| |
Posts Tagged ‘find a painter<’
Scuffed and damaged wood trim around the home is not very attractive. Interestingly, it’s not all that difficult to restore these important details to their former glory. With thorough preparation, decent paint and a good eye for detail, you’ll soon have your handiwork admired.
Proper Preparation 
It’s all about the effort you put in to preparation. First, remove all flaky paint, and then use a fine-grade sand paper to smooth over the surface. You don’t necessarily have to go back to the raw wood, just an even surface will do. One of our regular London painters is a perfectionist of note. He says that you should mask off the surrounding wall and floor surfaces before you start. Your call then!
First Coat
Having prepared the trim, you now need to apply a primer coat throughout. This is to seal the wood and create a firm bonding surface for the middle, or the undercoat. Always allow a decent time for newly-painted surfaces to dry – read the instructions on the paint pot carefully. Keep in mind that wet or humid conditions add to the drying time.
Undercoating
Apply a decent quality undercoat, because this is ultimately the barrier to future scuffing and chaffing. A weak, thin application of it will not stand up to the punishment it’s going to take in your home. Some people just don’t like painting or feel they don’t gave the required skills. In such cases, Mr-Skill has an abundant supply of professionals ready to assist – get your painting quote right here and save up to 30% of the normal price too.
Top Coat
There are some excellent paint products on the market these days. With non-drip paints, with low, or no odour, diamond-tough finishes and a host of colours to choose from, what more could a professional want? Remember to use good quality brushes and don’t overload the head with paint, because it’s going to cause runs instead of the smooth finish you desire.
Final Tips
Here at Mr-Skill we always provide free advice, and when it comes to painting the trim around your home, we suggest that you start early in the morning. Don’t forget to allow sufficient time between coats, and cleaning up properly is always worth the effort. One last tip – if you want a first-class job, find a painter from the many professionals registered with us. Our motto is “No Fuss, no Bother, just a Job Well Done!”
Tags: application, bonding, chaffing, find a painter, floors, free advice, london painter, Painting, painting quote, preparation, primer, restore, sanding, scuffing marks, smooth surface, top coat, undercoat, walls, wood, wood trim
Posted in Painting & Decorating | Comments Off
Preparing the exterior walls of a house or bungalow for painting is an onerous task that few private homeowners attempt. Does that sound too much for you too? No worries. We can help you Find a Painter who’s been rated by other customers already.
When he or she arrives they complete the preparation of the outside as summarised below. That’s assuming they don’t find anything exceptional, that they did not anticipate when preparing their Detailed Painting Quote. If they do, they’ll negotiate in good faith.
 Cast an eye over the structure to make sure there are no cracks that might admit water and cause damp. They’re likely to report any structural concerns they may detect too, although that’s not the job you’re paying them for.
Clear out and close-up any gaps with rendering. They’ll work elsewhere on the building for the next few days while the fresh plaster dries.
Remove all flaking or damaged paint using a combination of hand-scrapers, sanders, power washing and chemicals. Attend to any mould or fungus.
Discuss the best paints to use and the colours that you like and are practical too. When that’s done they can begin apply the paint.
I was chatting to my old friend a retired London Decorator who has a thought on anything and everything. I just can’t understand, he said, why so many folk try to paint outside in winter, when it makes so much more sense to do the inside then.
Mr-Skill provides a FREE service to UK customers requiring the services of a Painter / Decorator, or for that matter any other Skilled Person. They pay to list with us after we have checked them out. That’s the only money that ever changes hands as far as we are concerned. We make not a penny more from it, no kidding, so all this is FREE to you with our compliments. Isn’t it nice to know that you can still get good service like this today?
Tags: bungalow, chemical, clear, close, colour, cracks, damaged, damp, decorate, decorator, exterior, find a painter, flaking, fungus, house, london decorator, mould, paint, painter, painting quote, plaster, prepare, redecorate, remove, render, sander, seal, structure, wall, wash, water
Posted in Painting & Decorating | Comments Off
Good paint brushes are worth the price, although they nevertheless cost a surprising amount of money these days. If you choose not to Find a Painter to do the work for you on Mr-Skill, then you can extend the life of your paintbrushes – and experience the pleasures of working with a well run-in brush, by following these simple tips:
 London Painters know the trick of moistening the brush right through with the cleaning medium that they plan to use later, which could be water, turpentine or a specialized liquid. This prevents the brush fibres from absorbing the paint, saving you money, and making cleaning a pleasure later too.
- Don’t dip the brush so deeply in the paint that the heart fills with paint too. This space is there to provide flexibility in the head, not to act as a reservoir for generating paint spills.
- Work the brush back and forth against the job. This not only provides a better finish, it also helps the brush maintain its shape.
- After you have thoroughly cleaned the used paintbrush using the appropriate cleaning medium, squirt a dollop of dishwashing fluid into the heart of the brush and work it through to the outside with
 your fingers. Rinse clean under running water making sure it comes clear on the inside too, and then lightly flick the brush dry somewhere where you can stand a little mess.
- Finally, reshape the damp paintbrush with your fingers, and leave it somewhere suitable to dry. That way, it will be perfectly ready for you when you need it next.
If this sounds like too much work for you, then you could always Get Painting Quotes on Mr-Skill instead. You’ll be surprised at the quality of their work, and the amount of money that you could save when you use our painters, compared to general market rates.
Tags: absorb, brush, clean, clear, dishwash, extend life, fiber, fibre, find a painter, finger, flick, fluid, heart, liquid, london painters, maintain, mess, moist, moisten, paint, paintbrush, painting quotes, reshape, restore, rinse, save money, shape, soap, spill, tip, turpentine, water
Posted in Painting & Decorating | Comments Off
I’ve recently sanded down an old wooden table I’m rather fond of and finished it off with a high lustre polyurethane seal. I wish I could claim all the credit for the final effect – just don’t tell anybody I used ideas I gleaned from a retired London Painter living in the village not far from me.
• Work in the best light – That does not mean under blazing overhead light that shines back in your eyes.  What is does mean is natural illumination streaming softly through doors and windows at a low angle. This emphasises the grain that you must accommodate, and turns imperfections into shadows that you can easily see. If you don’t have natural light available, set a desk lamp at one end of the bench.
• Choose the right sandpaper – Sandpaper comes in different colours, although there are no industry rules. Some suppliers use colour to highlight different grit size. Others use it to indicate different types. Choose three strengths of paper designed for the job in hand, so you can work progressively from coarse to fine.
• Use sanding tools – The chances of achieving a level finish using bare hands are low, because fingers are creative things, not mechanised machines. Use a sanding block for a smaller piece of work,  and a power sander for a larger job. Bear in mind that power tools are more productive. Use finer grit paper to counteract the effect.
• Use a jig – Wrap sandpaper around a reverse shape to sand right into a tricky corner, and move your work gently up and down against it. Work carefully – the results can be quite dramatic.
• Check progress as you go along – Put a used nylon stocking over your hand and run it gently across the surface of your work to find rough spots. If you’re a guy though, perhaps you shouldn’t admit to wearing pantyhose in the workshop?
You won’t need to Find a Painter to do a hobbyist job like this. But you will need to get Painting Quotes on Mr-Skill for wooden doors and window frames. Trust me. I tried that. You don’t want to go down that road alone.
Tags: angle, bench, block, check, choose, coarse, colour, door, find a painter, fine, finish, grade, grain, grit, jig, lamp, level, light, london painter, natural, nylon, painting quote, paper, power, progress, reverse, rough, sand, sandpaper, seal, shadow, shine, size, smooth, soft, stocking, strength, table, tool, window, wood, work
Posted in Painting & Decorating | Comments Off
While wooden windows have been replaced by plastic ones in most modern United Kingdom estates, there are still a huge number of these on listed buildings as every London Painter knows. There are three ways to paint them to keep away the rot.  You could slop paint all over and spend hours cleaning off the glass. You could Find a Painter on Mr-Skill, or you could do the job properly yourself as follows:
• Mask off any hardware with painters tape, including the catches, hinges and the handles
• Clean the window glass carefully to avoid contaminating the paint
• Mask off around the window frame leaving a tiny strip of glass still showing. This is to stop moisture entering the wooden frame.
• Roughen off all wooden surfaces to ensure the paint adheres well. Begin by painting the places where the window and the frame will touch, to allow these maximum times to dry before you close the window.  Always work from the top down to avoid splashes on completed work, and wipe these smooth as soon as you spot them.
• Follow with the window itself. Finish the horizontal bits first, followed by the down pieces and the remainder of the frame. Wait patiently until the paint is almost dry before carefully removing the painter’s tape. When completely dry, remove any splashes on the glass with a sharp paint scraper.
Not a difficult job to do at all, provided you don’t mind the smell of paint and the chore of cleaning brushes afterwards. For those with other things to do in life, Mr-Skill provides the simplest way to get Competitive Painter Quotes instead. Best of all is, it’s completely free! And it saves pounds too.
Tags: adhere, bottom, brush, catch, clean, down, dry, find a painter, frame, glass, handle, hinge, horizontal, london painter, mask, moisture, paint, painter quote, properly, rot, roughen, scrape, slop, smell, spill, splash, top, way, wood, wooden
Posted in Painting & Decorating | Comments Off
Colour comes free, as my dad who used to work for London Painters until he retired a few years ago loves to say. Or almost free that is, unless you decide to have it specially tinted. This means that the cost of a boring or an exuberant colour scheme is  approximately the same, provided that is you use your imagination.
• The basis of any decorating scheme lies in the juxtaposition of the colours. Choose Tonal when you play with shades of the same colours, or perhaps the same intensity of different ones. Harmonious effects are created by choosing adjacent tints. Complementary colour schemes do exactly that by using opposites.
• The next step is to create a mood. Warm, advancing colours welcome people on cooler days, while cooler, watery colours relax one at any time. Remember that lighting can add dramatic or unexpected effects at different times of day, and in different seasons.
• Inspiration is often found in nature as if it is the work of genius, because the colour combinations often work so well. Try looking at the interior shades of seashells and autumn leaves. Chances are you will be amazed at what you find.
•  Homes should be calm relaxing places, and after you Find a Decorator you do need to discuss a strategy for linking rooms, so that the contrasts do not jar. Think about using Tonal or Harmonious effects to achieve the best results. Door colours require great thought too, which is perhaps so many doors are white these days.
• Before getting started after deciding among your Painting Quotes, please do put up a few test panels first. Any painter you find on Mr-Skill will advise how best to deal with underlying existing colours when you do.
That’s all there really is to a Best Colour Scheme. A little thought, a few test panels and you are almost on your way. If you find the thought of doing the job yourself off-putting though, then why not Find a Painter on Mr-Skill instead?
Tags: calm, colour, complementary, cool, cost, day, decorate, decorator, door, find a decorator, find a painter, free, harmonious, imagination, inspiration, intensity, link, london painters, mood, nature, night, opposite, paint, painter, painting quote, panel, relax, season, test, time, tint, tonal, warm, welcome
Posted in Painting & Decorating | Comments Off
There is still a great deal to be said for dining at a solid wooden table, although these days we often seem to end up with laminated composite board instead that admittedly helps keep things more affordable. This is not to say that bargains are not waiting to be found at charity shops and auction rooms, although these have inevitably ended up becoming tatty, which is why they are there in the first place.
This does not mean to say that they cannot quite easily be restored, provided, that is, that the wear and tear is strictly  superficial, and that all the bits are there. Interested? Then never mind about getting a Painter Quote right now. Let’s first learn how the job should be done.
o Identify a suitable working environment that is free of dust and floating pollen. That means working inside somewhere assuming you are aiming at a gleaming finish.
o Work outside initially though, sanding the woodwork down with fine-grit paper until it is nice and smooth, and finishing off with steel wool until the job is as good as you can get. Every Decorator in London knows that the secret is in the preparation, so allow a full day for an average-sized dining room table, never mind the chairs.
o Wipe the table down with a damp cloth removing every single scrap of dust, finishing off with a lint-free cloth lightly moistened with mineral turpentine. Take your work inside to where you plan to finish off the job the following day.
o  Apply a coat of the finishing product that you have chosen, be this varnish, polyurethane or some other more exotic choice. Always use a clear product too, so that you bring out the natural character of the wood.
o When this has dried thoroughly sand the surface down lightly again, until you have broken through the sheen. If there are any bumps caused by dust or imperfections, slice these away carefully with a sharp blade. Dust off your work thoroughly, and wipe it carefully with a lint-free cloth moistened in clean water this time.
o Repeat the process as many times as you have patience for, because every coat is guaranteed to improve the finish and enhance the sheen. If you decide to Find a Decorator to do the job for you instead, you know by now why it is so important to agree a specification of exactly what they intend to do.
I have an old ball and claw mahogany dining table that I did up myself a decade or so ago and finished off with clear polyurethane varnish. Many have admired the natural, lighter colour that comes shining through, although I should think that few would have the patience to achieve it.
Tags: admire, auction, bargain, board, charity, clear, cloth, composite, decorator in london, dining, dust, environment, find a painter, finish, gleam, grit, inside, laminate, lint, outside, painter quote, patience, pollen, polyurethane, repeat, sand, shop, smooth, solid, steel wool, steelwool, superficial, table, turpentine, varnish, wipe, wood, work
Posted in Painting & Decorating | Comments Off
Years ago, when I was doing my apprenticeship under an irascible tradesman working for a Decorator in London, leaned the hard way that paint quality is all about preparation. This was  Ithrough the many times that I was forced to repeat a job in my own time over weekends, and once when I thought I was about to be brained by a pot of paint.
Those days are long gone past, and these days I spend most of my time training apprentice painters. I must confess though that sometimes I wish I had a pot of paint handy too, especially when feeling more than a little frustrated with certain of the British youth. For the record, if you have in mind to Find a Painter, these are some of the things you need to look out for when it comes to undercoating.
o Do they specifically propose to clean down all surfaces thoroughly first? Walls and ceilings must be scrubbed to remove all traces of dirt and mildew, preferably using sugar soap. This includes door and window frames, skirtings and the like.
o  What kind of crack filler are they going to use? Will the crevices be raked out and will all loose bits be removed? How will they be rendered dust-free, and how will the filler be worked away so as to become invisible?
o What different primer paints do they propose to use, and where, and why? Primers disappear under topcoats and cheap ones are often the main reasons behind attractive “budget” Decorator Quotes. If in any doubt, check first with the manufacturer of the paint – they all have customer hotlines these days.
Of course, when you Find a Decorator on Mr-Skill you can go ahead with far more confidence. This is because we assess them carefully ourselves, and you can usually see what other customers have to say about them too.
Tags: assess, clean, confidence, crack, crevice, customer, decorate, decorator, decorator london, decorator quotes, door, dust, filler, find a painter, frame, manufacturer, paint, painter, pot, quality, rake, scrub, skirting, sugar soap, surface, topcoat, tradesman, undercoat, wash, window
Posted in Painting & Decorating | Comments Off
I don’t think we paint our ceilings nearly frequently enough. That’s because they are some distance from us and we hate cricking our necks to check them out. As a result they end up yellowing and can no longer do their job of making a room  look so much bigger, brighter and airier than when they were once so pristine white. If you agree with me, then maybe this is a good time of the year to Find a Decorator.
A ceiling that is lighter than the walls makes it seem higher and the room correspondingly larger too. Personally I don’t like home ceilings painted in colours although I do grant that there are exceptions too. Here’s how to go about the job
o Painters London Wide refuse to do a ceiling job without proper scaffolding, and for your back’s sake I recommend you hire some instead of falling off the ladder while applying sealer and masking tape. Another useful tip is to put down drop-sheets and mask off the walls and skirting boards – an hour spent this way will save hours later scraping and cleaning off when all you really want is your room back.
o Seal all the gaps between the cornice and the ceiling with white acrylic filler and your finger before you start. Remember to smooth off the job with a damp cloth as you go along.
o Cut-in the edges with a one inch pointing brush making sure that the cornice-to-wall joints are tidy when viewed from the floor. My take on this is not to paint the bottom return on the coving so as not to disturb the existing line.
 o When done you can start to roll the ceiling, working in small sections back and forth to achieve effective coverage. If you do not do this properly your patchy ceiling will need a second coat – avoid this by doing the ceiling painting job right first time.
o Do not be in a hurry to remove the masking tape – in fact it is better to do this the following day. This is because you want the skin of paint to dry first, and avoid wet paint on the masking tape messing up your walls as well.
Do not be fooled into thinking that this is an easy job although it is within the scope of the reasonably fit. Mr-Skill could be an easier way to get your ceilings painted and they could help you Get Decorator Quotes too. One final hint – If you do the job yourself, remember to wear old clothes that cover your entire body, gloves, a hat and a face mask.
Tags: acrylic, airier, bigger, brighter, ceiling, clean, cloth, clothes, cornice, cover, coving, damp, decorating job london, decorating quote, decorator london, decorator quote, drop sheet, filler, find a decorator, find a painter, hat, job, ladder, mask, mess, paint, painter london, painter quote, painting job london, painting quote, point, roll, room, scaffold, smooth, tape, white, wipe
Posted in Painting & Decorating | Comments Off
 It can be quite tempting to decide to strip away old paint instead of attempting to recover a painted surface. There can be considerably more to the process than meets the eye though – it can be time-consuming, laborious and quite dangerous too. While Mr-Skill provides the following information in good faith we cannot guarantee it under all eventualities. In fact we really do think that you should consider getting a Decorator Quote instead.
o Conduct Research. How old might the paint job be? This can provide a useful clue to the materials used and the right stripping procedure to follow. Depending on the application you could burn the paint off, or use a chemical stripper. In the former case be aware of fire hazards, in the latter beware of chemical burns. It is also possible to remove paint manually using a paint scraper – this is the hardest but perhaps the safest way.
 o Wear Protective Clothing. We cannot over-emphasize this point. If burning paint away wear safety goggles, a safety mask and heat resistant long-sleeved gloves. If using chemicals substitute more appropriate gloves and wear overalls to protect your clothes and skin. For manual stripping you just need a pair of good strong gloves and loads of patience.
When I was a supervisor doing Painting Jobs in London we refused to do a burn-off job without a liability waiver and a fire extinguisher handy, and never used a chemical stripper where ventilation was inadequate. My motto is why take a chance just to save some money – Find a Decorator who is competent instead.
There are many rated ones on Mr-Skill that you could trust to do the job for you and save you hassles.
Tags: bore, burn, chemical, chemical stripper, clothing, decorating job london, decorating quote, decorator london, decorator quote, find a decorator, find a painter, glove, goggle, laborious, mark, material, paint, painter london, painter quote, painting job london, painting quote, recover, scraper, strip, surface, time consuming
Posted in Painting & Decorating | Comments Off
|
Subscribe to our RSS Feed