Here is a brief example of how we look for the root cause of a problem and offer a solution. As house painting contractors, among other things, we are asked to do exterior painting. One area of a cornice is peeling badly. Upon closer investigation, we discover debris on the gutters from rain water overflowing the gutters. Going a step further, we find out the gutter is pitched the wrong way and has a small downspout. In a situation like this, we would approach our clients with an assessment of the problem, its consequences and what needs to be done to permanently solve the issue. We recommended to replace the gutters on that side of the house and install large size downspouts to help drain the roof better. This way, the owner will not experience the same paint failures and our paint job will last longer.

As painting contractors, the mere fact of looking out for our client’s back and seeking to be of service above and beyond the painting work we are there to do speaks volume to clients about the relationship we have with them and the value we intend on creating for them. Consequently, we view referring other trusted professionals as an integral part of our work as painting contractors.

As a house painting company, we have gone a step further. We have created what we call our “Kindred Spirit Partner Businesses” group. The companies in this select group have proven themselves to have the same “Custodial View” as we do in dealing with their clients. We actively support the companies in our KSPB group by sharing “best practices” with them and actively promoting them to our clients. They do the same for us. Through these close company ties, we help multiply the value we create for our respective clients.

Because of the Holidays, it was decided that the painting project would be divided into two phases, the downstairs and the upstairs. A convenient start time for the family was agreed upon. The family then developed an off-premise schooling plan for the duration of the painting project. We then discussed the game plan for tackling the sequencing of the rooms we will be working on. Since painting services involve performing multiple tasks with varying dry-time requirements, we made the decision to only have two painters working on the project and work in no more than 2 rooms at a time. This way, we could avoid disabling the whole house and creating chaos for the family.

Keeping the stress down for the family during a house painting project is critical to producing a successful painting experience for our clients. Balancing the needs of the family with the needs to maintain the efficiency of the painting operations is surely a balancing act. As house painting contractors doing work mostly in occupied buildings, we are committed to maintaining a happy balance between those two key factors.

In our Craftsman Painting Tips series, we intend to pass on to you tips and insights into house painting that will equip you with some of the knowledge that painting craftsmen have accumulated over time in the course of their diligent work and thereby add to your enjoyment of painting and the quality of the results you produce.

I would like to give you insights into the mindset a painter must have in order to develop into a craftsman in the field of painting (or any domain) and, over time, achieve mastery in this field. In the short-term, I hope to deepen your appreciation and enjoyment of your house painting projects. There are six traits that characterize the mindset of a craftsman, which I would like to share with you. They are as follows:

1- Love of one’s work:
Painting craftsmen love their house painting work. There are in touch with how their work benefits people’s lives and adds beauty to life around them.

2- Thirst to know and learn:
Craftsmen have an insatiable desire to learn, grow and perfect themselves in their field of endeavor.

3- Focus and intensity:
Executing the work of a painting craftsman requires the engagement, coordination and focus of all human senses in order to produce the desired result.

4- Pursuit of excellence and efficiency:
Excellence within the constraint of time is the ultimate pursuit of craftsmen, not just quality without regard to the time element.

5- Openness and desire to share with others:
A real craftsman is not a hoarder, rather a SHARER of knowledge. A craftsman understands that shared knowledge means expanded knowledge.

6- Passion:
Passion is the result of engaging one’s heart in the process of one’s work. Passion is charismatic and inspires others exposed to it. True craftsmen have passion!

First, what needs to be done to the room?
Do you want to only paint the walls? What about the ceiling, the trim, doors, windows? What about the dreaded closet? Answering these questions will help you decide what paints you need for your house painting project. For the ceiling, you might need a flat paint, for the walls, a matte enamel or eggshell, for the woodwork a satin finish. Once you settle on colors, you are ready to order paints.

Second, what is the condition of the surfaces?
An interior painting job (and exterior painting one just as well) is only as good as the preparation work. Are there cracks? If so, you will need fiberglass tape and patching material. Are taping joints failing? You will need drywall paper tape. Are there nail pops? You might need pliers (or hammer) and screws. You may also need two or three grades of sandpaper (100, 120 and 220 grit). Yes, do not forget caulk, painters’ best friend. Make a list of all the non-paint materials you might need for your project and what you need to order, in addition to the paints.

Third, what supplies will I need?
Protecting surfaces during the painting process is an important part of any house painting. You might need two or three types/sizes of tape. Two- inch painters tape should be used to tape the carpet along the baseboard. A two-inch “low tack” tape could be used on the top of the baseboard after painting it to avoid spatters when you paint the walls. The level of tack in the tape is important because too strong an adhesive will ruin a paint finish. You will also need tarps to cover the floor and plastic sheeting to cover the furniture. Depending on the paints you plan on using, you may need different brushes and rollers, perhaps some thinner as well. Oh yes, do not forget the rolling pan, bucket(s) and a roller handle.

Fourth, what equipment will I need?
Depending on the height of the room, or its location, like in a stairway, you will need a ladder of the appropriate height. In a stairway, you will need an expandable plank. Investing in safe and appropriate equipment is critical to your health and the success of your house painting project. An articulated ladder is the most versatile of ladder for use in houses. For speed, consider using an expandable pole (2’ to 4’ or 4’ to 8’).
You are now ready for a trip to the paint store!

Fifth, how do I sequence my steps?
Having a clear plan of attack is critical to the success of a house painting project. Here is the recommended sequence:
1-Protect all surfaces not to be painted. Use tarps, tape and plastic sheeting as needed.
2- Complete ALL surface preparation on all surfaces before touching a brush.
3- Caulk all surfaces as needed.
4- Paint ceiling.
5- Paint all trim elements. The doors and windows can be done last.
6- Paint walls.
7- Clean up the work area after completing the house painting project

Voila!

When estimating the cost of a house painting project, it is always important to properly assess, on the one hand, the level of surface preparation that a client is looking for. On the other hand, it is equally important to assess the repair that surfaces actually require, whether the owners realize it or not. This is where clear communication with the owners is critical in order to ensure that painters and owners are on the same page with what needs to be done. Taking the time to explain the purpose and process of plaster repairs goes a long way in gaining the client’s support for the plaster restoration needed prior to the house painting portion of the work.

Historic three-coat plaster is extremely strong and durable. It is fire resistant, mildew resistant and allows the walls to breathe. Replacing plaster is expensive. Therefore, it is worth making every effort to do plaster restoration wherever possible. By so doing, you preserve a piece of history and the authentic feel of your house!

Plaster being mounted over wooden lath, it has a tendency to crack, over time, when the lath is exposed to moisture. Movement in the building also causes plaster keys to break off from the lath and cause cracks or failure in the plaster. A number of methods can be used to address these issues.

The picture in this article shows a crack that was stabilized by the use of two plaster buttons and wood screws. The screws re-fasten the plaster to the wood lath. Depending on the size of the crack, fiberglass tape can be placed over the crack prior to the patching process.

Next week, we are starting work on a house painting project where color is playing a major role. The owners have lived in their house for thirteen years. All along, they have been dreaming of COLOR! However, with three kids they home-schooled, these clients had many other priorities; until now!

Because of the home–schooling and a dad who works from home, the family spends considerable time in the house. At this point, the whole family was craving color for their environment and the parents felt that color could really add to the quality of their lives. Their biggest concern was: what colors should we choose and where should they go? Another concern was expressed this way: “we want a dramatic look!”

When doing a house painting project, especially for an entire house, choosing the right colors is critical to produce a result that is nurturing to all involved. As preparation for the color consultation with our company’s Color Design Consultant, we asked the clients to come with pictures of looks they liked and to experiment, as a family, with different colors.

The whole family then met with Painting in Partnership’s House Color Consultant. Because they did their homework and were well prepared, it took only two hours to develop a color scheme for the entire house. The picture below illustrates the color selections. Now, is this dramatic enough for you?

This building is a vintage, Four-Square house built in 1927. In Part 2 of this story, we will address the surface preparation issues and concerns that arise during a painting project in a vintage house .

Next time you have painters in your house, observe how they go about painting doors in your house. Commonly, you will see one of painters start by painting the top rail. Another will start on the top right panel. Yet, another may start with the bottom left panel. In addition to being confusing to the client watching this action, such activity is inefficient and results in poor and inconsistent quality.

The solution to this quagmire is: Standardized Painting Procedures (SPPs). What are SPPs? They outline the step by step procedures to execute a given painting task and produce craftsman-level work. SPPs resolve one of painting contractors’ biggest problems, which is the lack of uniform painting practices within their companies. By using SPPs to train their painters, house painting contractors create a uniform standard for the quality of the work performed.

The other major benefit of implementing such painting procedures is that a painting contractor gains the assurance to consistently being able to deliver on his or her promises to clients. Additionally, painting projects get completed more quickly, more efficiently and with virtually no re-dos.

Painting in Partnership, Inc. tailored its own SPPs after the national standardized painting procedures developed by the Craftsmanship Forum, an arm of the PDCA (Painting and Decorating Contractors of America). The implementation of these procedures is vital to our on-going success as a house painting company.

Wood deteriorates and rots. In some occasions, windows, doors or trim can be restored using epoxy consolidants and fillers. Vintage old growth wood can only be replaced at a high cost. Modern woods cannot approach the quality of the woods used in old homes. This is why it is important for a house painter to assess the condition of wood and make informed decisions regarding its restoration. Restoring vintage wood makes sense!

Understandings mortars and their function can also be very helpful. In vintage or historic houses, lime mortar was commonly used. It was designed to be softer than the brick or stone, so that moisture could escape through it. Painting masonry interferes with the proper functioning of mortars. The migrating moisture will cause the paint to fail and peel. However, lime paints and lime washes can safely be used in paint restoration because they naturally bond to the masonry, without interfering with the proper functioning of the building.

Plaster walls and ceilings, as well as plaster decorations and trim elements also deserve close attention. Plaster is held in place by the keys formed when the first plaster layer was forced through the lath. Over time, these keys break and cause the plaster to crack. House painting contractors working on vintage houses need to understand plaster, so that they can properly repair it or know when to call in a plasterer to do the more demanding work.

Here is a picture of the cast for a plaster crown section that will used to replace a damaged area in a Chicago mansion. For this kind of repair, as house painting contractors, we would call in the master plasterers!

Lastly paint analysis, for instance, can also be used to provide vital information on the historic colors and paint finishes used for the interior painting and exterior painting of buildings.

House painting contractors who are well educated on the materials used in old houses can better understand how paints and paint finishes can affect those materials and vise versa. From that greater understanding, painters can create added value for their clients by using more appropriate work methods and procedures or refer the more specialized tasks to other experts’ hands.

1- Assessing Financial Risk:
Not every painting contractor represents the same level of financial risk to you. Do they carry liability and workmen’s comp insurance and do they have their own employees, instead of subcontractors? If the answers are yes, your financial exposure is much lower. Additionally, it is important to note that if the painting contractor is a small operator and will work hands-on as a painter on your project, he/she most likely is excluded from the policy; in which case, the risk would falls back on you if he/she is injured on your painting project. So asking if the owner-painter is excluded from the policy is a good idea as well.

2- Assessing Reliability and Professionalism:
Does the painting contractor belong to PDCA (Painting and Decorating Contractors of America)? Are they accredited as contractors by PDCA? Do they perform background checks and drug testing? If the answers are yes, this painting company has invested in being knowledgeable about the painting business and is committed to operate in a professional manner.

3- Assessing the Likeliness of a Successful and On-Time Project:
Does the house painting contractor have an Employee Training Program and a Safety Program? If they do, their employees will likely perform at a higher level and in a more consistent manner, while using safe work practices. These factors will contribute substantially to a successful outcome for your house painting project.

4- Assessing the Likeliness of a Long-term Relationship:
Is it important to you for the painting contractor you choose to be someone you can call ”My Painter for Life”? If so, ask the following three questions. Are they a member of their local Chamber of Commerce? Do they warranty their painting work? Do they have an up-to-date website? If the answers are yes, you have a painter who takes a long view about their business and is more likely to value a long-term relationship with you as a customer.

As a consumer, when you compare painting contractors, you assess their TRUE Value to you, based on what is most important to you.

Painting in Partnership, Inc. has developed an easy-to-use form you can download from our website. It enables you to actually quantify your risk in choosing a painting contractor. Click here to download the form.

What makes it an unlikely scenario is that, in a climate this cold and dry, wood does not rot. Therefore, there is no need to use exterior painting as a means to preserve wooden structures, which is a nightmare scenario if you are a house painting contractor in the area. Consequently, without the colors that paint would have added to the décor of the town, the predominant colors, for most of the year, were black, white and every shade of gray.

Another critical factor was the wildly varying amount of light through the year, from total darkness for 3 months to twenty four hours of sun in the few summer months. The rest of the time, there are blue shadows and a sky that changes from pink, to turquoise to lilac.

Most of the town’s buildings are owned by a coal mining company. In 1981, in a bold and visionary move, the Board of Directors of the coal company hired Grete Smedal, a renowned environmental designer and color expert, to develop a color scheme for both housing and public buildings in the town. Having understood the power of color to enrich one’s environment, the Board presented Ms. Smedal with the challenge and the opportunity of a lifetime.

In 2004, I had the great pleasure and privilege to meet Grete in Trumso, Norway, at an international conference of painting contractors. After the conference , she sent me a copy of the book she had written on this unique color design and painting project.

After much study and deliberation, Grete finally settled on a color palette of almost equal whiteness, blackness and chromatic intensity. All the colors were of medium lightness, which allowed the color scheme to offer sufficient contrast in any season.

The actual exterior painting was executed in the 80s and 90s, which brought a smile to the local painting contractors. Ms. Smedal gave the school building a special color treatment. She had a row of 50+ windows painted in the colors of the rainbow. In her book, published in 2001, entitled “Longyearbyen in colors – status and challenges”, she quoted an anonymous miner who wrote the following:

“A span of the rainbow over summer wet meadow,
Is it a dream of a time you have left?
Much is forgotten, but may be not this:
The hunt in the woods for the rainbow’s end.

Just before the darkness of fall shadows the sun
You see a vision and then you see that
The end of the rainbow has hit on the school.
The treasure of Knowledge is the happiness you sought.”

Thanks Grete Smedal for your magical work in the North pole!

Color and painting have the power to add great value to people’s life. This is the belief that inspires everything we do at Painting in Partnership, Inc., painting contractors in the Chicago area.