Brush with greatness

Thursday, May 3, 2001 | 8:36 a.m.

The first syllable in painting is pain which it is for most people when it comes to painting a house.

Gilbert Alejendre, a sales representative in the paint department of Home Depot in Henderson, says the majority of homeowners in the Las Vegas Valley hire contractors to do the work.

For do-it-yourselfers, the store has designers who will help people choose the right colors.

"I advise people on a lot of things," Alejendre, who works as a painting contractor on the side, said. "I advise on what materials to use in preparation work, what materials to use when painting, staining and refinishing."

For those who haven't noticed, the Las Vegas Valley seems to be a monochromatic ocean of beige stucco houses, and it would appear not much advice is needed on the selection of colors, as least for exteriors.

But Alejendre said there are hundreds of different earth tones 100 shades of brown, one of the most common colors.

Chuck Little, assistant manager of Dunn-Edwards Paints and Wallcoverings on East Tropicana Avenue, says the reason earth tones are so popular in the desert (besides being the preference of homeowner associations) is the extreme heat.

"Anything with a lot of red or blue fades sooner," Little said.

But Alejendre said when it comes interiors, people often are more expressive.

"We get it all. As far the colors we sell in the store, it's up to about 1,000," he said, "and we've used them all."

"Once in a while we get a request for black or dark purple.

People are using just about any color. They use different shades to accent the wall. That's what's in. People are getting away from the white walls, but there doesn't seem to be a favorite color."

He said one out of a thousand people might go to extremes when they paint the exterior of their home, using pinks, purples or blues.

"I saw one house with red trim" Alejendre said.

While the desert sun may make bright colors fade, Las Vegas' low humidity makes painting a little easier.

"Paint forms its hardness by water evaporating out of the paint," said Sam Miceli, a sales representative for Sherwin-Williams Paints, which has 10 stores in Las Vegas. "When it's hot and dry, the paint dries faster."

Another advantage to the desert is that a person can almost paint year-round.

"You don't have to deal with snow or that much rain," Miceli said.

During the hottest part of the year, paint before 11 a.m. During the cooler part of the year, paint in mid-day. Generally, 50 degrees is as cool as it should be when painting. Lower temperatures make brushing and rolling more difficult and slows the drying process.

Be prepared

Painting can be made less painful by taking the advice of experts.

"Preparation is 99 percent of the problem," Little said.

Most paint professionals agree.

"Your preparation work, most of the time, will carry over to how the paint job is done," Miceli said. "If you skim over prep work, you will spend more time at the end making corrections."

Any surface to be painted must be clean, whether interior or exterior, the pros say.

"The paint is not going to hold up if you don't scrape and wash the surface and put a primer on bare wood," Alejendre said. "Alligatoring (cracks that look like alligator skin) and flaking will result if the surface is not properly prepared, especially with the extreme weather changes."

Preparing the interior of a house includes removing anything that is removable, covering up things that can't be moved and making sure all surfaces are cleaned, repaired and smooth before you begin the painting process.

Move all the furniture to the center of the room or take it out altogether. If it can't be removed, cover the furniture with a dropcloth to protect it from dust and paint. Be sure to remove all pictures and other things hanging on the walls.

Remove all electrical switch plates, receptacle plates -- including cable TV outlets and phone jack covers. Before painting the ceiling, remove electrical fixtures or cover them. If you're planning to paint the trim and woodwork, remove window latches, doorknobs and other hardware.

If possible, cover the entire floor with a dropcloth. If not, use at least one dropcloth that can be moved from place to place while painting.

Once everything in a room is out of the way or covered, wash the walls from the bottom up to prevent streaking. Then rinse the walls with clean water and a sponge.

Use a drywall compound to fill in cracks, holes and other surface imperfections. Large cracks should be covered with Fiberglas mesh to help prevent the crack from returning later. Once the drywall compound is dry, lightly sand it smooth with a fine-grit sandpaper (150 to 200 grit).

If you are planning to paint the trim and woodwork in the room, make sure you sand it first to take the sheen or gloss off the current coat of paint. Remove any loose or flaking paint and sand the edges smooth. Using wood filler, patch any holes or gouges in the woodwork.

Finally, vacuum up the dust from the sanding steps.

Outside, wash the exterior of a house with a hose. Scrape off flaking paint. Fill in cracks with patching compound. Sand rough areas. Use an anti-fungal cleaner on mold and mildew.

Once the surface is clean, mask off areas that are not to be painted, such as along the edge of house trim and around window and door frames.

Newspaper or plastic dropcloth material may be placed over windows and doors. Use a dropcloth to cover plants, shrubs, porches, roof sections, sidewalks, driveways or other surfaces.

Painting tips

Alejendre tells his customers to paint an area of 3 to 5 square feet and then move on.

"People tend to roll up and down and they forget to roll sideways," he said. "I tell them to make the pattern of an 'm' and then roll up and down twice. And keep the roller full at all times. Don't be shy using the paint. Some people try to squeeze every drop out of a brush or roller before they refill it."

This results in an uneven distribution of the paint.

When a roller is used for most of the wall and a brush for the corners, the color may not be uniform. To help blend the brushed edges with the rolled area, work with a partner.

Start out with the brush, reaching in to tight spaces, then have someone follow close behind with the roller, overlapping the brush-painted area before the paint can start to dry.

Alejendre says not to use inexpensive, low-quality paint.

"I advise my customers to spend a couple of hundred extra dollars and get the best paint, a high-end acrylic that gives a lot better look and withstands extreme weather changes," he said. "If you use one of the better paints, it will last up to 10 years."

And he advises against oil-based paint.

"Oil-based will yellow within a year and it tends to crack," Alejendre said. "Water-based acrylic is what they use in latex paint. As far as trimming, we usually use semigloss enamel, or high-gloss for a higher sheen if you want to accent it."

Miceli said when painting stucco houses, it is not necessary to use the best-grade paint.

"Stucco is very porous and the paint soaks in," he said. "It doesn't sit on the surface. It's better to use a mid-level quality paint than the best grade."

He warns people never to stop painting in the middle of a wall.

"Always go from corner to corner," he said. "If you stop in the middle and come back the next, you will get a different sheen and a thicker layer of paint where the overlap occurs."

The trick to painting, Miceli said, is to maintain consistency in the amount of paint you apply. If thickness on the wall is uneven, it will change the sheen of the paint.

People also should be careful when choosing paint. They may get more than they bargained for.

"One thing I've noticed is some people will want a paint with a pink or a red cast to it, but if they put it throughout the house or room, it creates a Pepto-Bismol effect. It sticks out a lot more than they intended," Miceli said.

There is hope for people who dread the chore of painting.

"A few years ago Sherwin-Williams came out with a product called Duration," Miceli said. "It is guaranteed for the lifetime of a structure."

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