OT: Painting

Best painting tool I bought was a spinner for brushes and roller covers, it has not put a bit of paint any where, but again BEST painting tool EVER.

Best painting tool I had is a grandson that wanted to make a few bucks. He works cheap and does a decent job.

I got a real chuckle out of that. How true. I could take a dip in quality if I could "Tom Sawyer" the deal!

Robert

I did better on day 2 than day 1, but I see I'm still "overdoing" it. If I'm not careful, I'm going to wear out my brushes! ; )

Thank you for sharing so many details about how you use different roller covers and how to clean them. Technically, you helped me to get through this job right (even after just 1 coat of paint, there is not a trace of anything at all bleeding through!) , and your comaraderie and moral support are very much appreciated. Obviously, I'm not done, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I really like learning new skills and techniques. There is a lot of "crap" written about painting on the internet, and, especially now, I can really see it for what it is. Evidently, lots of people who have used a brush thinks they are qualified to give advice on how to paint! I appreciate your sharing your expertise here! I will resume my work on the shed on Thursday, weather permitting.

I'll do that. I'll take some pictures first too. If Jomax works on the concrete, the results will be dramatic. I missed my chance to take one of the shed. Bill

You could print out this thread, and teach him how to work fast! : )

Okay, it took me almost exactly 4 hours to paint all 4 sides today, not including set up and clean up. The end is in sight (though I bought some stuff to staple along the bottom, once I'm finished painting). Just 2 sides left. (3*4=12 sides).

I did my brush and roller cleaning outside this time, sitting in a chair (instead of over the sink). The recommended dish washing soap (Palmolive) really made the roller nap feel nice. I slung the water out with an overhand throwing motion, as suggested, and I don't know how the roller cover liked it, but it felt really great on my back and shoulder (after doing that painting)! A little unexpected surprise. ; ) After being washed the roller cover looks much better than it's predecessor. I did a side-by-side comparison.

I am really thankful for the suggestions and camaraderie I found here! I learned alot, my project is all the better for it, and I'm happier than I was! : )

Bill

The most innovative roller washing technique I've ever seen was by my daughter when she was about 14. When she finished painting her room she went out in the edge of the lawn and propped up the roller pole so that the roller was vertical and a foot or so off the ground.

She then stepped into a 44 gallon plastic trash bag, pulled it up and tightened the draw string. then she hit the roller with a stream of water from a hose. The centrifugal force cleaned the roller quickly and left a good looking nap. them she washed off the front of the bag she was standing in and hosed down the lawn where there were signs of paint. Then she shook the water off the bag, put the roller over her shoulder and came to the house.

Her mother and I were watching. As she came by us she said, "That's the way to do it". I said, "Interesting". Her mom said, "Honey, I would have just wrapped the roller in Plastic Wrap and tossed it".

That's the way I wash roller covers but she did it the hard way. Just keep the roller vertical in the sink and spray down. The spatter is contained in the sink. Let the roller spin and it cleans up quickly.

Good roller covers aren't cheap. I don't throw them away after a single use.

Now you're cooking! That's a actually a pretty good clip. It appears you g ot the hang of it.

Resist all temptation to simply rinse with water. It doesn't get the job d one. Using soap not only saves the roller (plus, with really good paints w ater doesn't get the resins out) for futures use, but the clean roller give s a better job.

Don't take my word for it. These guys make the high dollar stuff and they specify soap in the cleaning process:

I don't paint everyday, but always seem to be painting my repairs, a couple of rooms in a house, and a full house or two a year. We paint with roller s and brushes when we can't spray.

While I only a few dozen uses out of a roller cover, I have paint brushes t hat I have literally had for YEARS. If you take of them there really isn't much to wear out. Once the "flags" are gone on the bristles, they go to e xterior applications where they see at least a couple more years of use. F or the record, my employees get 1/2 the life out of a roller cover and the brushes that I do because it is cheaper to rush through cleaning for paid e mployees and replace covers and brushes more often than to pay them $$ to c lean a $ brush/cover.

One thing I forgot to mention while we are on cleaning. Never throw away t he cardboard/paper cover that was on the brush when you bought it. Never. The medium price brushes have a very heavy paper cover that has a notch yo u can use to put the brush in it. The better ones have a spot of velcro as a keeper. That is so when the brush is completely dry you can put it back in its cover. This does two really important things. It keeps the brush clean, but more importantly helps keep the bristles from fraying out. When you clean your brush, shake the water out, and squeeze the bristles togeth er trying to keep them as flat as possible, approximating the shape of the brush when brand new. Store in the cover. I had an old painter show me tha t and it added years to the life of the brush.

Good for you! Nothing like the feeling of a job well done except the feeli ng of when you are finished. Painting exteriors is a lot easier than peopl e think it is if they are organized and stay focused. I actually started p ainting professionally (as opposed to always subbing out my painting) about 20 years ago when I got tired of all the crap I was always getting from my subs. One day after I had dressed down my painting subcontractor for bein g late, he replied with "Aw FU, Robert. You can't fire me. You would be t otally screwed if I wasn't here."

He was right. But I fired him anyway. I had a lot of finishing work at th at time and put a full time painter on the payroll for about 6-7 years. So between him, all the subs I have had since then, the classes I have taken at Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore, I don't have any of the old dread o f painting. To me, it's just more work that pays pretty well, isn't dirty, isn't too physically demanding, and isn't dangerous unless I am up on a sc affold or tall ladder.

Glad things went your way on this job. Time for a beer and cigar!

Robert

You are both right, of course. The appearance of my single application of "one coat paint" applied over a fresh primer coat improved with the second coat. Though it *looked* acceptable by most standards (for instance, to my wife) after just one coat. Hopefully, the added durability will make up for the additional time and expense. My neighbor recently built a new shed about 6 feet away from mine which he coated with primer and one coat of paint. Although they are dramatically different colors, if you stop to look close, you can tell that, at least visually, the paint covers mine better! :-P