|Interior / Exterior Preparation|

Whether we are completing an exterior painting project or an interior painting job, the professionals at Harmon Painting and Decorating know all of the secrets to making your new paint look its best for years to come. The secret is in the preparation as any quality interior painting and exterior painter in Toledo, Ohio will tell you. Surface preparation is the most important part of any paint application.

Surface preparation is the key to any quality
custom painting job

True interior painting and exterior painting professionals realize the importance of surface preparation in achieving maximum paint performance. In Northwest Ohio, a professional painter must consider a number of factors before specifying proper surface preparation:

Surface preparation is often the most tedious and time-consuming aspect of any interior painting or exterior painting project. As a result, many discount painters shortcut this stage of the process to save time and money. This is where most decorative painting jobs run into trouble. As high as 80 percent of all coating failures can be directly attributed to inadequate surface preparation which affects coating adhesion. Before choosing an interior painting or exterior painting contractor, make sure you understand their methods and the extent to which they prepare the surface. If their estimates are unusually low, this is one area where your custom painting job is likely to suffer.

Interior painting preparation is key to any house painting project

Before beginning your house painting project, the professionals at Harmon Painting and Decorating carefully move all of your furniture to the center of the room and neatly cover it. All of your floors are covered with tarps to protect the flooring.

To prepare your walls and surfaces, we wash them when necessary with the appropriate cleaning agents for the custom painting job. We then sand the finish to create a profile that will promote the adhesion of the new finish. This allows the interior painting topcoat to adhere properly and eliminates chipping or peeling. In problem areas, our interior painters and exterior painters use specialized primers designed to grip glossy surfaces for interior painting.

The house painting professionals at Harmon Painting and Decorating thoroughly caulk all openings between door and window frames, baseboards, chair rails, crown molding, etc. This provides a solid, unbroken finish for all wood trim — creating a clean beautiful finish to your custom painting project.

Preparing interior painting surfaces, our painters meticulously repair areas that are cracked or broken. We cut a “V” groove in cracks to create an area for spackle or plaster to grip tightly. For custom painting jobs, we sand these areas and feather the edges to blend into the surrounding surface. If a texture is needed to blend, our professional painters apply the appropriate material. A quality primer is then applied to even the porosity and eliminate flashing.

At Harmon Painting and Decorating, we use only the highest quality paints and equipment for our house painting jobs. When painting interiors, we apply only quality alkyd and latex paints. Quality paints provide a more durable, washable surface than lesser quality paints. Because of its resistance to fading, high quality paint maintains its "just painted" look for a longer period of time. Your custom painting project will look like new for years to come.

No house painting job can begin without exterior preparation

When preparing surfaces for exterior painting; the painters at Harmon Painting and Decorating thoroughly clean them first. We start by treating mold and mildew growth by applying a combination of bleach and detergent to the surface, allowing the bleach to kill the mold and mildew and letting the detergent lift the dirt and contaminants. CAUTION: Mold spores left untreated will grow through the new paint film and cause premature paint failure on your house painting project. Our professional painters then wash all of the surfaces with high pressure water (2500 psi) to strip away dirt and contamination. This insures a clean surface for maximum paint adhesion and performance to your northwest Ohio home.

When preparing surfaces for exterior painting, the painters at Harmon Painting and Decorating thoroughly scrape all loose flaking paint. We then sand these areas with a heavy grit sandpaper to further remove loose paint to areas where it is firm. We then prime any bare wood with a quality exterior primer to penetrate, grip and seal the wood surface before beginning the custom painting. This area is often neglected by other contractors. Many never use primers and use the topcoat as the primer.

When caulking surfaces for exterior painting in northwest Ohio, our painters remove failing caulk and re-caulk all cracks and crevices where needed to seal out moisture, air and water. All caulk that is used in house painting jobs is a premium quality latex caulk with silicone. These caulks are more flexible and last two to three times longer than less expensive caulks without silicone.

When applying the finish coat for exterior painting, the professional painters at Harmon Painting and Decorating select the best acrylics for superior durability and mildew resistance. This is important because of the extreme weather conditions present in Northwest Ohio. Inexpensive paints quickly fail in our severe winters and hot, humid summers.

Trust the experienced house painting professionals at Harmon Painting and Decorating to complete your decorative painting job to your complete satisfaction. We specialize in custom painting projects in Northwest Ohio.