Caulking Failure on Wood Casing

Rotting Wood on Window

In the Chicago area, the elements conspire to undermine the integrity of the caulking, paint film and wood components. The most vulnerable areas are the wood joints and the areas where the wood elements meet other surfaces. If the caulk or paint film breaks, moisture will be allowed to enter the joints and wreak havoc with the paint film and the wood. The first picture depicts such a break in the caulking. Such a minimal failure, if corrected early, can be repaired at little expense.

The second picture shows what happens when the water is allowed to enter the wood joints for a prolonged period of time. Intervening at that stage will mean a more expensive epoxy repair of the window casing and sill. If the repair is delayed further, the entire window might have to be replaced. In some cases, the problem may have as well caused water damage to interior surfaces of the house.

As house painting contractors in the Chicago area, we believe that an ounce of prevention is worth many pounds of correction. Paint maintenance saves money and avoids headaches! To make it easier for our clients to do that sort of paint maintenance, we offer them a FREE inspection of the exterior surfaces of their house. After making a through inspection, we prepare a list of corrective actions, if necessary. Following such a maintenance program adds years to the useful life of a paint job and keeps the house looking good. Email us to schedule a free inspection.

Restored Painted Facade of 1889 Chicago Condominium Building

I view craftsmanship as:
- The COMMITMENT to do the right thing
- The KNOWLEDGE to take the right action
- The SKILL to execute impeccably

In the case of this forty-foot high, old Chicago condominium building, overlooking a busy city sidewalk, with overhead power lines and next to an alley, what did craftsmanship entail?

Historical Color Scheme: Developing a historical color palette and a color placement concept that met the approval of the ten owners.

Gaining Access: Planning for the rentals and City permits for a 50 foot canopy, four layers of scaffolding and boom. Making arrangements with the City to move the power lines, and wrap the communication wire.

Meeting EPA’s RRP Rules: Building 3-stage dust containment barriers on scaffolding, sealing the windows and using special respirators and coveralls.

Meeting OSHA and City Regulations: Wearing fall-arrest harnesses and hard hats at all times. Tying off ladder to scaffolding. Providing night lighting for canopy. Closing sidewalk for two days and creating a street barricade for pedestrians.

Restoration of Surfaces: Rusty steel, corroded galvanized steel, extensive coating failure, rotted original window casings, missing decorative ornamentation. Rust converters and large amounts of epoxy were used on the metal surfaces. Custom millwork and plaster recreations of the missing ornamentations were produced for the project.

Painting: High-solid alkyd, direct-to-metal primer was used on all metal surfaces. High-solid waterborne exterior paints were used. To promote painting efficiency, we numbered the paint cans for the six different colors, along with all the color breaks for the complex array of painted surfaces, located over 5 levels of scaffolding. It was a little bit like “painting by the number”!

When paint restoration is executed with this level of detail, it not only produces great short-term results, but also saves money in the long-run. Craftsmanship creates value for the owners and the community where the building is located!

Drywall Hole Repair 1

Drywall Hole Repair 2

Drywall Hole Repair 3

As house painting contractors in the Chicago area, we often have to do significant repairs to drywall surfaces before tackling an interior painting project. The most common reasons that cause holes in the drywall are as follows. First, electricians and plumbers are known to make exploratory holes, or to open walls in order to install new pipes, conduits and electrical boxes. Rarely do they dare to tackle the delicate job of repairing the drywall (thank God!). Also, water damaged drywall, needs to be cut out and therefore leaves gaping holes as well. Over-active teenagers can also on occasion cause drywall damage – I will not mention the many ways this can happen.

How do you professionally repair holes in drywall? First, we square off the hole to a workable size. If the hole is relatively small, from 12 to 15 inch in length, we will create bracing on the sides of the hole by screwing pieces of 2×1 lumber to the edges of the hole. For smaller holes, two braces will suffice. For holes from 4 to 6 inch in diameter, we often use a ready-made patch, made of a light-weight perforated metal and fiberglass mesh. For larger holes, we will attempt to use the studs as part our bracing. In those cases, we still have to use bracing between the studs, on the ends of the opening.

The next step is to cut a piece of drywall, of the same thickness, to fit the opening. We then screw it to the wood braces to secure it in place. We then tape the joints with paper tape and apply two or three coats of joint compound. After properly sanding the area, we spot prime the patched area and repaint the wall or ceiling. The drywall whole has now disappeared! The drywall repair is complete!

Custom Play House - House Painting for a Good Cause

Last week, we were invited to be the color consultants and house-painting contractors for the decorating of an upscale custom play house, to be auctioned for the benefit of the Ronald McDonald House Charities in the Chicago area. The auction was held last night at the Hyatt Lodge in Oak Brook, Illinois. The soiree event was entitled “Clubbin’ for a Cause”. The play house was the last item to be offered at the live auction. It yielded a whopping $14,000 for Ronald!

Donatelli Builders, a prime Chicago builder, assembled the team for this unique auction offering, from the architect, painting contractor, interior designer and landscaper. Chris Donatelli will act as the general contractor and builder on the project. Painting in Partnership will handle the color consulting and house painting. We are thrilled to be part of this project.

“Clubbin’ for a Cause” was organized by the Hinsdale Junior Women’s Club and was attended by over five hundred people. The evening was impeccably organized and managed. The silent auction was conducted using smart phone apps and monitored on IPads. Way to go WJWC!

Palladium Book of Leaves

Platinum Gilded Ceiling

Gilding is one of our specialties as painting and decorating contractors in the Chicago area. It consists in the laying of super thin, square leaves of metal over a tacky varnish. Precious metals and composition metals can be successfully used for the gilding of surfaces.

To this day, our most interesting gilding project had been the decoration of an ornate sarcophagus intended to be used by an Italian club, as part of an annual festival to celebrate a beloved Saint from their native town in Sicily. White gold (12 karat gold) was used for that project.

We were recently hired for a gilding project that rivals our sarcophagus project in scope. This project consists in the gilding of an architectural, curved ceiling, in a high-style powder room, using palladium leaf. Palladium is in the family of platinum, one of the precious metals. It is the least dense of the platinum elements and is therefore best suited for leafing purposes. It also rivals the cost of gold in dearness.

Palladium has a soft silver color. However, contrary to silver or white gold (which is a combination of gold and silver), palladium does not tarnish and therefore doe not need to be sealed-coated. Only pure gold leaf can make that claim. As a result, palladium has a beautifully soft metallic look.

The attached picture shows the final look of the palladium ceiling. Our client wanted the look of silver, with its soft reflectivity for the different light sources in the room. She was thrilled!

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.