Top 15 Questions You Are Afraid to Ask Your Painting Contractor

1. Why don’t you paint vinyl windows?

The window could still actually be under warranty and painting it could void your warranty. We also urge clients to consider the fact that vinyl windows are meant to be maintenance free. By painting the vinyl windows they will, of course, need to be painted again.

2. Why can’t you do touch ups?

Several reasons: Paint fades. Unless the house was painted in the last 5 months, it’s likely the paint has faded from the original color that is in the can. Therefore, a match needs to be done by a professional paint store which is close to impossible to the discerning eye. The 2nd reason is, if the paint has any sheen in it, like Eggshell, the new paint will be shinier than the old. Most customers want a uniform finish.

3. What is a “sheen”?

Not only do paints come in various colors, but they also come in different types and sheens. The most common paint sheens used in homes are Flat, Satin, Eggshell, Semi-Gloss and Gloss. All paint brands come in different sheen levels. Gloss sheens have the highest light-reflective characteristics. Next are semigloss sheens; then satin, eggshell, or low-lustre sheens; and then flat or matte sheens. It is very typical in Atlanta for interior paint jobs to have this solution: Semi-Gloss on trim, Flat on all walls and Eggshell/Satin in bathrooms and high traffic areas. On the outside, we typically do Gloss on all trim or accents and Flat or Eggshell on the siding.

4. How many colors is too many?

There is a rule of 3 we like to promote with our customers. The eye should not see more than 3 colors while walking in a home, and the trend now is to have the same color everywhere. Highly popular colors are a light grey or now even an off-white on the walls. We offer a professional color consultation in our larger jobs.

5. What is a downspout?

Downspouts are long metal “tubes” that are connected to your horizontal gutters. Their function is to carry the water from your horizontal gutters down to the ground or to an underground tube called a French drain. The downspouts are usually painted white or the same color when we re-paint them. When we replace horizontal gutters sometimes we re-use the existing downspouts.

6. What is a Fascia board?

A fascia board can be a corner trim board going up a chimney or a board that is holding up a horizontal gutter. It can also be a decorative trim board on a house that doesn’t have a gutter. It can be a board at the peak of a house. If these wood boards are not painted or protected then they will rot. If gutters are not cleaned properly there tends to be water over-running on a gutter and frequent water contact with a fascia board will lead to wood rot.

7. What is a brick moulding?

A brick moulding is an outer trim board around a window or a door. Without paint and with frequent water contact the moulding will rot or deteriorate. We typically replace these with wood unless we should replace the entire window with PVC. If it's not the same material there will be a slight difference in appearance.

8. Why does wood rot occur on my house?

Usually, wood rot occurs from not painting or from not cleaning your gutters and having excess rain waterfall over your gutters. A house typically needs to be painted every 5-8 years depending on weather conditions and the quality of paint job. Using better paint materials will extend the life of a paint job.

9. What is Bondo?

Most professional paint stores carry a product called Bondo wood filler. It is a 2-part product that can fill in rotten areas on a home. It is a temporary fix, but if done correctly it can be a great substitute for complete wood replacement in
difficult areas like window sills.

10. What is siding?

Siding is the product used to protect the sides of your home. It comes in many forms (for example, lap concrete, cedar, wood, board and batten, and particle board, also known as compressed cardboard.) The most popular is lapped concrete in north Atlanta. It all should be re-caulked when it is re-painted. Some of the newer homes are not caulked. 11. Why does it cost so much to paint over wallpaper? It usually requires 3 coats of paint (primer and 2 finish coats) to go over wallpaper and lots of wall work using drywall mud. It is very time consuming and tedious work to mud the seams and corners and wait for the drywall mud to dry. The best option is to remove the wallpaper. There is an unknown element with regards to the time involved so most reputable companies explain this to customers ahead of time.

12. Do you cover hardwood floors?

Yes, reputable painting companies cover all floors, and will include in the cost of your job, the prep time and materials required. Paper coverings are best for use on hardwood floors. We then use special painters tape to not remove the poly finish of your floors. We put tape on the shoe moulding to make sure the newly finished hardwood floors remain beautiful. It is best to paint first and then install new floors last. We recommend having a painter return to do touch up's on the baseboards.

13. How long is the project going to take?

It really depends on many factors. Here are a few factors that determine the length of your job: the size of the crew, the size of your job, interior or exterior, other contractors, and time of work being done. These are all questions to ask an estimator to give you a ballpark, but hiring a reputable company that has an employee-based company with a scheduler and project manager will give you the best indication of how long it will take.

14. Why doesn’t paint cover in one coat?

Many paint manufacturers have recently tried a ploy to market one-coat coverage paints. We have tried these products. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. As a company, we have decided to not offer these products anymore. It causes too much disruption to our customers to be at their house longer than expected. If a painter only applies 1 coat of paint, it eliminates the step between coats of paint that identify imperfections on the walls. Wall issues can arise after the first coat and are addressed before the 2nd coat of paint. If a painter is only applying one coat, he can’t go back and touch up the smaller areas if it is a paint higher than a flat sheen.

15. Why do you need a primer?

A primer coat provides better cover or “hiding” than most latex paints. We use primer frequently after wallpaper removal and covering certain colors. Difficult colors to cover are red, yellow, black, dark blue and even white. We typically tint the primer to the final color.