Painting your home is a great way to bring new life to an outdated space. From adding a statement wall to one room to repainting the whole exterior, there really are endless painting possibilities! Painting is not as easy as just slapping a new color on a wall though. There’s a lot of preparation and work that goes into the job to achieve a great end result. Certain areas are especially hard to reach, so how are you supposed to paint them?! There’s no simple answer, but these tips will make this tricky task a lot easier! 

Prepare Before You paint 

Take plenty of time to prepare the space you’re going to paint before you start. With hard-to-reach areas, the less careful you have to be, the better! That means taping off corners, outlet covers, and any other areas that aren’t meant to be painted. Remove wall hangings and cover the flooring with plastic sheeting. Furniture should be moved or covered too. Prepare the space so you can focus on getting the paint where it needs to go without worrying about causing damage to other items in the process. 

Add Extenders to Brushes and Rollers 

Brush and roller extenders are extremely helpful tools for painting hard-to-reach areas. Extenders attach to your painting supplies to give you more reach without climbing on a ladder. This makes the job less physically demanding too! The only downside to using extenders is that the further away you are from your brush or roller, the harder it is to control. 

Get a Good Ladder 

Extenders are a great tool, but they won’t work for intricate spaces and can’t reach every height. Invest in a good ladder at the start of your painting project. A ladder you feel comfortable on that provides a good level of height will give you the ability to reach the places where your extenders can’t. You’ll also be able to get closer to areas that require close attention that an extender won’t provide. 

Hire a Professional 

If all of this preparation and purchasing tools to make the paint job a DIY project sounds too overwhelming, hire a professional! Hiring a professional is the easiest way to get your painting project done with minimal stress and time taken out of your day. By the time you purchase all the tools you’ll need to reach high areas, a DIY painting project won’t be much cheaper than hiring someone who already has the tools they need. You’ll also be able to sit back and relax, knowing that the end result will look great! 

Contact Tom Curren Companies today to schedule a consultation to discuss your interior or exterior painting needs. Our team has years of experience and all the tools needed to reach even the most difficult places! 

Paint Chalking on Interior Walls

Paint chalking on interior walls is when a powdery pigment residue resides on the surface of a coat of paint. This also comes with a loss of gloss or sheen and fading of the paint. Interior paint chalking is normal for the most part over time and preferable to paint peeling off, but white and other light paints are sometimes victims of excessive chalking. To put it simply, chalking paint on interior walls occurs when the paint begins to separate which can happen for a number of different reasons.

What Causes Paint to Chalk?

As we mentioned, after long enough even high-quality paint will chalk, but there are certain factors that speed things up. One of the most common culprits is exposure to the sun. UV rays break down the binders in paint causing some separation and when oxygen is added to the mix the process of chalking gets started. Next up, low-quality paint can cause premature chalking of interior paint if it’s not engineered for your particular climate. Improper priming and preparation can also lead to your paint failing before it should. For the above reasons and more, it pays off to work with a trusted local painter. 

What To Do About Interior Chalk Painting

First, you want to assess the degree of the chalking. Grab a rag and wipe it along the surface to find out just how much chalking is occurring. Next, you can try power or pressure washing, but make sure that it’s not turned up too high. If you don’t have a pressure washer available, you can use a wire brush to remove the powder and then rinse with a hose. You can also use mild environmentally friendly soaps. Let the surface dry thoroughly and do your original check again and see how much chalk remains. If there is still a considerable amount, you’ll likely want to repaint. 

When it’s time to repaint, you want to make sure you select UV-resistant paint that will stand up to the elements. To avoid any premature chalking, you should work with a professional painter that knows how to properly prime and prepare a space for paint, keeping the paint bound for years to come. When it comes to your home, don’t cheap out on painting, it makes a major impact on the look and feel of your home.

If you’re ready to paint your home’s interior or exterior, Tom Curren Companies can help. Reach out to us today for an estimate at 617-969-4900. 

The New England elements can be especially hard on the woodwork around your home. Sunlight breaks down the natural lignin polymer that holds the wood together,  allowing water to seep into your boards and shingles, leaving them susceptible to rot. As a homeowner, you can prevent this damage by giving your exterior wood a coat of quality stain. A stain is different from paint – it’s a liquid substance used to protect and color wood.  This description could also theoretically apply to paint. However, there are some key differences between wood stain and paint.

What is Paint vs. Stain?

Both substances are made up of the same ‘ingredients’ — a pigment and a vehicle. The main difference between the two is that paint remains on the surface of the wood, whereas stain is absorbed into it.  Paint tends to be thicker than stain, so it can be applied in fewer coats. However, because paint stays on top of the wood, it covers up any details in that wood that may make your home more attractive. Painting wood is also more expensive than staining it.

Stains are designed to be absorbed into the wood, so it doesn’t obscure the grain while coloring it. It’s easier to apply stains than paint, as well as to re-coat any surfaces when they need it. You don’t always need to prime the wood before applying stain, so it’s faster than painting, as well. Also, unlike paint, wood stains are not subject to chipping. However, because wood stain is thinner than paint, it wears away faster and needs to be reapplied more frequently. There are also fewer colors to choose from in stains, as the purpose of a wood stain is to present an enhanced wood color rather than a bold color such as yellow or green. 

Popular Types of Natural Wood Stain

There are various kinds of wood stain to choose from. The two major types are semi-transparent and solid. A semi-transparent stain is ideal for structures where you want to see the details of the wood grain for a more rustic or natural feel. Solid stains are similar to paint in that they leave a solid coating of pigment that can obscure the details of the wood, though not to the same degree as paint. 

Beyond texture, your wood stain could be water-based, oil-based, or varnish-based. 

Advantages of water-based wood stains:

• Do not produce fumes
• Non-flammable
• Easier to clean up
• Maintains color for a longer time

Advantages of oil-based wood stains:

• Smoother finish
• Permeates the natural wood deeper for greater protection
• Less maintenance 
• More resistant to fading or damage from the elements

Advantages of using a varnish-based wood stain:

• Provides a clear and transparent finish
• Maintains more of the natural color of the wood
• Dries quickly

The type of stain you decide to use is generally dependent on the kind of wood you are working with, as well as your own preferences for color or grain visibility. 

How Often Should You Stain Your House?

Much like paint, a wood stain has to be reapplied after a certain point. Usually, when you notice your wood starting to become dull, dry, or turning a grayish tint, it’s time to reapply. However, coats of wood stain applied before you begin to see damage are ideal. 

The amount of time between reapplications is also dependent on the type of stain you used. If you’ve used a semi-transparent stain, you can go 3-5 years between reapplications. With a solid stain, because it’s thicker and more resilient than the semi-transparent style, you can reapply it every 5-10 years depending on the elements your wood is exposed to. 

Natural materials have offered beautiful home aesthetics for years. In order to protect those aesthetics, you should maintain your wood with a quality stain, which is something our professionals know a lot about. To talk to paint and carpentry experts about how to keep your home looking beautiful, or for any home improvement project that you want to undertake, get in touch with us today!

Your home’s exterior does a great job of representing you, or at least we hope it does. If not, a paint refresh is one of the best ways to give it more life. Painting your home can totally change the first impression that guests get. With more time spent at home, you want to be happy with how your home looks. Let’s check out some of the reasons why Spring is the best time to paint your home.

The Weather

Spring in New England means mild temperatures in general. It’s not too hot or humid yet, and you don’t have to worry about extreme cold either. Modern paints are much more resistant to temperatures, but it’s still much easier to set well in Spring weather. 

The Exterior of Your Home is Stressed

Not the same kind of stress that people feel, your home’s paint job can also become stressed. Through the various weather conditions we experience in the Boston area, your home’s exterior deals with a lot. Snow, ice, rain, and high humidity can negatively impact the appearance of your home over the years, leading to cracks and chips. Too much moisture also can lead to mold and mildew growth. UV rays can cause paint to fade. The variety of weather we have here is a lot to handle for exteriors. Springtime illuminates these issues, making it a great time for new paint. 

Less Foliage

In the Spring, especially early on, trees and bushes haven’t flowered yet. So there aren’t bushes and other foliage in the way, giving maximum access to every part of the home’s exterior.

Work with the Best Painters

If you wait too long until the end of Spring and early Summer, the best painters in your area may be booked solid. Make sure to get your quote from a reputable painting company early in the year so you can get the job done well and enjoy it sooner.

Good Pricing

After a long winter, many contractors are ready to get out in the weather and start working. This means that you can get more competitive rates at this time. Remember to act fast before schedules and rates both go up with demand. 

Ready for Summer

Many people are spending more time outdoors at their homes than ever. The sooner your home is painted and feeling fresh, the sooner you’ll be enjoying it from your deck or yard. Painting your home in the Spring is one of the best ways to get the most value out of it. 

If you’re a homeowner interested in giving your home an update, our team at Tom Curren Companies can help. Contact us today for a painting estimate.