With the holiday season quickly approaching, many homeowners are looking to undertake a quick ‘spruce up’ before Christmas or use the time off to undertake a little D-I-Y project. Dollar for dollar, nothing transforms your home like some fresh paint. It can turn that room from drab to fab and provide a nice fresh feel. Interior painting is well within the scope of the perfect weekend project – anyone can be successful if they follow a few simple tips.
At Merrett Home Hardware Building Centre, we’ve been helping Peterborough homeowners with selecting the perfect paint products for years. Ask the painting pro’s in town, and they will confirm, that dollar for dollar, our exclusive line of Beauti-Tone paints represents the best value in the industry. It’s affordable and yet easy to apply and covers exceptionally well.
So, are you ready to undertake that holiday painting project? Here are 3 tips that will ensure your success – we refer to them as the 3 P’s to Painting Perfection:
Preparation
Investing the time and elbow grease in a good cleaning of your walls will pay dividends down the road. Everyday wear and tear results in dirt, dust and oils accumulating on your trim and walls. While your walls may look clean, these contaminants lay on the surface. If not removed, they can bleed through and affect the final finish, resulting in shiny spots in the finish coat.
While cleaning your walls will add a bit of time to the job, in the long run, you’ll be so glad you did when you step back and examine the final product. At Merrett Home Hardware Building Centre, we offer a product called Natura Safe Prep which requires no gloves or rinsing and is environmentally safe. You can also choose products such as TSP to clean surfaces prior to painting.
Patch
Now that your walls are clean, dry and dull from contaminates, it’s the perfect time to patch any nail holes, pops, or damaged areas. There are a variety of patching compounds available, depending upon the extent of the damage requiring repair. Some are easily sanded while others offer very little shrinkage, making them perfect for filling deeper holes.
A key to any patching job is to try and use thin coats. Applying too much compound which will later require extensive sanding. Our staff can assist you with selecting the right product including putty knife size and appropriate sandpaper grit to replicate the texture of the surrounding drywall. These patched areas will require priming to ensure a smooth free finish. Be sure to clean off any sanded areas with the Natura Safe Prep once complete.
Prime
Not every painting job will require priming, however, patched and new drywall or wood does require a primer coat. At Merrett Home Hardware Building Centre, we have various paint products available, some of which combine primer and paint in one. There are a few decisions that will impact priming requirements including the colour selections as well as the desired paint finish. It’s really not that complicated but again, our staff love helping customers select the right product for the job. They’ll ask the questions and help you through the options – it’s much easier than you think.
And now, with your prep work complete, you can roll your way to that beautiful room transformation in no time. Regardless of whether you’re a seasoned painting pro or you have never painted before, come in and talk to our painting experts. They are always happy to help and have a wealth of information that will ensure your success.
Merrett Home Hardware Building Centre is located at 1460 Lansdowne St., West. Peterborough.