You’ve Come to Our Tips & Hints Page that we’ve Created for those People that are    Handy Do-it-Yourselfer’s.....

From the Owner: Tas Moulis

5th April 2011

3 Handy Tips for Dealing with Spilt Paint: 

Paint Spills:
The first thing you need to do is try and contain the spill from spreading as soon as possible. Try and scoop or soak up as much paint as possible using old rags making sure to work from the outside of the spill to the centre, this will help contain the paint spill also. A good trick I have used before is Kitty litter as it’s really good at both containing and soaking up spilt paint.

Wet Paint on Carpet:
Most house acrylic paints can be washed out of carpet so long as you can start cleaning it as soon as possible and preferable whilst the spilt paint is still wet. The best method is to continually wet the affected area with water and soak up the paint spill with a sponge – rinsing out sponge in clean water thoroughly helps this process. Keep doing this until you have removed as much of the paint spill as possible, using a detergent can really help as it helps keep the area damp and therefore slows done the paint from drying out.

Oil based paints like All Purpose Undercoat or High Gloss Enamels are a little bit more difficult as you will need a readily supply of solvents to clean this type of spill up. In a similar fashion to the water based paints oil-based paint can be thinned with mineral turps & then washed out with warm water & detergent, then rinsed with clean water.

I highly recommend you test a small area first before pouring thinners or turps onto carpet. I have had the experience where too much solvent can drastically change the colour of a material like carpet and also has an effect on softening the glue that holds the carpet down on the ground and possible warping the carpet also. Just do small amounts of solvent at a time making sure to keep an eye on what’s happening to the surface being cleaned.

Paint Spill that has dried:
If there is a paint spill on a hard surface like tiles, timber floors, or glass then it’s really easy to clean. Just get a sharp scraper, razor blade or window cleaner (the type with a sharp blade in it) and simply just scrap of the paint. For water based or normal acrylic house hold paints, if you have suborn dried paint spots (usually when they are old) you can use a little methylated spirits on an old rag to soften the paint and then by either rubbing the damp rag or using a scraper the paint should come off quite easily.
However for oil based paints they tend to dry a lot harder than acrylic paints do, so I suggest using mineral turps to soften the paint spot – this can be used for new and old paint. Unfortunately if metho or turps don’t work then you may have to use a little paint stripper however this is in very rare circumstances.

Don’t forget if you have any questions or would like any further advice please do not hesitate to call us on 3844 2204 or click on the link and email us anytime.

 28th March 2011

Repainting After Flood Damage...

Having been involved in a lot of the flood work here in Brisbane I’ve tried to put together as much useful information as I can regarding painting your home after the floods. Please understand the information here should be used as a guide and I highly recommend you engage a professional painter or tradesman. to help with the successful repainting after flood damage.

My first suggestion

Painting over water damaged and stained areas with typical water based paint will more than likely not stop staining coming through the paint work.

And my second suggestion

Is that excess moisture in the substrate will cause the paint to either ‘bubble, lift or peel away’.

So the most important part to the painting process is to make sure that all surfaces are completely dry

Here are some Basic examples of different surfaces and our recommended methods of painting:

INTERIOR TIMBER (Doors, Skirting Boards, Window Frames, etc):

Wash down and clean all surfaces with a sugar soap solution making sure to rinse off. Make sure you allow surfaces to dry out completely with good ventilation. Remove all loose and flaking paint as per normal surface preparation and abrade surfaces by sanding.

We recommend applying 1 x coat Oil based undercoat followed by 2 x coats Premium High Gloss Enamel.

 INTERIOR WALLS: 

As above wash down and clean all surfaces with a sugar soap solution making sure to rinse off. Make sure you allow surfaces to dry out completely with good ventilation. Remove all loose and flaking paint as per normal surface preparation and abrade surfaces by sanding.

I recommend painting over stained areas with either an Oil Based undercoat or an Oil Based Multi Block Stain Sealer (or equivalent). The main reason I recommend Oil based Sealers / Undercoats in this situation is because once dry they create a more effective barrier to stains coming through than a Water Based product – which being water based will draw out stains to the surfaces.

Once dry apply 2 x coats Premium Washable Low Sheen Acrylic to colour of your choice.

However,   where there has been severe water inundation (flooding) it would be highly recommended that plasterboard walls be removed and the cavity behind should be thoroughly cleaned out, disinfected, dried out before replacing with new plasterboard. In this instance you would treat the painting process as if it were a new job.

EXTERIOR WALLS (Brick, Cement Render, Timber, etc):

Again it is important that you clean the surfaces thoroughly by washing with sugar soap solution and rinsing. Alternatively you could use a high pressure water blaster which makes the job a lot easier. Making sure the surfaces are completely dry again, you can start repainting.

I recommend that if you choose to use an acrylic option as a primer that you let the first coat dry overnight, this allows any staining that might occur to come through and be trapped between coats. My preference is to use an Oil Based Stain Sealer or Undercoat to prime these areas to make use that you stop any staining coming through.

Following this you can now apply 2 x coats Premium Exterior Acrylic as per manufacturer’s recommendation.

Thank you for taking the time to read our Tips& Hints page and if You have any technical questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

If you would like more information or to Book in Quote
 

 calling us Now on

3844 2204

Or Click on the Big Green Button!' - to your Right!
 

 Have a great Day,

Licensed Painting Contractor & Business Owner

14th July 2011 -

This short video shows what can be acheived with know how and effort.