If you read about the advantages of home siding in a previous article, you now might want to know “What about stone siding?”. Stone siding is undoubtedly one of the best sidings that you can have for your home, both in terms of durability, looks, as well as insulation.

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If you look at great stone monuments like the “Golconda Fort”, and the “Orkney Islands”, you will know that stone lasts almost forever, and is completely impervious to the weather. A stone siding will greatly enhance the value of your home. However, the down side is that real stone siding is very expensive, and is certainly not for the Do-it-yourself person. You will need professionals to handle it.

If you  still want to have the appearance of stone without the costs, consider Simulated stone siding. This is made of polyvinyl chloride made into sheets that look like stone. It is extremely durable, and will confer most of the benefits of real stone siding. It is very resistant to fracture. The material also retains it’s look and won’t fade over a period of time.

photo credit: Digiart2001

The material is available in several styles and textures that you will want to fully explore before you decide which one to use.

Drop Cloths can help you ensure that paint doesn’t splatter all over your room. The difference between drop cloths and plastic, is that Drop cloths are absorbent, skid resistant, and leak proof. According to Murphy’s law, paint will fall on the places that are uncovered no matter how small, and it isn’t until you start painting that you realize how true this is!
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Canvas drop cloths are the best for professionals. They are tough, and can be reused over an over. They have an excellent grip on the surface, and are completely non-permeable. It’s also the most expensive.

For a one time paint job however, paper drop cloth is easily the best choice. They can be used to cover the floor and the furniture, and are cheap as well. However, they it does absorb the paint. This is good and bad. It’s bad because there is a chance that whatever you’re covering will get stained. It’s good because it won’t wet your feet when you walk over the spills.

Plastic drop cloths are like paper drop cloths, but don’t absorb the paint. The advantages and disadvantages are reversed here. Cleaning up afterwards can be a mess since the paint is still on the plastic, but it protects the underlying surface a little more.

Finally, the paper/poly drop cloth tries to use the advantages of each. The paper ensures that the paint is absorbed a bit, and the plastic ensures that the underlying surface doesn’t get stained. However, it is understandably more expensive

Paint can be applied with several tools, and till now, we have only looked at Paint Brushes. However, to cover large smooth areas, a paint brush is very ineffective. Paint Rollers to a much better job.

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Paint Rollers are basically cylinders with absorbent material on them. The cylinders move around an axle, which allow an even coat of paint to be applied. The amount of paint that a roller can hold is quite large, and this makes them very convenient.

However, using a roller is an art. If you apply too much pressure, the paint will move to the ends creating “ridges” in the paint job.

Put the paint into a tray lined with aluminium foil for easy cleaning later on. Dip the roller into the paint and roll it in letting the paint get sucked up. Apply the paint on the wall in up and down strokes alternating with diagonal strokes every now and then. Keep moving. If you go over the wet paint several times, the paint will dry too fast. Also, the roller needs to be kept wet at all times. If the paint is allowed to dry on it, it will be useless.

Keep in mind that you have to use a paint brush for corners and other nooks and crannies.

Rough or textures surfaces have bumps and irregularities on them. This affects everything related to painting them right from preparation to how you finish off. They typically require more surface preparation, and take well to oil paints. However, due to the disadvantages of oil paints, it’s best to learn how to paint well using water based or latex paints, which are both environment friendlier as well as cheaper.

photo credit: shaire productions

The key concept in painting rough surfaces, is to load more paint onto the brush. A wide 4 inch brush does the job nicely provided you work the bristles into the surface. This, along with the extra paint, fills in the hollows. as well as paints both sides of raised surfaces.

The best type of brush to use for textured surfaces is one that is “Exterior Grade”. They have firm bristles that hold the paint well. To ensure that the various surfaces of the textured paint are covered, the stroke that used is more like poking the wall instead of dragging the brush across it. Also keep in mind that exterior grade paint is thicker than normal paint. Instead of dipping your brush into it, you will have to ’scoop’ it out.

We read earlier about painting walls with Oil Based Paints. Now we look at painting with Emulsion or Water Soluble paints. An Emulsion is essentially a mixture of two substances that are somewhat incompatible. In water based paints, the pigment is suspended in water, and cannot be fully absorbed by it.

photo credit: ▲ lewis chaplin

Emulsion paints give a nice sheen when applied. The degree of sheen can be chosen along with the paint. They also tend to become hard as the sheen increases. Emulsified paints will be thicker and cloudier than other paints. They contain additional components known as fillers to stabilize them. Different additives impart various properties, depending on the requirements like bacterial growth control, and antifreeze foam control.

To paint with these paints, it is preferable to use a thick brush. Unlike with oil paints, you must apply the paint in all directions. If you start at the top of the wall, continue horizontally across the top, moving in a criss cross pattern. Make sure that you don’t apply too much paint. Once a horizontal patch is done, you can start on painting immediately below it.

While “Laying Off” the paint, use a dry brush and maintain the criss cross pattern.

In an earlier post, we read about “Laying Off” the paint Job. In this post, I will give some pointers about how to actually paint a small section of the wall. It’s very easy, and if you follow the instruction, you will get a neat finish. I’m assuming that you’re using a paint brush for this.

photo credit: danielle_blue

1. Start by painting vertical strips parallel to each other. Leave a gap that is slightly smaller than the width of the brush itself.
2. Without dipping the brush to get more paint, use the paint from the strips to close the gap between them horizontally. Use horizontal brush strokes for this.
3. Now you have to “Lay off” the paint using the techniques you learned in an earlier post. Ensure that you smooth over the criss  cross brush marks, and get an even surface.
4. Now use the same technique for the patch of wall underneath the one you just painted. Continue with this until the wall is done.

It’s important to ensure that the meeting point between the patches is not visible. Don’t allow the paint to build up. Make sure that the vertical strips of each patch merge gracefully into the adjacent sections.

In previous posts you learnt about “Cutting in” corners so as to prevent the paint from staining the other wall. If you want to be 100 percent sure that you don’t accidentally mark the opposite wall, you can use “Masking Tape”.

Image Credit: Chris Campbell

Masking tape is no different from normal self-adhesive tape. However, there are different grades of adhesive tape, and different grades vary considerably with regard to their adhesive properties, the ease of tearing, and how well they keep paint out.

The tape is simply applied over the areas where you don’t want the paint to go. When you’re done with the paint job, you just peel it off. Depending on the surface you want to protect, you can use various grades of tape. The idea is to get a tape that will peel off without damaging the surface, as well as stay on for the length of time that you want to paint for.

Adhesive strength is measured on a scale of 1-100. We want it to be around 50 for our purposes. Masking tape is especially useful for spray painting. Since you can’t really control where the paint goes, the tape will neatly cordon off the areas you want to keep dry. The better the quality of the tape, the better the edge doesn’t let the paint ‘bleed’ under it.

Painting corners is not easy. You might find that in the process of painting, you have applied so much paint that the corners become ‘clogged’ and thick. Also, if the corner is the joint between two different colors, then you want to ensure that you don’t ‘taint’ the other color with the paint.

Image Credit: mookitty

It can be a tricky business, but we haven’t been painting for hundreds of years without coming up with some techniques! And that’s what makes humans successful after all. The sharing of knowledge and not having to start from scratch.

Enough philosophy. Small brushes do nicely for this job. Load up your brush with paint. If you take too much, it will run down, so take just enough as your experience tells you is enough. You are going to use only the tip of the paint brush. So hold it in the pencil grip.

Start slightly away from the corner and ‘Cut’ into it from the side. This has the advantage of removing excess paint before you reach the corner. It’s a knack that you will soon pick up. Don’t start too far off, and you’ll be fine. Once you’ve reached the corner, continue painting all the way through. Keep a wet rag handy in case you make mistakes and rub some paint the wrong way!

Other options for those who are uncomfortable, is to use masking tape. But more on that later!

No, it isn’t what you think. I’m not asking you to stop painting, or take a break. The phrase “Laying Off” in the context of a paint job, refers to a certain technique that is employed towards the end of painting a surface. The purpose is to finish off the job with some final strokes that enable a smooth finish to manifest.

photo credit: merfam

When you paint a surface, you don’t paint all of it in one direction. You use several different small steps, with breaks. Neither do you paint all of a surface in one go. This is because by the time you finish one long surface, the first part would have already stared to dry off, and you would have lost the chance to do it properly.

Leaving aside the actual technique of painting (I’ll talk about that in a later article), once you have finished a segment, you need to give it the once over with your brush. The idea is to use only the tip of your brush without using any force. You need to smooth over the various brush strokes, and achieve a uniform consistent finish.

Use a minimum amount of paint while doing this, and the Laying off process will be successful. Laying off is a very important aspect of painting, and you must master it if you want your work to look professional.

In an earlier post, we discussed the basics of paint brushes, and what is good for them. In this article, we will learn a little more about their sizes, what paints suit which brushes, and why they are still preferred to rollers and pads.

Image Credit: Terence J Sullivan

The size of a paint brush refers to the size of the head. It is usually measured in millimeters or inches. The size depends on a) What the size of the surface being painted is, and b) What you’re more comfortable with.

The larger the paint brush, the more quickly you get tired while painting, though obviously the paint gets laid on faster with a bigger brush. The method of holding the brush varies with the size as well. Smaller brushes are held with the fingers like a pencil, whereas larger ones utilize the whoe fist.

A rule of thumb is never to use a paint brush that is larger than the surface you are painting on. This means that if you’re painting the legs of a stool, the paint brush must be small enough to get into all the nooks and crannies.

When you buy a brush, the choice is between synthetic and natural bristles. As discussed in our earlier article, both have their advantages. However, if you’re going to use oil based paint, then natural bristles are preferred over synthetic ones. If you use natural bristles with latex or water based paint, the bristles will spread out making it more difficult to achieve a proper finish.