Caulk it Like You Mean It

As we often say at Paint Doctor’s Painting, painting is prep, which means you can’t get a quality paint job without all of the necessary preparation done well. One of the critical steps in paint preparation is caulking.

The importance of properly applied caulk cannot be overstated. It seals, smooths, protects and greatly increases the lifespan of both the paint job and the building. Good caulking covers minor imperfections and provides a beautiful transition between trim and wall, between baluster and rail, between adjacent corners. Caulking also provides a very useful adhesive that gives strength to the fasteners and glues that keep construction components in place.

Our professional painters know what caulking product, when to use it and how to apply it for the best protection and presentation of your project. It’s a very real skill set. If you’ve every seen someone try to caulk that doesn’t possess the skills or if you’ve seen the results of an unskilled caulker, you know what this looks like and it’s not pretty.

Proper caulk, you know that’s a real thing, right? Call the pros at Paint Doctor’s Painting.

Painter or Chemist? Yes!

When top professional painters talk chemistry they are in their element. To get the desired results (bonding, coverage, leveling, sheen, UV, protection, etc.) we need to know the surface type, environment during application and the ongoing environment of the finished product.

For example, you may want a painted look on your kitchen cabinets and choose a color. We know the look you want, but it’s unlikely we’ll use paint to achieve it. We may choose to use a polyurethane product beginning with Sayerlack Polyurethane Basecoat Thixo, which is a two-component solvent based polyurethane primer with excellent characteristics for kitchen cabinetry:

High speed of drying, allowing early recoating with topcoat
Excellent manual sandability
High thixotropy and hence reduced dripping at the bottom edge of picture frames or into convex parts
Improved building/hiding power on sharp edges
Uniform absorption between grainy and compact parts of wood

This all adds up to a great finished surface with excellent and consistent coverage, water resistance and durability. To the casual observer it’s just the color they wanted, but to us it meets the high standards that upholds our reputation as the best painting contractor in our area.

The Paint Doctor knows surface coverage chemistry to make sure your project has all the right stuff!

Power Wash Exposes Hidden Treasure

Re-exposing your exposed aggregate can bring new life to your home’s exterior.

Many Willamette Valley home owners are unware of the hidden treasures in their sidewalks, patios and driveways because of a build up of dirt and moss.

Exposed aggregate concrete is an added feature to the look and feel of your home. The process starts with making a special aggregate mix using round river rock in the concrete. During the finishing process, surface fines are washed off the fresh concrete to expose multicolored rocks on the surface.

Here in the Willamette Valley, airborne dust builds up over time on the concrete surface which makes prime growing substrate for moss. Our wet weather does the rest. Eventually the dirt and moss cover the concrete and aggregate is no longer exposed. The remedy? Paint Doctor’s Painting provides power washing solutions for you concrete surfaces. Re-exposing your exposed aggregate can bring new life to your home’s exterior.

Door Details

Painting an entry door is usually a project in itself. Often the color and sheen are unique and can really create a statement for the exterior of the home.

Entry doors are often made of materials you don’t find anywhere else on the house exterior – perhaps fiberglass or steel. These surfaces require a thorough knowledge of primers for coverage, adhesion and longevity. Often the finish coat application is similar to automotive painting and requires a deft touch with the sprayer.

Windows in doors (called lights) can vary in configuration and construction techniques. Some door manufacturers will premask the lights. Some lights require experience with the glazing, which can spill over onto the surface to be painted. Think about the number of masked edges on a 15 light door. That’s 45 pieces of tape per single door side or 180 pieces on a double french doors inside and out. That’s a lot of masking!

Door sealing along all edges is essential, since it is exposed to higher humidity than most interior doors. Sealing the edges can prevent moisture penetration, which can prevent discoloration, delamination and warping.

Got an entry door that needs painting? Call the doctor.

Mister Sandman

A big part of preparation on a lot of paint projects is proper sanding. Sometimes sanding is required to flatten surfaces that have been repaired with fillers. At times sanding is required to remove sheen from existing finishes to improve adhesion. Often projects require a variety of sanding tools to with a variety of paper grits, depending on contours and amount of material to be removed. Knowing how to step up to higher grit counts is a big part of the skill set. When the dust settles, the project is ready for the primer coat and ultimately the finish coats result in a smooth finish.

Having a rough time? We can smooth things over. Call the doctor…

Change of Scenery

Sometimes, especially these times, a change of scenery can make a big difference in your mental well being. Let’s face it, we’ve faced these same old kitchen colors for a long time and it’s high time we put some tired color schemes behind us and step into a new experience. You might even gain a new enthusiasm for cooking. Ask the Paint Doctor about changing your culinary outlook.

All Angles

Applying a solid wood stain to a structure like this shade producing pergola requires a deft touch on a properly calibrated spray gun. Much of the material was pre-stained on saw horses before the structure was built. However, for looks and to protect the wood from the elements, literally every angle must be considered to complete the covering of the wood surfaces.

Pergolas, shade covers, corrals, fences, bandstands, kiosks, trellises and lattices require some serious skills. Call Mike at 541-497-3804. It’s a pro move.

Loaded Brush, Pro Move

Pro painters know how to properly load a brush for cutting in, for outside corners, open wall space and trim details. Not enough paint means you’ll over work it trying to get the coverage. Too much paint means you’ll lack control on your edges and eventually have a dripping mess on your hands.

Pro painters know how to load the brush and how to get consistent coverage and leveling by applying paint with the right speed and pressure. It’s a pro move. Your best pro move might be to call the Paint Doctor to avoid those unsightly brush marks.

Painting PPE

The Paint Doctor knows personal protective equipment (PPE) for jobsite safety. This knowledge starts with the chemical characteristics of the product being applied. We take all of the precautionary steps to mitigate against harmful vapors and the products which can be invasive through the skin.

It’s another good reason to call the pros!