Painted Speaker Cover

Painting parts of the electronic systems, in home and office environments, present special challenges to the interior painting craftsman. In the past week, I had the pleasure of meeting John Baumeister of Tech Tonic at a networking function. As a technology consultant to owners of buildings, John takes his work very seriously. At some point in the conversation, John voiced that one of his pet peeves has to do with mistakes painters often make when painting speaker covers. He queried me regarding the methodology our painters follow when painting speaker covers. I thought I would pass along the information I shared with John.

Our painting experience has been gained over more than twenty years of operation as painting contractors in the Chicago area. First of all, I recommend that the speakers be installed where they belong, prior to any painting, so as to prevent unavoidable touchups. When it is a new installation, we also recommend that the installer leaves off the speaker covers and instead uses the plastic covers supplied by the manufacturer, in order to prevent damage or dust contamination by other trades. For new installations, we also recommend that the installer tags the speaker covers to identify the room and surface they will be mounted on. The installer should also request a signature from the painting contractor (or the owner) when he/she takes possession of the covers. That form should list the covers, quantities and nature of the covers. The use of such a form will limit the opportunity for loss or miscommunication.

Spray Tool for Painting Speaker Covers

What about the painting? Covers will sometime have a liner acoustical fabric on their backside. That fabric should be removed and protected for reinstallation after the painting is completed. The most affective way we have found to paint speaker covers is a simple hand-held spray system called Spra-Tool. It comes with a propellant cartridge, a plastic jar to hold the paint and a connection to bring the propellant to the jar. The paint may have to be thinned ten percent and three thin coats may be required to avoid clogging holes. For darker colors, we recommend to first prime the covers with a bonding primer to ensure good paint adhesion. After the paint has cured, the plastic cover is removed and the custom-painted covers can be installed, for a factory-painted look!

In many cases, the principle stated above has some validity, especially for light-colored walls. However, depending on the mood you want to create in the room, a color, even a darker color may be the right choice in order to create a warm and enveloping feeling. In other cases, when the room has high ceilings and abundant sunlight, a dark ceiling color can bring a room to life and add panache to a space.

Dark Paint Color on a High Tray Ceiling

In the past week, for a client in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, we repainted a twenty-foot high tray ceiling, dressed with abundant crowns and moldings. The room was large and had five sets of two-story windows. The size of the room, combined with its height, made it appear somewhat cold and uninviting. Additionally, a light color on the ceiling caused the beautiful crowns and moldings to overly blend in. We painted the ceiling dark brown. The whole room came to life!

Making such a bold color choice can be made easier with the guiding eye of a color consultant. When doing interior painting, clients often hold themselves back in their color choices, for fear of making a mistake. A little color consultation goes a long way to embolden clients in making color selections that express their personality and create a nurturing environment for them.

Wood Refinishing - After Wood Toning

Wood Refinishing - Before Wood Toning

During this past summer, she had her front door system replaced with fancy fiberglass doors, which we finished in a brown mahogany color. Upon completing that project, she realized that, when she is ready to redecorate the foyer, she would need to darken the stain color of her staircase, in order to balance off her new doors’ color. Achieving that change in woodwork color is what we call wood toning.

As painting contractors in the Chicago Northwest suburbs, wood toning is one of our specialties. Several years ago, we introduced our client to wood toning when we altered the blond color of her knotty pine ceiling beams, in her study, to a walnut color, in order to match the woodwork color of the adjacent room. So, in the case of her foyer, she knew exactly what to ask for. This is what happens when we educate our customers on the magical possibilities in the field of painting and decorating!

The wood toning process first involves the light sanding and cleaning of surfaces to eliminate any possible contaminants from the surfaces. We then use a gel stain to tome the surfaces with a thin veil of color over the existing stain color. This is the most critical step to achieve a beautiful look. It requires skill and artistry. Once toned, the surfaces are then varnished. Voila!

First Spray Painting Machine in America, Chicago, Circa 1892

It was not until 1867 that the first US patent was issued for a read-mixed paint. The ingredients listed in the patent were as follows: oxide of zinc, acetate of lead, sulfate of zinc, silicate of soda diluted in water, lime water and linseed. This list of ingredients may help to explain why, for the better part of the following twenty years, ready-mixed paints had a serious image problem. They were considered to be inferior and undependable.

Then, what is it that caused the balance to tilt in favor of the ready-mixed paints? A few key factors contributed to that outcome. First, the American Industrial Revolution took root during the 1870’s and 1880’s. During that same period, there was also tremendous population growth, fueled by a considerable influx of immigrants. As an example, Chicago’s population grew from 298,000 in 1870 to 1.7 million in 1900. These two forces collided to create the perfect storm for something else to emerge as the painting industry’s driving force: the chemist and paint lab. As the industrial revolution progressed, the needs for painting surfaces became more and more complex and the demand for paints began to outstrip painter’s ability to mix the ingredients. The paint can was born to stay.

As a house painting contractor from the Chicago area, I have always been fascinated by paint memorabilia and the history of the painting industry. I not only have a considerable memorabilia collection, but I also give lectures to interior designers, architects and other interested groups on the History of Paint in America.

Toned and Re-Varnished door - Before

As house painting contractors, based out of the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, we regularly get called on to rescue the stained woodwork in clients’ homes. After living in a house for over twenty and raising a family, the woodwork often gets a look worn out! Doors and door casings seem to show the most wear – a problem sometime compounded by pets, as shown in the attached picture. Surfaces, like these, that show nicks, scuffs and wear patterns, can be brought back to life by first cleaning the surfaces to remove the dirt, dust and oily residue that have accumulated over time. We then use a gel stain to add a very thin veil of color to the existing woodwork. That stain penetrates and hides all the unsightly blemishes and makes the wood look fresh again. We call this step “toning” the woodwork. Lastly, we re-varnish those surfaces.

Toned and Re-Varnished door - After

We also regularly encounter situations where the finish on the interior bottom rails and sills of the windows breaks down due to effect of the sun and moisture condensation. In many situations, the finish is completely gone and the wood may even show water stains. For some reason, we encounter this problem almost exclusively with casement windows. In a situation like this, before toning the wood, we first sand the damaged areas bare and then stain them with a matching color. After the stain application is dry, we proceed with the toning procedure.

The second picture shows the completed wood refinishing project, after the toning and varnishing have taken place.

Ceiling Glitter Gun for Popcorn Ceilings

As house painting contractors and decorative painting specialists, we are sometime called on to restore older decorative finishes. A new client from the far Northwest suburbs of Chicago recently made such a request. He has a gold-glittered popcorn ceiling on a high ceiling in his living room. The finish is over forty years old and he has enjoyed it for all the twenty years he has lived there. An unsightly water stain appeared on the ceiling before he had the roof replaced, which prompted him to seek to have his ceiling restored; gold glitter included!

After speaking to my colleagues Joel Hamberg from Oregon and Mark Coley of Connecticut, as well doing a couple of hours of research on Google, I was able to gather all the information I needed to tackle this ceiling restoration, which will take place in February. The most challenging part of the research was to find a manufacturer that still made glitter guns. The first one I found was a hand-operated version. However, it turned out that although still displayed on the web, the manufacturer had stopped making it. Determined to find one, I finally stumbled across a pneumatic version on page twenty-one of my Google search; and it is a beauty! It is operated in conjunction with a compressor and comes equipped with two different ceramic tips. It arrived yesterday with the gold glitter I need. Wow, I am ready to go!

Opening the Door to Writing

I did not always write. Like many people, I wrote when I had to, but I did not feel particularly drawn to writing. However, about seven years ago, something shifted in me about writing. I came across this small notebook, with all white pages. On the cover was a panel door with an ornate fluted casing and a door handle. The door was made of carefully assembled wood pieces and glued onto a wood book cover. I remember being mesmerized by that notebook and felt compelled to buy it and mount it on the inspiration wall, in my office. I remember telling a friend, at the time, that this book was an inspiration for me to open the door to writing, in my life.

At the time, I could not see how I could make time for writing. However, it did not take more than a year before I began to write. Writing is now an ongoing part of what I do and I find it enormously satisfying. To me, writing is very much like painting a canvas. At first, there is just a blank space and an idea or vision that only lives in my mind at the moment. As words are added to the paper, a picture begins to emerge, that makes real what was only an idea a moment ago. Those words, when artfully put together, have the power to inspire, empower and create a permanent change in the reader’s perception of life and its possibilities. Writing is painting with words!

Surface Preparation

On a historical paint restoration project, the customer expects not only a great looking paint job, but one that will last a long time as well, because of the considerable costs involved. There are several factors that contribute to the higher cost of a paint restoration project.

First, such projects often require an extensive level of surface preparation because of the poor condition of the old coatings. These surfaces have often not been painted in fifteen or twenty years, or even longer. Consequently, surfaces will likely require epoxy restoration and even the reproduction of custom moldings or ornamentation.

Second, historical restoration almost automatically requires compliance to RRP rules to protect everyone and the environment from exposure to lead paint dust. That means additional containment steps and costs.

Scaffolding

Finally, old buildings in a big city like Chicago, are often situated right next or close to the sidewalk and very close to the neighbors. Consequently, gaining access to the surfaces to be worked on can also require the renting of special equipment like a canopy, scaffolding, boom and the procurement of all the required permits.

On a recent paint restoration project, the rental and permit costs alone exceeded $10,000. If you are the owner of such a building, how long would you like the paint job to last? I would say as long as possible! This means that, as a house painting contractor, I must ensure that our surface preparation is as thorough as possible. Additionally, the primers we use must be the best suited for every surface we work on. For example, we recently used an alkyd, high-solid, direct-to-metal primer to give a full prime coat to 120-year old tin cladding. On old wood moldings, where the old paint had mostly been removed, we used a two-part clear epoxy sealer to prime those surfaces. The goal of each phase of our work is: the longevity of the paint job!

We met twice with a committee of the owners most interested in being involved in the selection of a new color scheme. The first time we met was a fact-finding mission where we learned about the owners’ color likes and dislikes. We incorporated that feedback in developing a color palette that we felt would produce the desired result. To facilitate the communication with the owners, we prepared a sample board showing a mockup of key sections of the building using the six-color palette we were recommending. During the second color consultation, we went over the sample board with the owners. Based on the feedback we received, we made one change to the color scheme. We now had the green light to proceed!

Three hundred fifty hours of work later, the owners, neighbors and pedestrians in this busy neighborhood are now able to rejoice in the new period colors of this vintage building and have a renewed appreciation for the beauty of its Victorian period details. Here is what one of the owners had to say:
“The paint color palette turned out better then we could have hoped for. You and your wife were able to help our association come to an agreement on a historically accurate plan that incorporated all of our feedback in a matter of two meetings, something that would have taken us months to do on our own. The painted areas now complement and accentuate the beautiful stone and metal features of our building, instead of clashing like a sore thumb. In a neighborhood where many building owners have chosen to paint such metal features a uniform color, to save the effort and cost, our building is now a shining example of what these historic buildings can be. Given the feedback from the neighborhood, I hope our building will be an inspiration for others to make the extra effort to celebrate the unique architectural character and history of our community.”

Below are some before and after pictures of key portions of the building.

Bay Window After Paint Color Restoration

Bay Window Before Paint Restoration

Facade After Paint Color Restoration

Facade Before Paint Color Restoration

Front Unit After Paint Color Restoration

Front Unit Before Paint Color Restoration

Containing Lead Paint Chips

Scaffold Lead-Safe Containment

EPA’s RRP rules define the principles to follow to ensure a lead-safe painting project involving buildings built prior to 1978. Our paint restoration project on the façade of this 1889 vintage Chicago building surely fell into this category. Outlined below are the steps we followed to comply to the requirements of the RRP rules on this high visibility exterior painting project.

RRP rules layout the principles, but do not get into the specifics of how to comply to the rules. Their intent is to ensure containment of the dust and debris, so that the workers, the public and the environment are protected from the harmful effects of old lead paint. Consequently, depending on the specific conditions of each project, work practices must be devised that will ensure the containment of the dust and debris.

In the case of our Chicago historical restoration project, almost all our work took place above a busy sidewalk, on a canopy and four layers of scaffolding above it. One of the first measures we took was to build a 4-mil, plastic shield on both ends of the scaffold, from top to bottom in order to prevent debris from falling out of the scaffold area. We then sealed the floor of the canopy using heavy-duty blue taps. Contrary to plastic sheeting, blue tarps are not slippery, which is an important safety factor in selecting floor containment materials. Every work area was then sealed with 4-mil plastic sheeting to capture the debris, as it was generated by the carbide wet scraping and wet sanding. To protect our painters from the dust, we used full-body coveralls and P-100 respirators.

Following RRP rules on interior and exterior paint restoration projects is critical to ensure the safety of everyone involved. As a Lead-Safe Firm, we are committed to fulfill the intent of EPA rules on all our painting projects.