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!

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When repainting a room, it makes sense to paint the ceiling at the same time as the walls, since the room is already masked off for the painting project. Most often, the ceiling gets painted a white or off-white color. The theory behind this approach to ceiling color selection is that a darker color has a tendency to make the ceiling appear lower and make the room smaller.

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.

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