Celebrate Davis is this week!

Thursday, May 17th, from 4:30-9:30 is the annual ”Celebrate Davis” event at Community Park. Come check out local businesses, entertainment and food. Brooks Painting will be there and we will have a special coupon available at our booth:

What about painting the interior of your home?  Inspiration for the right color can come from several places.  You could use a favorite piece of art, a chair or even a pillow.  Consider one of the colors that you wear that gets you the most compliments.  Most likely it’s one of your favorite colors, so you will be happy seeing it on your walls every day.  When selecting a paint color for your interior, you really must consider the flooring, the countertops in the kitchen, and the stain on the cabinetry.  And don’t forget your furnishings.  There are many more elements to be considered when selecting a paint color for the interior of your home, so hiring a professional painting contractor that has a color consultant on staff is essential.

Your house may be your canvas, so don’t forget to draw from the surrounding elements for color inspiration and selection.

There are a few questions you need to consider before choosing a brush:

1. What type of paint are you applying?

• When painting with oil-based paint, use a natural bristle brush; synthetic brushes are not recommended for oil-based paint.
• When painting with water-based or latex paint, use a high quality nylon, polyester or synthetic brush, natural brushes will soak up water and go limp in water-based paint.

2. What type of surface are you painting?

Are you painting a small surface? Trim? Corners? Flat surfaces? Textured surfaces?

• Angle tipped brushes are used most often, and are recommended for small surfaces, cutting-in, and tight corners.
• Flat tipped brushes are good for broad, flat surfaces or heavily textured surfaces. These brushes are rarely used, except for decks, cabinets or other odd jobs.

Here are a couple more things to keep in mind when choosing a brush:

• A good brush will have flagged (split ends) which allows more paint capacity in the brush, and will leave fewer brush marks.
• A brush should be full and the bristles should generally be longer than the width of the brush; the bristles should also have bend recovery, meaning that the bristles snap back into place if you bend them back and let them go.
• The base (ferrule) should be tightly wrapped and securely attached so that the brush doesn’t “shed”.
• Generally speaking, the best brushes have wood handles. Try to get a brush that is comfortable to hold.

Remember, you get what you pay for. This stands true for almost anything in the painting industry (paint, contractors, brushes, supplies, etc). When you buy a good quality brush and take good care of it, it will serve you well and be worth the investment.

Training at this position is critical to the success of each paint job.  They have been trained on an extensive list of items that help make them better at running jobs smoothly.  From telephone etiquette, job sequencing, labeling paint cans at the end of jobs to final walk through with customers, they have learned it here at Brooks Painting.  There are four items that I want to highlight for you that I think we do better than anyone.  Before the job starts, your crew leader comes out for a Pre Job Walk.  This lets them meet you and review the job before they show up to do the work.  They have a list of things they go over, ranging from paint colors and job scope, to bathroom use and clean up.  This extra step ensures jobs run smoothly.  Second is daily check-ins.  It may be a phone call, email, or a note on the counter, our guys check in every day so that you are kept in the loop of what is happening on your job.   Third is additional work orders.  Instead of having to schedule another appointment with an estimator, all of our crew leaders have been trained how to do estimates the Brooks way.  They can write work orders for any changes that may occur.  Last is our final job walk.  The crew leaders receive closing packets from the office for each job.  These include invoices, surveys, sign off sheets, and referral cards.  They walk the job with you and make sure they have done everything the estimator told you they would do.  They take care of any touch up that is needed, and label all the paint cans.  They also have you fill out a survey, a sign off sheet that confirms we are done with the job, and collect the final payment.  Each of our crew leaders really is a manager of the job, they take care of it all.

We are blessed to have longevity at our crew leader positions.  Flint has been with us since 2005.  Manuel has been with us since 2003.  Gerry has been with us since 2004.  And last but not least, Bud has been with us since 2002.  That is a combined 34 years with Brooks Painting, and an average of 8.5 years.  This translates into well run jobs for our customers.

My personal preference is to put subdued color on exteriors, but I often gravitate to rich color.  I’m not a fan of pastels, so I stay away from them, but also for the reason that I don’t believe they look very good on exteriors.  So I had a customer that chose a pastel color for their exterior, and not a color that I thought would look the best on their home.  The problem is that when I tried to direct them to other colors, they kept going back to that same light green.  So I had to take a step back, and let them make their choices.  They were passionate about the color, so who am I to say no?  I know that when the color is up, and the job is finished, they will still be happy and as excited as when they selected the color.  And part of my job is ensuring my customer is happy with the end product.

My color selections have been stretched in recent months.  People want to express themselves with color, not only on the inside of their homes, but the exteriors as well.  The bottom line is that it’s important as a color consultant that the colors complement each other.  Most importantly, I want my customer to be happy and enthusiastic about color selection.  If we can achieve both, then I’ve done my job.

The answer depends entirely on what type of paint you use in the bedroom.

• It is completely safe to sleep in a room the same day it is painted if you use Zero-VOC paint. Zero-VOC paint is virtually odorless and does not emit toxic chemicals that can produce long-term adverse health effects when inhaled.
• If you are using a low-VOC, water-based paint with a “Green Seal” logo of any kind, it is also okay to sleep in the room the same day paint is applied. However, the paint will still smell for 24 hours or more. Typically the smell will lessen in 2-3 days if you keep a window open and/or a fan blowing. If it is a child’s room, you may want to wait 16 -24 hours after painting to let your child sleep in the room.
• Paint that is not eco-friendly or is oil-based may take quite a bit of curing time. Although the paint may dry within 2-8 hours after painting, it could take over 2 weeks for the released toxins to abate. With this type of paint, no one should sleep in a freshly painted room for at least 2 weeks, especially not small children or elderly persons.

In order to play it safe, we recommend using only Zero or Low-VOCpaints for all home interiors. However, almost all paints on the market today are safe for the home because of the strict EPA regulations (especially in California), so you don’t have to be overly concerned.

These prices include thorough wall-preparation, high-quality materials, room protection and expert labor. When you hire Brooks Painting to do your interior painting, you can count on great results.  Why would you want to do it yourself?

How Much Does It Cost to Paint a Small Room? A typical small bedroom, office or loft in the Davis area measures approximately 12×12.  The cost to paint the walls would be about $285, and the ceiling would be an additional $125.

How Much Would It Cost to Paint a Medium-Sized Room? Here in the Sacramento region, many dining rooms, living rooms and bedrooms are around 13×15. This size room would cost about $350 to paint, and the ceiling would be $175.

How Much Does It Cost to Paint a Large Room? The largest room in the house is often the kitchen, family room or master bedroom. For a room about 16×20, the cost to paint would be $475, and the ceiling would add $250.

People often quickly assume that it is cheaper to go the do-it-yourself route when repainting a room. This can be the case, but there are often some hidden cost factors that can make it preferable to hire a professional.  You should consider the following items when making your decision.

• Professional painters already have all the best equipment. When you do it yourself, you will either spend a lot of money on tools that you won’t use much, or you will do the job with improper tools and end up with undesirable results.
• Painting contractors know the techniques and products that will produce lasting results, so that your house will not need to be repainted as often.  This directly equates to how much time it will take.  What will take us a few hours or a day will take a homeowner a day or two.
• The quality of your paint job can increase the value of your home if you are considering selling. A professional house painter will leave you with the clean lines and flawless finish that really impress a buyer.

If you are considering an interior painting project in your Davis home, why not call Brooks Painting for an estimate? Our estimates are free and detailed, and we promise that our friendly estimators will not be pushy or pressure you. There’s nothing to lose! Also, we provide free color consultations once you contract with us.

The correct paint color selection and placement can make a huge difference between an ordinary and extraordinary home.  Color plays on other colors.  Color plays with light, shadows, furnishings, plants.  There are so many details to be considered.  Hiring a color consultant that has the knowledge of how color interplays with the surroundings will make your selection process go much more smoothly.  Taking the stress out of color selection and placement will make the painting process so much more enjoyable.

Painting your home should lift your spirits and enhance your surroundings.  It shouldn’t be a cumbersome process.  Selecting the right person to work with you through that process and that understands the importance of color placement will make the difference between a great experience and a stressful one.

Local Colors & Regional Textures: Some houses and homes are painted in what looks like crazy colors and unique patterns to the outside viewer, but that in fact trace their roots to cultural traditions and styles. These inspirational examples from Mexico, Slovenia and Sydney, Australia show just how outstanding such extremes can look in (and out of) context.

1. Clean it with TSP (trisodium phosphate).  This will clean any dirt off the surface.

2. Prime it.  Apply 1 coat of a qualtiy primer to ensure proper adhesion.

3. Fill nail holes as needed with wood filler and sand smooth.

4. Clean with cloth or vacuum sanding dust off the surface.

5. Caulk the gaps as needed and let the caulk dry.

6. Paint it with 2 coats of your ideal color sheen and enjoy your new look!

If you don’t want to take on this do-it-yourself painting project yourself, please contact us and we happily provide you a free estimate!