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Let's Talk About Atlanta House Painting!
In Atlanta Georgia, it's sunny, it's hot and it's humid – but that's what we love about it, isn't it? Unfortunately for your beautiful turn-of-the-century home, this weather spells maintenance. Chances are you'll need to hire Atlanta house painters on more than one occasion to keep your home aging gracefully.
Of course you could try to do it yourself. Looking up at your behemoth house, your stomach churns at the thought of painting the second story atop a ladder or scaffolding. (Where do you even get scaffolding anyway?) You've probably also heard that Atlanta house painting requires a lot of "prep" work. So you'll have to ask yourself: Am I prepared to spend several days power-washing, bleaching away mold, repairing gutters and soffits, repairing and pre-coating rotting fascia, or scraping away peeling paint? More often than not, this task is simply too monumental for the lone homeowner – and, many will tell you, a professional Atlanta house painting job is worth every penny!
One of the first steps of painting a house in Marietta, Roswell, Duluth or Cumming is to examine the condition of the structure, as well as how many coats of paint are currently on the house. In worst case scenarios, there are more than ten coats of paint and the exterior is experiencing massive paint failure! This means that your Atlanta house painters will need to complete several weeks of extensive resurfacing – especially if some of these layers were put on prior to 1978 (when lead paint was banned).
Your professional Atlanta house painters will carefully contain all the lead paint chips as a power grinder (also called a Paint Shaver) meticulously whittles away the toxic paint down to bare wood. The exposed wood will then be hand-scraped and sanded to perfection in a process known as "strip mining." Around the trip, a heated-up tool called a "stripper" will make the paint so hot it literally just peels right off. While it may sound dangerous, it's all in a day's work for an Atlanta house painting pro! Next any gouges or wood wounds will be patched up with industrial-grade wood-epoxy putty and scrupulously sanded with a 36-grit disk sander, a random-orbit sander and 60-grit paper. If the home has damaged soffits or fascia that have weathered and rotted, the decayed boards will need to be removed and replaced, sanded, and treated before they can be painted. The paint job can only be as good as the initial materials, so this skilled woodworking is a very important part of Atlanta house painting.
Another common practice before actually painting a house in Marietta, Roswell, Duluth or Cumming is to clean away mold and mildew with a bleach / trisodium phosphate / water solution, scrubbing away any fastidious green monsters. A gentle rinse (rather than a power-wash) is most effective at ridding the house of paint dust, bleach and mold. Finally the house is ready for its first fresh, gleaming coat of paint!
Of course not every house is so difficult. Some newer homes in Alpharetta won't require such extensive damage control, especially if they've been painted in the last five years. (Yes, you will probably need Alpharetta house painters every 5-8 years to keep your house protected from the elements! Your first signs will be dinginess from mold, peeling paint -- courtesy of humidity – and unsightly cracking).
There are a few tricks in routine maintenance Alpharetta house painting that can guarantee your paint holds up longer -- for example, coating bare wood window and door trims with a top-of-the-line, paintable water-repellant preservative. The waxy water-repellant will keep the wood from losing shape during periods of heavy rainfall, while the preservative kills mildew that would otherwise jeopardize your home's look. The rest of the home can be pretreated with a similar water-repellant and then primed with an oil-based coat to penetrate deep into cracks and crevices. Since primer raises the grain, sometimes it's necessary to palm-sand and hand-brush the coating down smoothly.
For really old homes, Atlanta house painters may need to caulk the trim, leaving some breathing room in the clapboard cracks (to avoid bubbling paint). Clapboards can be finished with an airless sprayer, while detail work is accomplished with a less intense low-pressure sprayer. Two thin coats are sprayed onto the pristine surface and suddenly the transformation is complete! These are all technicalities, of course.
Perhaps you're just looking for Atlanta house painters to revitalize your historic home's look with a new color entirely. You meant to change the shade as soon as you bought it, but years down the road you've finally gotten around to it. Most Atlanta homes are painted using three distinct shades of the same color – one for the siding, one for architectural accents on eaves/moldings/trim and one for doors, railings and window sashes. A well-chosen paint scheme can accentuate intricate woodwork, while disguising any flaws. A poor choice can look gaudy and out-of-place in the neighborhood. You may want your Atlanta house painting job to mimic the original paint color, you may want to pick a "historic" shade, or you may want a completely modern color to highlight the craftsmanship. First you should analyze the neighborhood to be sure your color scheme won't stick out like a sore thumb. You'll probably want a lighter color for the bulk of the house, using dark window and door accents to draw attention to detail. Lastly, consider how bright you want the shade (the brighter, the faster it fades, unfortunately) and what kind of sheen you want (glossy, semi-glossy or flat).
You can also hire Atlanta house painters or Alpharetta house painters to jazz up the interior of your home. Nothing beats a fresh coat of paint when you're trying to sell your house! Frequently home owners diminish their own personal preferences in favor of a more traditional, neutral look when trying to market their property. If you own a "keeper," you may be contemplating updating the color schemes or converting peeling, dingy wallpaper in favor of a freshly painted appearance. You'll need to consider the size of the room, where you'd want accents and what sort of mood the room holds (for example, you might want a lively, sociable orange for a kitchen but a relaxing blue for the bedroom). Choosing a furniture-art-color theme is ideal, Atlanta house painting and interior decorating experts say.
By hiring Atlanta house painters, you'll not only save yourself the headache and the hassle, but you'll also be laying the basic foundation for simpler facade maintenance over the years, protecting your investment from structural damages due to roof failure, rotting plywood or nasty mold. As the saying goes, "If you're going to do a job, do it right the first time!"
