Interior Painting – A Great Way to Brighten Your Lansing Room

There are many ways to freshen up the look of your Lansing home. Redecorating is an option that many people choose in order to give their house a new appearance. While this is certainly a wonderful way to change things up, it can lead to huge expenses due to the cost of new furniture, carpeting and window treatments.

Add in the price of decorative pieces such as pictures, vases and lamps, and suddenly your expenses have shot through the roof. Another way to go about changing the atmosphere in your home is to simply do some interior painting. You could even hire a professional company to come in and do the work for much less than you would spend to redecorate.

Lansing interior painting can give new life to a room that otherwise looks dull or is taking on a boring feel. With all of the color choices available today, you can create virtually any look that you want. A Lansing painting contractor can help you with color choices, as well as recommending the correct sheen for your project.

The contractor will first go over all of the steps necessary to complete your interior painting job. Typically, the crew will begin by covering the floors with drop cloths, tarps or a special covering called red rosin paper. This will protect your floors from damage and spills. Next, your windows, doors, cabinets and fixtures will be masked or covered.

The crew will then remove all switch plate and electrical outlet covers. Now all of the window and door casings will be sealed with caulk and any holes and cracks will be filled. If larger repair work needs to be done, the crew will take care of it. Most contractors will do small dry wall repairs themselves, while larger repairs or plasterwork will need to be hired out.

Finally, the interior painting will begin. Walls will be coated with a primer. This helps mask any irregularities on the wall as well as covering patchwork so that it will not show through the paint. When the primer is dry, the crew will apply two coats of the color you have chosen, allowing the first coat to dry prior to applying the second coat. This can be sprayed or rolled on.

Smaller areas and cut-ins at the ceiling will be done by hand with a brush. When the work is complete, all masking will be removed. At this time, you should do a walk though with the contractor. If you notice any areas that need a touch up, you should point them out immediately. This is a great way to bring a new feeling into a room, or even your entire house!

Tips on Hiring Your Next Contractor

Choosing the right contractor for any project around your home or business can be an overwhelming task. One reason is because of all the options that are available to today’s consumers. Whether you are getting a new roof or remodeling the kitchen, you definitely want to filter through the options and choose a reputable contractor that you can trust and that you will feel comfortable with having in or around your home or business. A second reason is that you know that if you choose the “wrong” contractor you will regret the experience of having work done on your home. It will lead to headaches. It will for sure be an experience that you will soon want to forget.

Here are six tips that will aid you in hiring that next contractor for any project:

1. Hire an Insured Contractor – This is no different than driving your vehicle without having insurance. Bottom line, it’s dangerous for both you and the contractor. Who will be liable if damage occurs? Accidents do happen and the risk is by no means worth it.

2. Get Some References – An honest, trustworthy contractor should have some past clients that he has worked for. Ask to see a list of testimonials or references. This will ensure you are hiring someone with a proven reputation.

3. Get a Detailed, Written Estimate – A detailed written or typed estimate will save headaches and misunderstandings. Make sure you understand every detail of the estimate and contract. Simply getting a price over the phone or handed to you on the back of a business card is ludicrous.

4. Ask About Experience – Don’t be afraid to ask the contractor some questions about their experience in their particular trade and more specifically the type of work you are having done. You don’t want your project to be the experimental project.

5. Product Options – Ask the contractor about the products he is going to use on your project. Which ones does he have experience using? Which ones are best for your project? These are simple questions that an experienced, knowledgeable contractor won’t hesitate to answer.

6. Compare Apples to Apples – This is the last and most important tip. When getting multiple quotes, which is always a good idea, compare the companies equally. Compare the details of the estimate. Not all estimates are equal and just like many other things in life, you get what you pay for!

Hiring someone to work on your home or business is an investment. Making a mistake and hiring the wrong contractor can cause headaches and unneeded stress. Hiring the right contractor can make the project an enjoyable experience that you will never forget.

Capital City Airport Welcome Center

We are going to introduce a new category to our blog called “Projects At a Glance”. We will post tidbits about current and sometimes past projects that may be of interest. So, here we introduce to you our first “Projects At a Glance” post.

This project took place at the Capital City Airport several months ago. The project involved basically taking the old gift shop area, which is right in the center of the airport, and revamping it into a room that would be shared by the welcome center and a travel agency.

The first step was to remove the majority of the slat walls, rehang and finish some new drywall.

The drywall was severely damaged upon the tear down of the slat walls, so repair was not the best option. Installing new drywall took about the same amount of effort and in the end gave us a fresh “canvas” to paint.

Not all the walls received new drywall. Two slat walls remained intact for the welcome center side. The headers and casings around the glass doors and a few of the columns had old, painted wallpaper that was removed, the walls were cleaned, and surfaces patched in preparation for painting. Just as stated in another blog post found here, preparation is key to making any project look beautiful. We definitely had no shortage of patching on this project.

The next step involved priming the walls with a latex primer. Two coats of a Sherwin Williams Pre-Catalyzed epoxy were applied to the walls for the finish coat. This product was chosen to give the wall surface a tough commercial grade finish that would hold up to the traffic that a heavily used facility like the airport would receive.

The slat walls that were to remain were primed with an extremely tough bonding primer and received the same finish coat product as the drywall. The mauve colored door was updated to a satin black finish. Last, but not least, black vinyl base was installed to match the black door.

As you can tell from the pictures, the newly renovated Welcome Center/Travel Agency project looks distinctively more updated. The new colors, the removal of the wallpaper, the new ceiling, and especially the black on the door and base, portray the area as a more modern looking room.

So, next time you are traveling through the Capital City Airport, take a peek into the new Welcome Center Area.

To learn more about Southern Michigan Painting, you can visit us at our About page. Feel free to contact us about any of your upcoming painting projects. We offer Free Consultations for every project.

The Secret to a Good Paint Job

In today’s world there are many people who paint. Homeowners, DIY’s, Painting Contractors, Remodelers, and Handymen are just a few that come to mind. To some of them painting seems to be viewed as a trade that is easy. “Anyone can paint”, and “It’s just painting” are a few remarks I have heard over the years. However there is one key ingredient that sets apart an average paint job, from an outstanding painting job.

That key ingredient is preparation. Now when I speak of preparation, I mean preparing the surfaces to be painted. This can be anything from cleaning to caulking. Prep work not only enhances the beauty of the finished project, but also the longevity of the coating.

It’s a very simple concept. Let’s use an exterior substrate as a common sense example. Some siding has an abundance of dirt and mildew all over. Obviously, cleaning the surface with a solution which will  kill the mildew and clean the dirt off is important. It not only enhances the look of the coating by giving it a clean, even surface but also, creates a better bond between the substrate and coating used. It’s important in this situation to thoroughly clean the surface. That is just one aspect of a thorough prep job on an exterior surface. We haven’t even mentioned any necessary scraping, sanding, priming, caulking, puttying, or patching.

Now let’s look at some interior walls. Sanding the walls thoroughly with a pole sander is normally an extremely important, but often overlooked step in the painting process. It not only enhances the look of the surface by ridding it of contaminants (i.e. fibers off a roller cover from the last time it was painted), but also allows for a better bond between the new coating and the existing coating. Just as was stated above about the exterior prep, we have only mentioned one minor detail of a thorough prep job on walls. There is still the cleaning, patching, priming, and caulking to trim.

Now in both instances mentioned not every aspect of a perfect prepartion job was mentioned. There are steps that are unique for every situation of every project. Some might be needed for one project, all or more for another project, or none for yet another project.

It may seem like “the secret” is really common sense, but it is way too often overlooked. To many, painting is just painting, but to get the most of out your painting, the key is simple - preparation!

Spring is close!

Spring is coming. We can all feel it. Less snow. Slightly warmer temperatures (and I emphasize slightly). Have you been thinking about getting your exterior painted? Dont’ hesitate to call us for a free estimate. Protecting your biggest investment, your home, is very important. Not only will we give you an estimate for painting your exterior, but we will look for problem areas that might need to be addressed. This will help you save money by taking care of those areas before they become a major ordeal. Clogged gutters, improper drainage, and rotting wood are just of few of things that should be closely looked for. Catching these things early helps prevent major damage down the road as well. Don’t hesitate. Give us a call. Get on the schedule early!

Painting Vinyl Siding?

Can our vinyl siding be painted? We have been asked this question many times. The answer is yes you can, but first let’s look at some issues with vinyl siding.

Vinyl siding has become popular because of the “no maintenance” belief. While it is considerably less maintenance, over time it can become dull, or even chalky. This is not necessarily a good thing when trying to maintain your most important investment, your home. You want the exterior of your home to shine. You want it to stand out in the neighborhood (in a good way). As with any other substrate, such as wood siding, cedar siding, hardi siding, or even aluminum siding, mildew and dirt are still an issue. These two problems need to be addressed the same way they would on any other substrate – cleaning!

Pressure washing is not the sole answer. Mildew should be removed using a mixture of bleach and water (usually about 5 parts water to 1 part bleach). Dirt shoudl be removed by mixing a good cleaning detergent with your bleach and water mixture. Applying the mixture and letting it do it’s magic for about 10 minutes is key. Next, we usually pressure wash the surface clean, with low pressure, but sometimes a simple rinse with a garden hose and decent nozzle does the trick. Cleaning the vinyl siding is extremely important just as with any other exterior painting. This will allow the paint to have a good, clean surface to bond to, with no contamination of dirt, mildew, etc.

Painting vinyl used to be an issue. Whenever it was painted with a color darker than the existing color the siding would warp with sun exposure. Companies now have reformulated certain lines of paint that allow for virtually any color to be painted over exisiting siding colors.  This is helpful for those who even just want to change the exterior color of their home. Rather than re-side the whole house, and be limited to specific vinyl siding colors, you can choose virtually any color from your local paint store!

So, is that vinyl siding looking like it needs a facelift? Didn’t think you could afford to replace it? Paint it! Southern Michigan Painting always gives you a free detailed quote, so call us today!

Selecting the Right Coating

Selecting the right coating for the task or project at hand can sometimes be an overwhelming task. There are many different paint manufacturers and with each of them comes many different lines or grades of paint. Will the paint be used for interior or exterior? Is oil or latex best? Does the surface need a primer prior to application of paint? If so, should it be an oil or latex primer? These are just a few of the common questions that must be answered prior to painting any surface.

When hiring any contractor for your painting project, it is a good idea to ask a few questions about what products that the contractor prefers or commonly uses. You will usually get a variety of responses. How do you know which contractor knows his stuff? Well, you can usually tell by their response. Most good painting contractors have experience with a variety of coatings. They know the positives and negatives of using different types of products and they can usually recommend several different lines of paint that would be appropriate for your situation.

Selecting the proper coating is essential for your painting project. It can make your project look extremely beautiful, but it
can just as easily cause many headaches down the road.