Monday, 19 January 2015

Professional painting tricks to give you a sassy home

If you are living in a dull and ordinary home, you have a chance to transform it into a lively and happening abode with a paint job. Painting if done without due care and equipment; it can be disastrous. Thus, painting your home is best left for the professionals to execute. 

If you would wish to paint your home yourself, there are two things that you will have to take care of. One, that you have a little bit of painting experience and all the necessary equipment and two, that you have enough time at hand (since painting the house can be a tiring and time consuming job). 
 
This is where painting contractors Lincoln Park, and painting contractors Park Ridge, come handy. These painting and tuckpointing contractors in Chicago help you paint your home new and beautiful - they have appropriate skill, equipment and ample time.  
Painting and masonry contractors Oak Park and masonry contractors Lincoln Park ensure the painting project is carried out successfully – here are tricks these professional painters follow:

Use of proper equipment:
When it comes to professional painters, they come with all kinds of safety gear and proper equipment for painting. The pros will have everything including step ladders, paint clothes, brushes, rollers, damp cloth for errant drips and goggles for eye protection. 

Ensure properly cleanliness and ventilation:
When painting, professional painters are aware that floors can get dirty, they ensue the floor is covered with dampened rag and the furniture is shifted out of the room. They ensure there is proper ventilation since paint fumes can have hazardous effects on health if inhaled. 

Use of proper lighting
Proper lighting will help professionals understand how the paint job is looking. The painters ensure adequate lighting when painting with light colors or when painting in the night. 

Using brushes and rollers judiciously
Walls painted with brush look more desirable, but it is incredibly time consuming. Thus, painting contractors use rollers for the walls, while they use paint brushes to do the edges and corners. 
 


Tuesday, 13 January 2015

Exterior Painting: Reframing your world

Our home is the glimpse of our sentiments, our feelings and our thoughts.  We build our homes once and we want it to be the best. Besides giving a proper architecture, paints add life to the structure. The look of your house gets transformed with a fresh paint.


And it is not only about the look, paint protect our homes against sunlight, rain and wind. A well-built house with a good structure needs a good exterior paint that catches everybody’s attention. Here are some tips that would help you to paint the exterior of your house.

1.   Consider nature:  Proper planning should be done before getting your house painted from outside. It is important to note here that paint needs time to dry up. Therefore, a dry time of the year, when there is less humidity and no rain, should be selected for painting the exterior of the house. 

2.   Choose Quality and Not Price: Good quality paint will reduce your chances of repainting your house, every year. The exterior walls of the house acts a shield to all sorts of threats so it is important that you choose the paint that is best in quality and long lasting.

3.   Primer plays important: It is a good practice to use a primer prior to using the color coat. Today, to facilitate you, paint manufacturing companies have combined primer and paint that cuts down the overall coats you need to apply. But these paints are more expensive. It depends on you to decide which way to go.

4.   Prepare the surface: Paints do not stick well on rough and dirty surface. It becomes important to scrape the surface well so as to create a clear solid surface on which the exterior paint will stick well.

5.   Use Brush and Rollers: You should use both the paintbrush and roller to apply exterior paint for fast and effective process. For applying paint on narrow surfaces, edges, and smaller areas, you should use a brush. A roller with short diameter should be used when you need to paint large and long surfaces such as siding and trim.

6.   Starting from top: It is always good to start painting from the top and moving down in the same flow. The bottom edge of the sides should be painted first and then the broad surfaces.  To avoid lap marks, you should brush from one wet surface to another wet surface.

Stucco repair: Make your house long-living again

Stucco is the most attractive of all the material. It adds a glowing finishing to the building. Being inexpensive, easy to use has made it popular today all over. Whether it is a residential project or a commercial project, Stucco is the first choice for architects and owners.


While stucco is tough and stands up well generally, it is fragile in nature so it can crack or have a chunk break. A crack then can leads to trapping of moisture underneath causing the exterior wall to deteriorate. In such case, it becomes important to get the cracked stucco repaired for preventing further deterioration. Here are few easy tips on how to repair stucco.

  • Remove the edges of the damaged stucco from the walls using a hammer or chisel and continue to chip till the wired mesh. Use a wire-bristle brush to clean the area so as to remove any loose dust and wreckage. A moist rag can be then used to wipe the entire area to pick up any remaining dust.
  • Next step is to mix the mortar using a bucket. The standard mixing measurement is mixing one part Portland cement, four parts builder's sand and a small amount of water. Mix the contents well. Remember that the mortar should be thin enough to work easily.
  • It is necessary to match the color of your old stucco to get the new one accordingly. So. Match the color and get gallon paint for you.It’s time to spread ¼inch layer of the mixture using a brick trowel into the hole. Be cautious while spreading the mixture onto the wall so that it does not get onto the existing stucco layer. The patched area should be scrapped with the edge of the trowel in cross-hatched pattern and leave it for 24 hours.  Repeat the entire step for next 24 hours.
  • Match the pattern of the surrounding wall by using the finished tool, while new stucco is moist. You can use the trowel to create a smooth surface or a damp sponge to mimic stippling or a wadded piece of cloth to achieve a random and gentler stipple pattern. It depends on your choice.  
The area is now ready to be painted over using a primer specifically made for stucco. Let the primer dry and repaint the area to match the rest of the wall. 

Contact Fortune Restoration to know more.

Tuesday, 6 January 2015

A professional advice on chemical cleaning of stone structures



If you have a stone building structure, chances are you are aware that with time, dirt and grime can began to build up on your stone masonry. Cleaning the stone structure regularly with soap and water can save you time and money, but if you have lost time, then you will have to hire qualified professional contractors to chemically clean your stone. 

Masonry contractors Chicago inform that dirt, grime and soiling can take many different forms by coming in contact with air and pollution. This can cause the stone structure to deteriorate and decay or (in the initial stage) the surface may just begin to appear unsightly.Brick repair in Chicago is an economical affair, but sourcing new stones and restoring an old structure could cost a deal. Therefore, ensure you regularly clean and use tuckpointing service in Chicago to maintain the life of your structure. 


Painting services Chicago or painting contractors Chicago, as you may refer to them, say that exterior painting Chicago on stone structure can be made lot easier if the homeowners can care for the structures and prevent it from damaging. If the homeowners do not care, then contractor believe they are left with only one choice of chemically cleaning the stone structure to bring them back to life. 

It is believed that effects of chemically cleaning stone structures and masonry can be really dramatic. Chemical cleaners, applied in form of liquids or poultices use alkaline, acidic or even organic solvent treatments singly or in combination to clean the stone surfaces most effectively.
Do not try chemically cleaning stone yourself, always seek professional assistance for the same. Professional contractors have experience in playing with chemicals and they are aware of how much and what chemical is required for a certain type of stone cleaning.

Replacing broken window glass with expert assistance



Over the years, large windows have become a fashion amid homeowners. The French windows have been a sight in every home. Irrespective of their size, glass is a significant part of the windows – inside and out; and being fragile, it may require replacement frequently.

When you have a broken window glass, you have to ensure that the window is installed and sealed in the correct manner. Occasionally, when the task is not tricky and you have the skills and the tools to mend it, you can replace the glass yourself; but in most cases it is wise to hire a professional to ensure the glass replacement is done in the correct manner the first time itself


If you have an exterior painting, brick repair or tuckpointing project in Chicago, you must ensure you carry it out only after you have successfully carried out the window glass replacement first, this saves time for other projects.



Masonry contractors Chicago along with painting contractors Chicago have listed out a few instructions and tips on how to replace a broken or damaged window glass to help save you time and money.

It is not difficult, but replacing a windowpane is more than inserting the glass and adding some putty. 

  •  Begin by removing the broken glass. Remove the broken glass cautiously, wear gloves and glasses when handling broken glass.
  • Remove one broken piece at a time. If the glass is only cracked or shattered remove the putty to pull out the glass.
  •  Remove all the old putty in either case.
  • Measure the window, cut glass of the same size and hold it against the window frame.
  •   Now use putty to hold the glass still, knead the putty well until it is completely lump free.
    This process can be used for windowpanes of all sizes. But if windowpanes are very large, then remove the window frame first, place it on a flat surface and then remove and replace with new glass in same position before re-installing the window frame.