Stink Bugs Infestations

When painting the exterior of a house there are many insects and bugs you will encounter and one of the newest ones are the Stink Bugs, the brown marmorated stink bug. They have literally littered window sills that have to be painted. You must clean them off before painting. They really pose no harm to the house but are a serious problem for farmers and their crops.

These stink bugs are not native to the United States, they are from China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. They are of the Insect family Pentatomidae and known as an agricultural pest. In 1996 it appeared in Allentown PA which is the eastern part of Pa.

These pest can be extremely annoying as they enter the house and can be in the hundreds all over walls and windows. When crushed they do emitt a foul smelling odor hence the name "Stink Bug".

Flemington NJ Interior Exterior House Painter

Welcome to my blog, my name is Jeremy and if you are looking for a Flemington NJ Interior or Exterior house painter you have found the right person for your project. I am sure it must be difficult to find the right person to trust in completing your painting project. You have to worry about whom you are letting on your property or inside your home, how the job will turn out, will you get your monies worth.

I have been working painting in the Hunterdon County, Somerset County, and Warren County area mostly for 12 years now. I have worked other counties and states as well so don't hesitate to call. I have plenty of references and have completed many different types of projects. Basement walls and floors, patios, garage floors, brick, stucco, wood, Chimneys, Stained wood, vinyl siding, aluminum siding, metal doors, staining, power washing. You name it I have probably done it.

WHAT YOU MUST KNOW ABOUT BERFORE FINDING A CONTRACTOR IN THIS ECONOMY

What is important is that all these surfaces must be prepared correctly and have the material applied correctly to get the best results. In this tough economy a lot of bad things can happen which you would not know about in order to make money or get the job. Estimates have come way down in price and there are corners that can be cut to make up for these low estimates. You must know about your project before looking for a painting contractor. GET INFORMED. Go to your local paint store and find some information out about your project, what it entails to be completed correctly. Then make sure this is discussed when getting your estimate and be clear as to the work being preformed. Say you are having wall paper to be removed - would you know that the wall should be primed with a special primer to seal any possible glue residue and what may happen if you do not. I have seen it and it is not pretty and very well could cost you to have the entire wall resurfaced or even possibly be removed for new drywall to go up. KNOW ABOUT YOUR PROJECT. You may get three estimates and chose to ge with a lower bid and that fellow may skip that step to make up for cost and he also got in on the job because he had a reasonable price. I have seen a lot of very bad things. How would you feel if two years after building your deck you find you have to completely strip the solid color stain off off the deck because it was not prepped right and is now peeling so bad and when you try to roll more stain on it just picks up the old stain on the roller. OH WHAT A MESS! An Boy is that going to be expensive to fix! Do not just trust the contractor he may just be out for money especially in this economy.

Over the years my experience has taught me how to paint various surfaces properly so that it will get the best performance and last for quite some time.I will be honest with you and work to come to a fair price. I take pride in the finished work and want to make all of my customers happy.

So, if you live in Central New Jersey you may contact me for an estimate on painting your home.

Again my name is Jeremy and I am a professional painter living in Flemington NJ my cell phone is 908-455-1302

I look forward to helping you out and providing the proper service for your project at a fair price.

Marketing Your Painting Business in a Bad Market

Marketing your painting business in a bad market can be difficult. However there are some very effective ways you can get results. When a market is bad you must put forth extra efforts to get somewhere.

What you can do is what is called proximity Marketing, which involves concentrating on a small demographic area over a period of time in multiple ways. You will need to make door hangers, post cards, and signs. These will all be used in the small concentrated marketing plan. You will need to hit a number of neighbors close to this particular job.

We will start with the post cards which will promote your business and let neighbors know you will be starting a job within the area soon. When you start the job you will send out the post cards again to promote yourself and let them know you have started the job. At this point you are beginning to set an image of your company in their minds.

Once you start the job you will then begin to hand out the door hangers again promoting your business. While you are at the job place a sign in the front lawn where the neighbors will see it. By now you have definitely created an image of your company in their minds and they definitely know who you are and what you do.

At the end of the job you will send out post cards promoting your business again and let them know you have completed the job. You will have effectively marketed to the neighbors and should they be thinking of painting they know who you are and what you do and they see you have started and finished a job close to them so a small level of trust has been created.

This is one very effective marketing tool you can use to market your painting business in a bad market without busting your wallet.

How to Prepare the Outside of Your House for Painting

This article will help you in learning how to properly prepare the outside of your house for painting. Preparation is extremely important for getting the best results from the paint as well as the longevity of the paint holding up through the extreme elements of hot summers and icy cold winters.

The paint used for exteriors differs from that of interior paint for it must hold up against the outdoor elements as well as ultraviolet rays (UV) rays from the sun. There are usually parts of the house that seem to deteriorate more than others because the exposure to the sun is more than other sides. For better results as well the house should be painted every 5 years or less depending on exposure. It is possible that the one area that gets the most exposure should be painted every 3 years and the rest of the house every 5 years ( and the area with the most exposure might as well be painted at that time as well) The idea is to catch it before the peeling and splitting of caulk happens, because once the wood has been exposed and caulk has split damage begins to happen in the form of rotting wood. Once rotting has occurred the structure inside is at risk of being damaged and may result in extremely expensive repairs.

So you have decided to paint the outside of your house or your hiring a contractor and you want to know how to prepare the outside or exterior of your house for painting. Maybe you just want to know so you make sure the contractor is doing things correctly or maybe you are going to do the work. First we must understand there are a few different ways to prepare the outside of your house for painting. There are some that are exclusively to yourself and not a contractor. Let me explain: There are heat plates that can remove all the paint to bare wood which obviously would be the very best thing for the final finish would be like brand spanking new and looking very even, smooth and beautiful. However, that is time consuming and you cannot expect a professional painter to do that unless you have an awful lot of money to spend on painting your home. So if that is the finish you are looking for then you must do the job yourself or fork up some serious cash.

This is the method of preparation I do on all homes:

First the home must be power washed to remove any dirt of paint powder that forms over time. These will interfere with the bonding of the new layer of paint. When power washing you can buy a power washer for around 500 dollars or rent one for 75 dollars a day. Power washing should take 1 to 2 days. Buying the machine is a great investment. They are great investment for cleaning your walk ways, driveways, garage floors, vinyl and aluminum siding, your vehicles and much more. There is a way to add cleaning solutions and bleach to the wash which aids in cleaning and getting rid of molds.

There are numerous tips to use which you will need to get familiar with. Getting too close with a smaller tip can cut your wood. You must be careful. They make a soaking tip which you can use to soak the house while you have cleaning solutions going through the machine. Once an area has been soaked with the cleaning solution you can remove the cleaning solution and put the proper tip on to remove dirt, looses paint chips, and the powdery film from older paint. Sometimes the peeling and cracked paint does not come off easy and if you get to close with the stripping tip you run the risk of damaging your wood siding by cutting it. Loose paint must come off however, or when you paint it will come right off which defeats the purpose of you painting your home. There are two options you may take, one is scraping it after power washing or they make a special tip for the power washer that spins and does an awesome quick job of stripping those troublesome spots that normally will not come off with a regular power washer tip. This tip can be easily manipulated to not damage your wood by cutting it, yet still stip paint very good. Even scraping can sometimes not get these troubled spots. The reason why is the paint is in place and just has a crack but behind it is air and it is not really adhered to the wood.

Once the house has been power washed it must dry completely before scraping and sanding can occur. When paint peels, blown or scraped off there is usually an indentation where the paint chip was. If you paint directly over it it will be easily seen and your house can be very pocketed with these and not be very appealing to the eye. So once you have made sure all peeling or loose paint has been removed you can get an orbital sander to feather the edges to be a bit smother. There is an even better tool called a paint eater which is more like a grinder. This tool is great and with ease you can smooth out these areas. Just have to use light pressure when finishing so you do not see circular marks on the wood.

once you have power washed and then removed all loose paint and feathered all your edges it is time to spot prime any bare areas where wood is showing. You can use a brush or even a roller - Brushes provide a nicer finish unless it is a flat surface such as the ceiling under porch roofs. Using a slow dry oil based primer is best. This is a pretty straight forward process.

Once you have finished spot priming and 24 hours have passed you are now ready for painting which can be rolled, brushed or sprayed. Brushing and spraying produce the nicest finishes. Spraying can get into areas a brush does not get into well and can speed the job up.

I want to mention one other product you can use to fill in those paint spots that have peeled. They make an exterior Spackle that can be sanded down after filling in the area. Again a contractor will most likely never use this product. Now you know how to prepare the outside of your house for painting. It is hard work and it must be done right which is why there are painting professionals. However this is not rocket science and for the ambitious home owner wanting to save lots of money this is a fairly easy project to undertake.

What does it cost to paint a room

What does it cost to paint a room? Well there are many variables to figure in. What size is the room to be painted? How much trim and decorative wood work. Are the windows going to need to be painted? Are there closets? Are the ceilings high? The variables are endless. One for sure way is to call at least three contractors to get an estimate on what the room will cost to paint. We can discuss some important factors to consider and give some rough estimates.

A normal bedroom from the size of 10 ft x 10 ft to 15 ft x 15 ft will average between 300 dollars to 500 dollars for labor. This would be painting the ceiling, walls and trim. Also would include a couple of windows a door and two doors at the closet. Now if there are other decorative moldings or you are doing more than on wall color add about a hundred dollars to two hundred dollars. Using all of one color for ceiling and walls can reduce the price by a hundred dollars possibly and so would one coat if you are using the same color and just freshening the room up. Remember adding a second coat is quick its the set up and tedious wood work that takes all the time. Also not included in any of this is the material. A gallon of paint is 30 to 50 dollars. Rooms of this size will require 2 gallons for the wall, 1 for the ceiling and 1 for wood work. So lets have a look at an estimate. Also repairs can add to the cost as well.

ESTIMATE:

Room 1

Paint ceiling 2 coats
Paint Walls 2 coats
Paint trim and base board 2 coats
Paint 3 doors 2 coats
Paint 2 windows 2 coats

Labor 350 dollars

2 gallons of wall paint
1 gallon of ceiling paint
1 gallon of Wood paint

200 dollars

Repairs couple of cracks and few nail pops

100 dollars

1 wall different color

50 dollars plus 50 dollars for gallon of paint

Crown molding detailed plus chair rail

150 dollars

Total 850 dollars.

Foyers with high ceilings can cost 800 to 1500 dollars and up if there is repairs and moldings.

Great rooms can cost 800 to 2000 dollars depending on repairs moldings and windows.

Most normal rooms can be between 300 dollars and 600 dollars.

A tree thousand square ft house can cost between 5,000 and 10,000 dollars to get painted.

It all depends you have got to get those estimates and be sure to check references and do not just go with the cheapest bid. Beware of ridiculous low pricing as well.