Make Paint Work For You

Guest Post
By Ryan

Painting a room can be a fun and effective way to breathe new life into your home. This year, bright colors contrasted with softer, muted tones are very chic. In addition to being a great way to add some flair to the room, painting can be a great way to expand the size of a room. If you’re dealing with cramped quarters, you might be asking yourself if there is any way to possibly deal with the small space other than taking out a wall. Here are a few tips for using paint to expand your room.


The Two-Inch Rule 


If you’re dealing with a low-slung ceiling, you know the frustration of cramped space. It can feel suffocating and claustrophobic in a cramped room. Fortunately, there is something called the Two-Inch Rule. Before you start painting, go around and put painter’s tape two inches above where the wall meets the ceiling. Paint the walls of your room a color that is bright and will make things pop. When you’re painting the upper part of the walls, go an extra two inches up so that you’re painting for the first two inches of the ceiling. This creates the illusion of more space and is a pretty nifty trick when dealing with a low-slung ceiling.


Cold Colors 


Here’s a good rule to remember: the colder the color, the bigger it will make your room look. Pick an icy blue or a mint green and, because these colors seem so distant, they will instantly add extra square footage to your room. Using a texturizing technique like sponging can also help give the eye something else to look at. Just remember: cold=big.


Striping 


Another good painting technique for opening up a room in your house is to stripe. Always make the stripes vertical, as this will give the eye a distinct line to follow. Painting horizontal stripes will have the opposite effect of closing a room in. You can compliment your vertical stripes with furniture that has strong vertical angles. Bookshelves that are tall and thin can go a long way toward making your room seem much, much larger.


These are just a few tips to help you expand your room without calling a contractor. If paint isn’t your thing, try the vertical furniture idea. The key is to draw the eye upward and try to minimize lateral movement of the eye.
Ryan is a guest blogger who writes about interior design, Austin real estate and Costa Bella homes for sale.

Painting Your House: More Daunting Than it Needs to Be

Guest Post By: Zeke Nicholson


There are a number of reasons why you might want to paint your house. Maybe you are no longer satisfied with how the house looks, or maybe you’re thinking about selling your home and want to make it more attractive to potential buyers. Whatever the reason may be, tons of homeowners are hesitant to begin the project, given the sizeable nature of the undertaking. Whether you’re doing the labor yourself or hiring someone to do the work, time is money. The longer it takes to complete the project, the more cash comes out of your pocket, so it’s best to have a solid plan to tackle the paint job effectively and efficiently.

Doing the manual labor yourself is definitely the most cost-effective practice, so if you can afford the time, it’s probably the way to go. Once you’ve done the initial steps required for an exterior paint job—scraping, sanding, etc.—it’s on to prepping for the actual painting. This means buying paint trays, brushes, rollers, and drop cloths, and strapping in for hours upon hours of painting. Here we are again: the prospect of actually completing this job is so overwhelming that it makes you wonder if it’s even worth it. Why not try a different approach? More and more homeowners are discovering that a quick and easy way to go about painting your home is to use a paint sprayer machine.

Paint sprayers have the major advantage of doing away with the messy drips and runs typically caused by rollers and brushes, and they can complete the same job in a fraction of the time. Let’ consider the Paint Zoom paint sprayer, for example. Paint Zoom has an industrial strength 650-watt motor and three distinct spray options (horizontal, vertical, and pin point) so you can get a great coat on any surface with no mess and no hassle. You can also finely and precisely attack the areas that would otherwise be hard to reach or evenly paint. It’s also lightweight and specifically formulated to utilize just the right amount of paint, so you aren’t overspending on paint.

Painting your house doesn’t have to be the impossible task it’s widely thought to be. With a paint sprayer, you can complete areas that would take hours with a roller/brush in a matter of minutes. It’s cost effective and easy to use, and at the end of the day you’ll be standing in front of a house that you are proud to claim as your own.


Paint Zoom 

How to use a paint sprayer

How To Repair A Hole In The Wall

This article will show you just how to repair a hole in the wall in just three easy steps. Fixing a hole in the wall is a very easy repair to make that anyone can do. Once repaired there should be no evidence of damage to the wall. This article shall be split into 2 parts with the first part dealing with smaller holes and the second part dealing with larger holes. Each will have two different approaches in the way the repair needs to be made. Let's begin with smaller type holes.

Part 1 Smaller Holes
These holes will vary in size from a quarter size hole to 3 inches in height and width. Metal patches will be used to fix these holes.

Repair A Hole In The Wall - Step 1 Clean Edges
This step is very simple for all that is needed is to make sure that all loose drywall is removed and pull back any loose paper and tape. The reason for this is to make sure there are no air pockets that may cause problems down the road.

Repair A Hole In The Wall - Step 2 Apply Patch
Hereis where the size of the hole must be taken into account since there are various sized patches. The type of patch that should be used is a metal patch for stability. Usually they can be purchased with three different sizes in one package. If a particular size needs to be purchased separately then knowing the exact size of the hole is necessary. The patch should be slightly larger than the hole. To apply the patch over the hole place some spackle around the hole. Just a very thin smooth layer is needed and it should reach beyond what the entire patch size is, Once the thin layer is on the wall just peel the paper off of the back of the patch and place it over the hole. With a spackle knife press down and move across the patch for a nice smooth tight fit against the wall. Then just spread a thin smooth layer of spackle over the patch.

Repair A Hole In The Wall - Step 3 Finishing Coat
For a final finish just spread some spackle over top of the patch once everything has dried and hardened over night from step 2. This coat should be a thin coat making sure to cover over any part of the patch from showing. If done right just a light sanding with some fine sand paper is needed once it has dried. Then of course it will need to be painted. Painting may require that the entire wall be painted to make sure the paint matches up well.

Part 2 Larger Holes
These holes will vary in size from a 4 inches to any size. Rather than a patch drywall ( sheetrock ) will be used to fix these holes.

Repair A Hole In The Wall - Step 1 Cut Hole
In the case of larger holes the hole will need to be  cut larger so that a piece of drywall can be installed. The reason for this is the drywall needs to be nailed or screwed into the studs. For that reason when cutting the hole larger a straight edge and exact measurements will be needed. Using a key hole saw or razor cut across from the hole to the nearby studs on both sides. Then using a straight edge draw a line down the middle of the studs on both sides to size you need that is lager than the hole. Once you have drawn straight level edges and are in the middle of the studs on both sides then cut the hole with a keyhole saw and a razor for slicing down the middle of the studs.

Repair A Hole In The Wall - Step 2 Install Drywall
Now that you have a nice square or rectangular hole, in which the studs are available to screw or nail a piece of drywall into, the hole must be measured. With that measurement cut a piece of drywall that is the same thickness as the drywall on the wall. Place the drywall into the hole and nail or screw it to the studs on each side.

Repair A Hole In The Wall - Step 3 Tape and Spackle
Now all that is needed is some tape and spackle to seal the joints for a smooth look. Place a thin layer of spackle over all of the joints making sure it is smooth and thin with no air pockets or drywall showing. The spackle also needs to go beyond all the edges of the paper tape that need to go over top. Deal with one joint at a time. Once the tape has been placed on use the spackle knife real tight to the wall and scrape up all spackle for a smooth tight finish. Once all the joints have been completed place a thin layer of spackle over top of the tape. Very thin but smooth layer so there will be minimal sanding. Once this has dried over night a final skim coat over top will fill in the edges and any air pockets, or tape that may be showing. If done right very little sanding will be needed. Using a very fine grit sand paper make sure everything is smooth as can be. Once done and everything has dried painting can now take place.

This is how to repair all holes in walls so that any damage that once was is no more. Good luck!

Guest Post House Painting

Hello all my painting friends. What I am looking for are some great articles on your painting expertise.Exposure will be on the homepage. There was a Page Rank of 2 but I believe the home page is now a PR1 as well as some inside pages.

Whatever your stories are it must pertain to any type of painting project, interior or exterior. The article must be 400 to 700 words in length and must be proof read. 

Compensation will be considered once a guest writer has had 3 posts published. of course all posts that are published can have three links within the body of the post, These links must be relative and not just promotional links for your website. Promotional links will be reserved to  the Author signature box which can be written at the end of the article as a last Paragraph. Should you get 3 posts published you will then get 20 dollars. Payment will be sent via paypal.

Email all guest posts to ljsberger@hotmail.com All posts will be considered. If your post is chosen you will receive an email conformation stating that your post has been chosen and when the publish date will be. Once published you will recieve any payment due within 7 days. Thank you.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Paint Cost Calculator

Painting Cost Calculator

This calculator can help in figuring out the cost for painting the interior of you home or the exterior of your home. This is a simplified calculator and only to get an estimated cost based on square footage. Material costs are not included within the total cost. You must get the square footage and then figure how many gallons and the brand of paint you want to use to get a material cost which then you can add to the labor cost that this paint calculator gives.

If there are areas of the house that have corners that step in or step out just add the total length and total width then input those numbers.
The number used for the square footage cost are listed below.

Interior Painting Calculator: Square Footage Price Input - .85 to $2.00
( .85 would be on the low end and $2.00 would be on the high end - There are many factors that are considered when figuring out what the actual square footage price will be such as location,amount of prep work and amount of fine detail. You should use both numbers to get an range of what the labor cost will be, the labor cost should fall somewhere in between.)

Exterior Painting Calculator: Square Footage Price Input - $1.25 - $2.50
( $1.25 would be on the low end and $2.50 would be on the high end - Again there are many factors that There are many factors that are considered when figuring out what the actual square footage price will be such as location and amount of prep work and amount of fine detail. You should use both numbers to get an range of what the labor cost will be, the labor cost should fall somewhere in between.)

once you hit the calculation button a small alert window shall appear which will give you your total square footage and painting labor cost. Just remember that the cost of material is not included nor will things such as removing wall paper or any power washing that is usually preformed before painting the exterior of homes. I hope painting calculator helps out!

Paint Cost Calculator   (feet) Length  (feet) Width   Cost (per square foot)