Ask Danny | Ep 10: Painting Like a Pro With ‘The Wall Wizard’

This week, I’m chatting with painting skilled Brian Santos, a.k.a the “Wall Wizard.”

Brian is a fourth-era painting contractor, author of best-advertising household advancement textbooks, and has toured for more than 25 decades with his “Wizard Workshops” that empower audiences with very simple suggestions, tips, and procedures for prosperous household improvement tasks.

He has shared his expertise on national Television set, which include “Good Morning The us,” “Today,” and HGTV’s “Smart Remedies,” as properly as on TLC and the Discovery Channel.

Brian is also the Director of Education and learning for New Coat Painters, the only position of this sort in just any portray or dwelling improvement franchise.

Brian was introduced on to the Fresh Coat Painters crew to educate and share his understanding of the industry and business enterprise ownership inside of the field to new and set up franchise homeowners.

Take a look at thewallwizard.com for Brian’s painting ideas and reference guides and freshcoatpainters.com for his experienced advice. 

Finest Spray Portray Techniques

What are some of the recommendations you’ve discovered above the yrs when doing the job with spray paint?

Brian: The very best spray portray idea I can give is to examine the guidelines. I know it is a ton of information in tiny print, but it is the important to your project’s success. In this article are a several far more suggestions:

• Get ready adequately. Do not spray in the solar, clear the surface area correctly, and make confident you keep the can correctly at the proper angle.
• Shake the can. It normally takes 30 seconds to two minutes to get the rattle within to begin moving. This is important for extensively mixing the components and aerosols so the paint sprays appropriately.
• Use a spray paint tackle. It snaps above the top rated of the can, and when you pull the cause, it is like a gun. It depresses the spray nozzle and puts out the material effectively. 
• Apply two skinny coats of paint rather of 1 heavy coat. This prevents any runs and drips, and also lets the chemical compounds to evaporate ample to make it possible for the next coat to bond effectively. 

Large-Quantity Very low-Tension Sprayers

Convey to us a lot more about higher quantity lower force (HVLP) sprayers and some of the apps they perform effectively in.

Brian: I enjoy these matters — HVLP sprayers are just about like airbrushes. What they are created to do is atomize the content and you can manage the movement and stress. 

The ideal a person I can endorse is the Wagner Flexio 3000 HVLP Paint Sprayer*, which is readily available at Home Depot. It has a set off and a dial for you to change the pressure, as well as it has a corded and cordless solution. 

*This is an affiliate link. If you obtain this product, we will receive a modest fee at no further charge to you.

For the DIYer, this is most likely a single of the ideal tools you can have, but you have to retain it and clear it routinely. 

Here’s a tip for cleaning it: Place about three drops of material softener per quart of water in the sprayer and flush it out. This helps thoroughly clean the sprayer among coats and lubricates the within. 

Portray a Fence With an Airless Paint Sprayer

What do you endorse for portray a fence? 

Brian: An airless paint sprayer is good for portray a fence.  You can typically locate them at any instrument rental center, and what I like about leasing them is that they are taken care of. Plus, if you ended up to go out and acquire this, it would price tag you any where from $500-$1,200. 

When leasing one, be confident to get one particular that has enough volume move for your task. And whilst you’re at the resource rental heart, request an staff for a demonstration so you can see how to adequately run it.

Like I claimed ahead of, often read through the guidance and make absolutely sure the sprayer is primed correctly. 

Correctly thoroughly clean the fence just before painting. Use a back garden hose and a cleaner to eliminate any algae, grease, grime and oxidation. The paint is only as very good as the surface area it’s bonding to. 

You never need to have to use any primer because fence stains are built to penetrate into wood fiber. There are also clear coatings, semi-transparent stains and good stains that homogenize to even out any irregularities. 

The significant detail is to preserve shifting and backbrush alongside the way. Spray the paint or stain on, then have somebody go with a brush behind it and work that paint or stain into the surface area. This will make positive the paint or stain bonds properly. 

Portray Kitchen Cupboards

What are some suggestions for homeowners who are thinking about portray kitchen area cabinets?

Brian: Changing kitchen area cupboards can value you up to $20,000, so painting is absolutely charge-helpful.

A paint job is only as good as the surface you are making ready, so first, talk to yourself if you want to see the grain in your cupboards or not. All woods have a grain, and if the surface is not prepped at the moment, that grain will exhibit through. If you really don’t want to see any grain, simply call a skilled to do the occupation.  

For the DIYer who desires to do a tiny refreshing, listed here are the typical functioning methods on how to do it:

• Clean the surface of the cabinets. Moist sand the cabinets with a Scotch Brite pad and an alkaline cleaner known as Straightforward Environmentally friendly High definition. This will crack down the grease and flippantly sand the surface at the identical time, eradicating a ton of dust. 
• Degrease the floor of the cupboards immediately after cleansing. Rinse the area with 91-proof rubbing liquor. Rubbing liquor is a all-natural degreaser and deglosser. It evaporates and forces out the dampness that could possibly be in the wooden. This will build a sterile surface that’s all set for primer.
• Prime the cabinets. The style of primer to use is dependent on if it’s a lacquer-coated or painted surface area. Take a drawer confront or component of the cupboard to a paint store and request the expert to see what kind of area it is, and they can endorse what sort of primer to use. Utilize two skinny coats of primer and flippantly sand among each individual coat with 300-grit sandpaper.
• Spackle and caulk amongst the two coats or primer. If you have floating cupboards, do not caulk amongst the floating panels. The wood needs to increase and contract with the ordinary humidity in the dwelling, so caulking can result in the cabinets to crack.
• Last of all, apply two even coats of paint to the cupboards.
• To protect hardware on cabinets, use rubber cement. Right after portray, you can peel it off.
• If you have to have to reset hardware, significantly hand pulls, use Bondo, not wood filler. If you slam the cabinet, the wood filler plug could pop out. 

Common Faults

What is the biggest mistake property owners make when tackling any paint project?

Brian: Not getting ready a surface area appropriately. And also, not guarding other surfaces. It is awesome how the paint will splatter if you’re spray portray, or dust will waft through the dwelling. 

Make a containment procedure, and make sure to put a new filter in the HVAC procedure immediately after you’re completed to lessen dust spreading during the home. The additional you can consist of and control, the much better outcome. 

Also, cleanse amongst measures. That is exactly where a lot of dust and debris can get into a paint job and the benefits are not as good as they could be. 

Brian’s Advice

“Wizards Perform Moist:” It’s important to do the full floor though materials are moist. Have an individual reducing in as another particular person is rolling paint to keep that moist edge so the color is regular. 

Also, if you are painting with a roller, the previous stroke you do ought to be in the exact route, so you get the right sheen and the suitable effect with the shade. 

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