Regardless of whether or not you are doing the project yourself or hiring a professional, being aware of some of the proper procedures for dealing with paint is always a good thing.

Even though paint is fairly user-friendly, you should exercise caution when working with it. The following are some basic guidelines for painting safely:

• Always work in a well-ventilated area. Open doors and windows, and always use exhaust fans. Also, keep your pets out of freshly painted rooms.

• If you cannot ventilate the area well enough to get rid of all fumes, wear a respirator that is approved for such use.

• Wear a dust mask and safety goggles when sanding drywall and paint to keep yourself from breathing in dust particles and to protect your eyes from small particles.

• Wear safety goggles, gloves, and a respirator when you are using chemical strippers, caustic cleaning compounds, or strong solvents. These can be very toxic fumes and you could become very ill without taking the proper steps to protect yourself.

• Wear chemical-resistant gloves that are appropriate to the type of stripper that is being used (see manufacturer’s instructions). Common latex gloves do not provide enough protection.

• It is best to use canvas drop cloths on the floor. Cloth stays in place and is not near as slippery as plastic.

• Always read and follow the instructions and safety precautions on the label of paint thinners and any other paint product. Do not assume you already know how to use the product. The hazards may be different from one product to another, and the ingredients in individual products often change over time. The label tells you what actions you should take to reduce hazards and the first aid measures to use.

• Do not use or store paint products near a flame or heat source. Avoid smoking while painting or using thinner. Near hot water heaters and furnaces are very dangerous locations to store these products.

• Never store paint products in containers that weren’t specifically designed for storing them and make sure the containers are closed properly.

• Inspect ladders well for sturdiness. Make sure that all four legs are resting squarely on the floor and that both cross braces are locked in place. Never stand on the top step or the utility shelf. Never lean away from a ladder; get off and move it if you cannot reach a spot easily. If using an extension ladder outside, make sure both legs are on level ground and firmly planted. Also, make sure the ladder is not standing at an angle that exceeds the manufacturer’s recommendations.

• Make sure your ladder has slip-resistant feet and the surface that it is standing on is not slippery and is the appropriate size for the job needing to be done.

• If you are dealing with a large project requiring you to work at great heights you should rent or lease sturdy scaffolding. If your project is to this point, it is best to hire a professional.

• Clean up any mess promptly after painting and properly dispose of soiled rags. To eliminate any chance of spontaneous combustion, spread rags soaked with alkyd paint or thinner outdoors and let these dry all day before disposing of them at a toxic-waste dump. Do not leave rags to dry in areas accessible to children or pets.

By following the above tips, you can avoid serious injury, illness, or even death. Keep in mind that the Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that more than 90,000 people receive emergency room treatment for ladder accidents each year so taking care of ladders alone will lower your risk of having a serious problem considerably.

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It is a common myth that primers are designed to cover your old paint so that you can paint a different color easier. The truth is primers are not designed to dark or intense colors. There are two exceptions, however. They are PVA or drywall primers which serve several purposes, one is to provide high- hide over new drywall and colored primers that are used when using intense colors such as blue-based reds. It can take up to six coats to hide a previously white wall. These tint-able high-hide primers can be tinted to a shade close to your finish paint. This will allow you to get away with only painting two or maybe three coats. Remember – any primer can be tinted to a shade similar to your finish coats. The paint store can do this for you. Primer comes in white, but it doesn’t need to stay that way.

However, if you have a dark red room that you want to paint a lighter color, don’t bother with painting a coat of primer first to hide it. That would be a waste of time and money. Most primers are low-hiding because they are not designed to hide. Instead, do two coats of your lighter color. You will end up putting on two coats of your new color regardless of whether or not you prime over the old color or not.

Primers are designed to provide excellent adhesion and bonding, to seal water-soluble stains like water stains, knots, magic marker etc., and inhibit or stabilize rust. Usually painting fresh latex paint over old latex painted walls needs no primer but painting over weathered, glossy surfaces or oil-based paint priming is a really important step.

Products like KILZ and BIN provide great adhesion and stain-sealing. You should never paint over unpainted, lacquered woodwork or oil or alkyd paints without using a primer of this type. If you do, your finished job will peel and scratch easily, and there really is no solution but to remove all the paint back down to the original finish and start over again. If not, you will need to “touch up” frequently.

PVA or drywall primers are not very expensive and are high hiding. They provide tight bonds to new drywall and a fairly opaque surface for your finish coat. The best way to tell whether drywall was primed before painting is to firmly press a piece of scotch tape to the wall. If it was never primed, you will probably yank off all the paint right down to the drywall when you take off the tape.

All new wood, interior, or exterior should be primed. This serves several functions, including inhibiting tannin and knot stains, preventing rot, and ensuring that the finish coats will be more weather and scrub proof. If you are dealing with exterior trim or siding that has been scraped down to bare wood, use a high-quality breathable primer over bare and weathered wood. Doing this will easily double the life of the paint job.

Before repainting the outside of your home, go to the side of your house that gets the most sunlight (usually the south or west side). Run your hand over the siding. If a chalky residue comes off onto your skin, you must thoroughly power wash and scrub the house, or prime it with an oil-based primer. Power washing will be much easier. Some exterior paints are described as “self-cleaning”. These paints are designed to wear off over the years, along with soot and discoloration. Even the best exterior paint will not adhere to this surface and will be peeling everywhere within a year.

There are basically two types of metal primer. Most good metal primers inhibit rust. To rectify a flagpole or ironwork that is too severely rusted to clean down to the bare metal, there are rust stabilizers available that once painted on the corroded metal, will turn the rust black as well as inert. The surface can then be painted within an hour.
There are many other primer types that perform various functions from sealing and waterproofing cinderblock, zinc primers for steel, epoxy concrete sealers, and so forth. Generally, these are not used much on residential homes; if you have any questions, check with your local paint store.

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If you are going to hire a professional painter to paint your home, you will hopefully not need to worry about cleaning up too much after the job is done but sometimes things happen. If you do the paint job yourself and you are not an experienced painter, you can expect accidents to happen and there will probably be at least one mess. So here are a few tips to help you clean up the mess regardless of who made it.

Odds are that your painter will not be using oil-based products, most don’t anymore. Water-based paints and varnishes have improved a great deal over the years; there are a few instances where oil-based is better such as in restorations so if it is being used and there is an accident, a lot of paint thinner can be used to clean up the paint then follow up with hot soapy water to get rid of the smell from the thinner.

Paint thinner will not clean up dried water-based paint. Very hot water most likely will, especially if the paint is fairly fresh and is on a slick surface. Dried paint on clothing can be impossible to remove. You should try to work it out of the fibers with lots of water and a small scrub brush. Do the same for a carpet but blot, never scrub it.

Old hardened paint on the carpet may not be able to be cleaned. However, if it is a small amount, you can try cutting off the paint blob. Use white rags when you are cleaning paint from carpet. Colored rags may leave a dye stain.

Acetone (nail polish remover) will remove dried paint by dissolving it but do this at your own risk. Acetone also removes other finishes including dyes. Never use it to get paint off a varnished or lacquered surface. You should test it on a small unseen surface before using it.

TSP (trisodium phosphate) with hot water is a very efficient way to remove dried-paint if you are in really tough situations. Just as with acetone, TSP will discolor most surfaces and dull some metals. You should always follow directions and use this product wisely.

Paint remover will remove dried paint from concrete and masonry, but you will need to scrub it. This will likely leave clean light spots behind. If you want to, you can find creative ways to blend the spots in with the rest of the surface (dirt, mud, etc).

A scoop of dirt rubbed into a glob of paint then brushing it away will work wonders to get paint off your driveway if spilled. The dirt absorbs the paint quite well.

If you have old dried paint on brickwork, it is often easier to match the paint color and paint the brickwork. It will be a lot easier than trying to clean it off.

It is always very important to have your painter mask off, remove or cover anything you don’t want the paint to get on. If your painter steps on any spilled paint on the drop cloth, it will get tracked onto surfaces that you don’t want to be painted. If it is safe you can work or ask your painter to work barefooted so
that you or he can feel any paint that is stepped on.

Make sure you are careful when pulling up drop cloths and picking up used cans, brushes, and pans. The last thing you want is a trail of paint left through your home after the paint job is done.

If you get paint on yourself during the painting project, you can rub baby oil on your skin before you get into the shower and it will make the paint come off much easier.

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