exterior painting Pleasanton

House Painting Pleasanton – How Long Does Exterior Painting Take?

exterior painting Pleasanton, home painting Pleasanton, house painting Pleasanton, painting Pleasanton , , , ,

Most of us want to see certain things done quickly, including house painting Pleasanton.  So, we couldn’t help asking: “how long will it take?” or “how long will it take to finish?”

In exterior painting, we are all hoping for good weather conditions to enable painting outside the house. But it’s not always the case. There are other factors that come into play such as the number of coatings, the size of the house, the size of the painting crew, the type of surface to be painted, and a lot more. These things can cause the topcoat to take a lot more time to dry than we’ve hoped.

The following are some reasons why exterior house painting may take a while and why there may be some delays to your job:

  1. The weather– The weather – especially bad weather – is always the top reason why there are delays to most of our painting jobs. When the weather is wet, you cannot go out to paint the exterior. If you do try to paint while it’s still raining, the moisture could delay the proper drying of paint. This could result in unsightly overlap marks and water streaks, and they’re not the results you want to see in your home’s exterior.It’s always better to wait out until the rain stops and the weather becomes better. It’s also important to check whether the surface becomes perfectly dry again to be painted. Even a whit of leftover moisture should not remain on the surface; otherwise, it could ruin your entire paint job.
  2. Temperature and humidity – Both the temperature and humidity also play a big role to the paint’s drying speed. While drying time depends on the paints you use (latex or oil-based), the general rule of thumb is that latex paints are applied when temperatures go between 50 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit, and oil paints in temperatures between 40 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit.Painting under too hot or too cold temperatures can ruin your paint job. It may not dry or bind properly to the surface, which can lead to cracking, peeling or blistering. And of course, the surface problems mean that you have to start painting all over again, which takes additional time.

    It is always better to paint during late in the summer season or in early autumn, where the extreme changes in temperature during the day are low.

    The optimum degree of humidity – the amount of moisture in the air – should play around 40% to 70%. It’s always better to paint when humidity is low. Higher humidity can lead to the slower drying time of the topcoat. Plus, other things like dust and soot can stick to the wet surface, and you don’t want a dirty paint finish. Both water- and oil-based paints are prone to such problems when they’re exposed to high humidity.

  3. The size and condition of the house – It goes without saying that the bigger the house is, the longer the job takes to finish.Another factor is the condition of the house. If your home’s exterior doesn’t have a lot of serious surface problems, then the preparation and painting would be relatively easier and faster. But if your exterior has acquired any sorts of surface issues like peeling, flaking, molds and mildew, rust marks, etc., then the prep work and painting shall take a lot longer.
  4. Hampering the work in progress – If you’re the nosy type who likes to check and double-check on how the painting job is going, you’d most likely follow the workmen around and scrutinize their every move to see if they’re doing their job right. Your kids and pets may follow you all the way to the work area and may run around the work site. Not only it will be annoying and distracting, it can also be dangerous as it can lead to accidents – especially when there are solvents or high ladders around, for instance. If that happens, the job may take longer than expected.It’s better to leave the workers to do their job first. When their break comes, discuss with them about the progress of their work.

    Also, make sure that any obstruction (rocks and stones, overgrown bushes, a garden hose that’s strewn across the lawn, etc.) is out of the way before the workers arrive. If you plan to cut on painting costs, you may also do the cleaning and prep the surfaces by yourself. This will also reduce the task on the part of the painting crew, speeding up the job in the process.

  5. Lack of communication – The project of exterior painting may get hindered by the lack of good communication between the workers and the homeowners.As a homeowner, you are the one who knows what you want for your house to be painted. It is important that you should discuss this with your contractor to avoid disputes in the future. Better, provide the contractor your own list of specified work (such as the number of preferred coatings, inclusion or omission of primer, or areas that you want or don’t want to have them painted) that you’d like to be done so that they would have an idea on what you would have wanted the space to look like when it’s done.

    If contractors find something that’s beyond repair or potentially harmful (like lead in old paint), they inform the homeowners that there is no other alternative than to have them removed or replaced. They may sometimes discuss their suggestions to the homeowners and together they try to reach an agreement or compromise.

There are a lot of reasons that can hamper exterior house painting Pleasanton from getting finished within the defined time frame. While there are factors that are beyond our control such as the weather, there are other things that can be managed and this will help to speed up the painting job as desired.

Saving Money When Exterior House Painting in Pleasanton

exterior painting Pleasanton, home painting Pleasanton, house painting Pleasanton, painting Pleasanton, residential painting Pleasanton , , , ,

House painting in Pleasanton can be a costly thing to do. While one day you may do necessary upkeep of your home’s exterior, there some ways to cut back the expense without sacrificing the quality work that is done.

Maintaining your home’s exterior — which also includes painting and repairs — is a key to maintain the high value of your home’s property as well as to reduce future expenses. The fewer issues that your home’s exterior has to be repaired before starting on your paint, the less you will spend on preparing the surfaces.

A lot of homeowners choose to have the professionals do the work of exterior house painting in Pleasanton. For the budget-conscious homeowner however, this may not be a feasible option — but this may be possible if you discuss the matter with a professional painting contractor and make arrangements regarding the job to be taken. For instance, you may have to split the tasks between the two of you — you doing the prep work and the contractor doing the painting part. This will save the contractor time and you money. The paint contractor, as well as you the homeowner, will want such any agreement to be expressed in writing, because that paper will serve as protection for the both of you. However, it is likely that the contractor will not give any warranty since he will not be doing all the work himself. So it’s important that you discuss this matter with your contractor before arriving at the final decision.

Now that you and your contractor may have reached an agreement, you should know how the prep work on the surface should be done. It usually includes washing the surface, getting rid of mold and mildew, removing dirt, grease and grime, scrapping old peeling paint, repairing damage (if any), filling any gaps with caulk, and sanding.

But if you have decided to do the entire project by yourself, you will definitely save money. You will want all the surfaces to be prepped properly. Buy only good quality paints that your budget can afford, as the quality of the paint has much to do with the “finished product.” If you choose to buy cheaper paints, you may save a lot more money at the beginning of the project — but you should be aware that cheaper paints also mean cheaper and inferior quality. If you use cheaper paints, it is highly likely that you won’t be satisfied with the end result — colors fading, thin coating, etc. — considering the hours and the labor you’ve spent on the job. Buying premium quality paints may not be cheap, but at least it will last for more years before you will be required to paint again. This means that the price of buying expensive paints will be lower in the long run.

To make the paint last even longer, you will also want to use a good-quality primer. A primer is a preparatory coat which applied on prepped surfaces. This will help the paint adhere better to the surface and thus will give it an even result. It will also help reduce the number of coats of paint necessary to achieve the desired color and finish. These are just a few of the many ways you may be able to save money when doing exterior house painting in Pleasanton.

House Painting Pleasanton What to Do About Blistering Paint

exterior painting Pleasanton, home painting Pleasanton, house painting Pleasanton, painting Pleasanton, residential painting Pleasanton , , , ,

One of the things that no one wants to encounter while house painting in Pleasanton is blistering paint on the exterior walls. Knowing what factors cause paint to blister is a vital part of discovering solutions on how to prevent it from happening again.

A blister refers to a paint problem where the top layer of paint raises above the layer beneath it. Have you seen these “bubbles” on the surface? Those are blistering paints. Unfortunately, there is no way for us to predict when the blistering will happen but there are ways to make it less likely to happen.

Moisture is the number one cause of blistering paint. Did you paint the exterior walls while it’s a bit rainy? Did the paint dry properly? Was the surface still wet as you started to paint it? Any of these may be the source of moisture which causes blistering paint. So the key solution to avoiding possibility of blistering paint is a thoroughly dry surface. It is important to make sure that all areas are completely dry before applying paint. Some areas like the basement and bathroom tend to be quite humid. If you’re painting in these areas, it’s important that you should take careful steps that will remove as much moisture from the area while you’re painting.

Mixing different paints types is another culprit of blistering paint, particularly on the exterior walls. For instance, the current paint on the walls is oil-based and you’re trying to coat a latex paint over it. Since heat leads to expansion and oil and latex respond to it differently, the blistering or bubbling occurs. It’s better to apply an a new coat of oil-based paint over a surface already painted with an oil-based paint, and a new latex paint over a surface already coated with a latex paint.

When you paint layers rather quickly, you may be encountering problems with heat which will cause the paint to bubble. The top layer may be dried before the lower layer, which will lead to solvents turning into vapors beneath the top layer. This results into blistering paint.

Dirt is also one of the common causes of blistering paint. When you apply paint on a dirty surface, the paint will change as it dries. It will shrivel just enough that areas that aren’t painted properly due to dirt will pull up off the surface below.

When you discover that the exterior walls have blistered paint, first scrape off the affected areas, and then sand. Make sure the surface is completely dried before painting. If blistering paint still reappears, inspect behind the wall (inside the room or the basement) to make sure that there isn’t a moisture problems that causes blistering.

These solutions may not be the sure-fire ways to prevent blistering paint in when house painting in Pleasanton, but they are a beginning place. At least knowing what causes it will give you an idea on how to avoid them as best as you can.