Completed Large Wall

I have moved outside,but with all the rain, I am trying to complete some smaller interior painting projects I have.

This project took me about 5 hours and was a nice little job. The customer had the paint and it was MAB with an eggshell sheen. I originally quoted two coats, but they requested I present a quote with just one coat and I did. I got the job along with their exterior trim in late May.

Nothing unusual about this job:

1. Sanded walls with a circular pole sander - grit 100.
2. Wiped down wall.
3. Spackled some small nail holes and dings with quick drying lite weight spackle. Let dry.
4. Taped out all trim including doors and where walls met since this wall was a little lighter green.
5. Sanded areas I spackled.
6. Hit the repaired areas with paint to prevent flashing. Normally, I would use primer if I had a lot of repairs to prevent major flashing but the dress paint will work too for smaller areas.

"Teaching point. If you skip this step, you will see every area you repaired once the paint dries."

7. Started the finish coat by cutting in with a 4 1/2 inch roller with 1/2 nap, and 2 1/2 cut in brush. Cut in all trim within 8 to 10 feet including ceiling, doors, and baseboards.

"Teaching point. Don't get ahead of yourself if you are painting by yourself because you won't be able to keep a wet edge and you will get lap marks. As you look at my photo, you will see I do not have any lap marks. Roll from ceiling down to baseboards. Do not use a "W" or other methods you see on training videos. Roll straight up and down. See some other blogs of mine to see how to properly roll. You really eliminate lap marks by going back two or three feet and lightly let your roller glide down the wall."

8. Repeated steps 7 and 8 until wall was done - 2 hours of actual painting
9. Removed tape.
10. Touched-up ceiling and other trim.
11. Put my brushes and roller naps in plastic and cleaned at home.
12. Picked up all my materials and supplies.
13. Vacuumed area I worked in and left as clean as I found it.

Indianapolis Painter along with all the suburbs like Fishers, Noblesville, Carmel, Fortville, McCordsville.

Two coats revisited

It is amazing - I just blogged on always using two coats when changing colors and sheen.

I received a call from a homeowner on Monday wanting an estimate on various rooms in her house. We scheduled an appointment on Tuesday for a formal walk through. The rooms were painted with an Olympic flat white. She wanted the rooms painted beige with an eggshell sheen. I immediately communicated to her that it would need two coats and she stated they had only used one coat on some of the rooms they painted. Again, the problem is, the sheens don't match and you sometimes get a banding look.

I could have tried to do it in one coat to get the business, but I know I would end up doing a lot of additional work to make it look good to satisfy the customer.  No doubt, another painter will come in and quote it as one coat.  The painter will either find themselves doing additional work or they will ask for more money.

The second coat is always much cheaper. For example, my estimate for one coat would have been right around $1,000 for one coat and with a second coat, it would have only been $1,500. And it would have looked so much better.

Have a great day and make it a great 2011.