. Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until center is set. Remove from water bath. Cool for 10 minutes. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
If using a creme brulee torch, spinkle with remaining sugar. Heat sugar with the torch until carmelized. Serve immediately.
If broiling the custards, place ramekins on a baking sheet; let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining sugar. Broil 8 in. from the heat for 4-7 minutes or until sugar is carmelized. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until firm.

Enjoy this decadent dessert with your loved ones!

Santa Maria Painting - Job Complete

2012-01-23T22:22:20Z

We just finished painting a home in Orcutt and the job turned out great! They got a new roof from the excellent Tim Brown Roofing, which if you ever need a roof you should definatly call them. The colors that they went with Kelly-Moore Cottage Walk on the stucco, Kelly-Moore Echo Valley on the Trim, and the front door was Kelly-Moore Obsidian Stone (which is black). It turned out great and the customer was beyond happy! This is what they had to say: "We were very pleased with you employees, Adrian and Jose. They were efficient, courteous, and professional. They did a wonderful paint job on our house." Here is a picture of the what the stucco and trim looked like:

If you would like a free estimate call us at 805-NEW-LIFE