When Kathy (my lovely wife) and I were dating, one of our hobbies was to purchase and refinish antiques. The antique market was really beginning to boom in the early 1970's. We still have many of the objects we purchased. Often the pieces of furniture needed help. I don't know how many gallons of paint stripper we used, but is was significant! It used to drive my Dad crazy, as sometimes in the colder months we would strip furniture in the basement of my house. The methylene chloride fumes would permeate the entire house.

Two years after we were married, Kathy and I purchased our second home. It had a gorgeous solid oak handrail, spindles and intricately carved newel post. We spent 5 days and nights restoring it to its original beauty. I believe we caused a shortage of paper towels and toothpicks in Cincinnati during this time period! Needless to say, we both became fairly proficient at applying paint stripper and removing clear finishes and multiple layers of paint. I only wish that some of the products made today would have been available to us 25 years ago!

30 Layers of Paint at Once....?

Not on my best day could I ever have removed 30 layers of paint in one application. Today you can purchase a high powered stripper (Peel Away I) that will do just that. The stripper is a thick trowelable paste that aggressively attacks layer after layer of paint. It is especially suitable for safely removing lead paint. By softening the old paint film it creates no hazardous lead dust. Virtually every old house contains lead paint. It can cause serious health problems. Just ask my neighbors who almost lost their dog to lead poisoning. The dog chewed on some woodwork in the basement that was covered with lead based paint.

Safe Strippers

The old strippers Kathy and I used contained volatile toxic chemicals such as methylene chloride. These old strippers were very fast acting. In the interest of public safety and limiting corporate liability, stripper companies developed "safe" strippers that use non-volatile organic compounds to soften paint films. The tradeoff for safety is speed of removal. The new strippers now take hours to do their jobs. It is a worthwhile tradeoff. Old strippers could soften a paint film in 5 - 10 minutes. It is not uncommon for the newer safe strippers to take hours to perform their magic.

Performance

Consumer Reports published test results in their June 1992 issue. They tested some of the new safe strippers. The report states that they felt that the Peel Away product "..was the fastest, easiest to use, and most effective." I highly recommend that you go to your local library and check out this simple report. It may help you make a decision when deciding which stripper to purchase.

It is important to realize that performance of strippers is dependent upon making sure you match the right product to the paint. This is not always easy! I don't know about you, but I find it virtually impossible to distinguish a latex paint from an oil based paint once they have been on a surface for 10 or more years.

The older methylene chloride strippers (which you can still purchase!) can remove 4 to 5 layers of oil based paint in a single application. However they usually don't do nearly as well on latex paints. Some of the safer strippers do the exact opposite! They work great on latex paint but do poorly on oil paints.

The point is this: If your stripper performs poorly it may not be a bad product! You may have to switch products or types of stripper. In addition, the paint film may consist of different types of paint. You may have 4 layers of latex paint on top of 5 layers of oil paint. It is not uncommon. This may require you to switch stripper during the middle of the job.

Harming the Substrate

Some of the newer "safe" strippers are very caustic. They have a very high pH and as such can actually degrade, corrode or pit metals like aluminum or magnesium. Some of these same strippers can discolor beautiful hardwoods like the oak handrail Kathy and I stripped.

You must be very cautious when purchasing the strippers. Read all of the Precautionary Warnings on the label before you purchase or use the products. There are strippers that will safely and effectively remove any finish (paint, varnish, urethane, lacquer, epoxy paint, chlorinated rubber, traffic paint, paint from masonry, etc.). You just have to take your time and match the stripper to the correct finish AND substrate!

Protect yourself as well. Strippers can really burn your skin and eyes. Wear rubber gloves and eye goggles when working with these products. Do not work in confined poorly ventilated spaces. If you do, your Dad may come and get you like he did me!

Author's Note: We've received other questions about similar problems. Here's one from Leigh, in Columbus, OH.

"I have a cement pad/stoop located in front of my front door. The previous owners painted this a dark brown. The paint is chipping off. I was wondering if you could please tell me how to remove this paint? The pad is in good condition, and I would much rather prefer a 'natural' cement color! Thank you! "

Click here to read about an interesting tip for storing leftover paint.

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Twenty-five years ago, I saw the most interesting thing. I was at Kathy's (my wife to be) house picking her up for a date. A professional painter was there working. He was in the process of custom blending an interior paint color for my future mother-in-law's dining and living room.

This painter had numerous plastic ketchup and mustard bottles filled with different pigments. He would squeeze pigments into the white base paint until he got close to the desired color. Kathy's mother stood there and watched while he mixed. Occasionally he would apply some to the wall to see if it was right. Once Kathy's mother was satisfied he proceeded to mix the rest of the paint according to the quantities of pigment that were added. It was amazing how easy it was to do!

It is Still Possible

You can still do the same thing that Andy the painter did for my mother-in-law. It is possible to purchase the concentrated pigments from certain paint stores. Of course you have to be willing to experiment. The beauty of this process is that you can create an infinite amount of colors.

Andy did the exact same thing for some outdoor patio furniture. He had a green paint that was a little too green. So he simply started adding some black until the green paint became a much deeper shade. As long as you go slowly, you will get positive results. The key is not to add too much pigment at once.

The Old Days

75 years ago, the paint industry was very different. First of all there weren't any paint stores. You went to a hardware store. There you could buy basic paint in white. Often you could purchase the paint ingredients: linseed oil, mineral spirits, titanium dioxide, and pigments. You would take these ingredients and blend your own paint!

Exterior house painters would actually mix up 10 - 15 gallons at a time to paint the exterior parts of a home. The ingredients would be placed in a large garbage type can. A popular color at the time was robin's egg blue. The painter would get an approval from the house wife or husband and make sure that he had enough paint mixed up to coat an entire side or two. It was tough to get an exact match using crude paint mixing methods.

The industry started to change about 50 to 60 years ago with the introduction of premixed colors from the paint factories. There would be rows and rows of gallon cans in paint stores of different colors. There were no site mixed color machines in the hardware stores.

During the 1950's and '60's, the paint companies began to introduce site mixed color machines into paint stores. This greatly reduced the amount of inventory since the paint companies just had to supply the different bases to which the store employee would add pigment.

As time passed, the quality control of the pigments increased and the calibration of the pigment measuring devices. These improvements allow you to go to a paint store two weeks after buying a premixed color and walk out with an exact match.

Unknown Formulas

If you know the formula you can get a match. But often the paint can is discarded. Knowing the color name can help but it is not a guarantee. Color names can change and are unique to each manufacturer.

A paint store employee with a good eye for color and three or four days can often get you very close to a color. This will happen only if you bring in a clean, large (greater than 1 square inch) sample of the paint. Flakes of plaster are just not big enough.

Time is a critical factor. If you expect a perfect match on a color matching attempt the first time AND within 10 minutes you are dreaming! An exact match by a store employee can take 10 or more attempts. The store manager will not let an employee work on samples in the back while other customers walk in. So, you need to give them time.

Blending a Color

If the walls or ceiling you are trying to match are clean and uniform in color, you will have a good chance at matching the color. Dirt blotches, smudges, heating duct dirt tails on the walls can make matching virtually impossible. If you have these conditions and apply fresh paint nearby, the new paint will stand out even if it is an exact match.

To blend a color into a wall once you have gotten a match, you need to feather the paint. This means apply it thinly at the edges of the painted area. This creates a thin edge of paint instead of a hump. Practice the technique in a closet. The paint, even when applied thinly will still look somewhat heavy. Once dry it will look like it was applied with a feather!

Related Articles:  Matching Paint Colors Perfectly,  Color Wheel,  Paint Colors - Tips & Tricks

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Paint Tinting Tricks

OK, so you have decided to mix paint colors to match the color or tint you desire. All that is required is a large amount of patience, some accurate measuring, an eye for color, and a clean wall. Let's get started.

Find an Experienced Paint Store

Try to locate a paint store in your area that has been in business for many years. Visit it on a weekday if at all possible. Why? Because the experienced employees often have the most seniority and get the weekends off. You want to work with a pro to get your color choice close.

Identify the Closest Color Chip Sample

The trick to matching paints is to use the technology of the paint store to its fullest. Remember, they only have a finite (fixed) amount of colors in the store, color books, and their system. There are infinite possibilities!

Get close to your wall or ceiling color with the chips. If you are working with a light color, notice how the chips have progressively darker colors on the same page or slip of cardboard. The darker color really shows you what you are dealing with. Imagine your wall or ceiling darker.....what might it be like? You MUST identify the proper color family or you will not stand a chance. If you get into the right family, it just becomes a matter of diluting the paint with white to get the exact color.

Stay Darker - That is the Key!

Purchase a quart of the paint color you think is correct. Try to stay slightly darker than the color you are matching. If you apply a little of the paint to the wall and let it dry (15 - 20 minutes) you might not think it will work. The color may appear too rich.

Immediately take a teaspoon of white paint (same brand - same type as colored paint) and a teaspoon of the colored paint and mix in a paper cup. Once blended apply to the wall adjacent to the full strength color. Note how different it looks. Note how cutting the full strength paint in half makes a difference!

If you are lucky, you will see that you are getting very close to the original color. It is possible that the first attempt makes the paint too light. If so, modify your mixed amounts.

Tricky Color Chips

If you are selecting a paint from a chip, be aware that once the color is on the wall it will almost always appear deeper in color. Why? The impact of an 8 foot high wall by 12 foot wide or so of solid color can play a trick on your eyes. If the store can't reduce the color any more, you can do it by mixing one gallon of white with your colored gallon. Just try it once!

Related Articles:  Matching Paint Colors Perfectly,  Color Wheel,  Paint Colors - Mix to Match

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The above illustration is a reduced copy of an actual Grumbacher Color Wheel. This device allows you to create new colors by dialing up a color on the outer ring. The inner white ring has windows that let you see the new color you created. You can see what happens when you add red, white, black, blue, or yellow to any of the 12 primary, secondary, or intermediate colors on the outer ring. This is a useful tool if you plan to work with deeper colors.

Artists use this tool to help them see what will happen when they blend different paints together on a canvas. You can use it to help see what will happen with certain colors as you squirt different types of pigments into the can. The back of the color wheel also has a helpful complimentary harmony guide. It shows what colors go well with other colors in an overall color scheme.

You can get this color wheel for less than $10. It is usually sold in any art supply store where artists buy brushes, paints, and canvases. You can also contact M. Grumbacher Inc.

Related Articles:  Matching Paint Colors Perfectly,  Paint Colors - Tips & Tricks,  Paint Colors - Mix to Match

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Just today, I received an email from an individual who had an exterior paint job fail after just six months! That is miserable performance. The email contained lots of voodoo excuses and solutions from the painter and a carpenter buddy. Neither, in my opinion, had nailed the cause of the problems. Based upon the description in the email, it appears that excessive indoor humidity is to blame. I never cease to be amazed at the amount of bad information that is out there.

My newspaper this morning had a feature article in it about cleaning and sealing decks. All of the information given in the article was suspect. Seriously! The reporter had called some local deck cleaners and took their word as gospel. All I am trying to say is watch where you get your information.

Paint is a Film Former

Paint, by its inherent nature, is designed to peel. It is a film forming coating. Paint will stick very, very well to substrates that do not move too much. Examples of this are just about any metal. Think. When was the last time you saw paint peel from a refrigerator or stove? Do you think it is because they use special high tech paints? Not really. Metal of just about any type is an excellent substrate. It doesn't move too much. Aluminum siding is a good example. Paint can last for years on aluminum. Aluminum expands and contracts, but the paint holds on!

Wood is the WORST!

Wood is just about the absolute worst thing to paint. It expands and contracts wildly in response to changes in moisture content. This movement can easily defeat the strongest paint film.

Is your interior or exterior ready for a paint job? Find the professional painters by using my Interior Painting & Staining Checklist or my Exterior Painting & Staining Checklist. I offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee.

Some wood products such as hardboard or Masonite® must be painted multiple times on all edges and sides to protect both the material and the finish paint film. Hardboard can swell enormously if it gets wet. The paint is the only line of defense. If cut edges and seams are not painted during installation, you can have severe rot develop within a matter of just a few years. When was the last time you saw a carpenter have a can of paint open near a miter box or circular saw? To the best of my knowledge, I was one of just a handful of carpenters in Cincinnati that carried paint/primers alongside my saws!

Shrink Wrap Your Wood

Wood will behave and paint will stick quite well if you can paint the entire piece of wood before it is installed. The old-timers called this backpriming. It can be done assembly line fashion in the field. You can also buy many wood sidings and trim that come factory primed. This is a must if you want a long lasting paint finish on your new home or room addition.

Sealing the wood completely means painting cut edges as well. This will be a hard thing to get your carpenters to do. However, it is absolutely necessary. The cut ends are often where end grain is exposed. End grain is where water has the easiest time entering wood. Water that is sucked up by end grain will liberate itself five or six inches away from the end of the board. This is why you often see the butt edges of wood siding peel or the bottom portion of trim boards flake.

Flexible Paints

Knowing that wood moves, it would help to have primers and paints that have built-in flexibility. Acrylic resins (resin = paint glue) are the ones with the greatest amount of flexibility. The paint can resist years of movement. It appears that these paints will not get brittle like the older oil based paints.

Exterior house paints can contain other resins or glues. They do not perform as well as acrylic resins. Keep in mind that once the paint dries you are left with only two of the three primary ingredients in paint: the resin and any color pigments. It pays to purchase the absolute best resin or glue that you can afford! Acrylic is the best - plain and simple.

Related Articles:  Exterior Home Painting & Weather, Exterior Painting

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When to Paint?  Watch the Weather!

Did you know that weather conditions can affect how well your paint holds up? It can make a huge difference! The worst conditions are extremes of hot and cold.

Paint needs to mechanically and chemically bond to the surface it is covering. It can only do this well if the solvent (water or mineral spirits) in the paint evaporates at a slow or medium pace.

If you paint with water based paints in brilliant sunshine on a hot, windy day, the water can evaporate too quickly from the paint. I have actually seen blisters form on a freshly painted surface. The paint skinned over before the water below could get out! It was a mess.

Plan your painting for cooler weather. Paint areas AFTER the sun has hit it. Western exposures need to be painted on overcast days.

Is the exterior of your house looking drab? Find the professional painters by using my Exterior Painting & Staining Checklist. I offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee.

Related Articles:  Understaind Paint & Painting Tips, Exterior Painting

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