by Sara N | Feb 23, 2023 | Exterior Home Painting, Painting, Painting Project
… This Halloween, Your Decorations Can Have A Fresh Coat Of LOVE
Here at Imhoff Fine Residential Painting Company, we’ve been keeping a list. And you might be on that list.
(No, we’re not referring to that kind of list. If we were keeping that kind of list, and if you were possibly on it, we certainly wouldn’t refer to it.)
We’re keeping a list of all the very interesting things we’ve been privileged to paint (or stain) for our cherished customers.
We’ve painted or stained all kinds of walls and trim, every type of cabinet and stairway banister, and just about every surface you can think of, inside or outside our customers’ homes.
We’ve done lots of commercial jobs, too. Through our Paint It Forward program, we’ve put a fresh coat of LOVE on schools, community centers, and several other buildings which house worthy programs for needy folks whose causes wouldn’t usually be able to afford our services.
We even painted an historic train (as in, choo-choo) which was being restored up in the mountains! (You should see it… it’s a beaut!).
But, until recently, we’d never painted a monster. “We have a twelve-foot-tall monster in our front yard,” a caller recently told us, “and it’s looking pretty faded. We need some scary-looking green paint.”
(If you have a twelve-foot-tall monster in your yard, we thought to ourselves, paint is probably the least of your needs.)
Turns out the monster was not a live, child-and-pet-consuming menace, but a cool Halloween decoration which had faded in the sun after several years of tricking and treating the neighborhood.
“Does it come apart into pieces that will fit into the back of a pickup truck?” we asked, once we figured out what the customer was looking for.
“It does!” they said.
“Then YES! We can pick it up, bring it to our state-of-the-art spray booth, and apply a fresh coat of scary- looking LOVE to your cherished, uh, monster.”
“What about our fifteen-foot skeleton?” the caller asked. “We’ve had it out there for a few years, too, and it’s not as fresh and scary looking as it once was. If we break it down into its smaller components, can
you whiten it in your spray booth?”
“Yes, of course, it would be our pleasure to bleach your bones!” we replied.
“We also have some other little decorations that could probably use some freshening-up, like our tombstones, and this one witch we have which we usually stick to our privacy fence so it looks like she
crashed into it. You can spray those in your booth too, can’t you?”
We can. And that’s how we ended up driving down the road with a truck full of scary stuff, from a red- eyed faded green monster head to a skeleton’s leg bone, which dangled humorously off the back of the truck.
Talk about interesting painting projects!
This is definitely going to make the list.
Thanks to our spray booth, we can paint just about anything you can think of… and, as it turns out, we can paint many things you would never think would need a fresh coat of LOVE. So even if it’s just your boring old patio furniture, or some blinds in the house that need painting, one call to Imhoff Fine Residential Painting paints it all!
Image credit:Kenneth Brown / EyeEm//Getty Images
by Imhoff Painting | Apr 28, 2022 | Exterior Home Painting
DECK STAINING AND MAINTENANCE TIPS FOR THE SPRING IN DENVER METRO, CO
Your deck can be one of the nicest parts of the outdoor area of your home – a place where you can enjoy time with friends and family, whether you’re just having a nice lay about getting a tan or grilling something for dinner.
However, you should know that if you want your deck to look good over the long run, you can’t just have it made and then do nothing to keep it looking nice after you have it properly stained.
WIth both staining and maintenance, it’s good to approach it with care – for doing them well will allow you to have the deck for a long time to come.
LET’S LOOK AT SOME DECK STAINING AND MAINTENANCE TIPS FOR THE SPRING IN DENVER METRO, CO
1. CLEAN BEFORE YOU START
One thing you’re going to absolutely need to do before you start with your deck staining project is to make sure that the deck that is to be stained is as clean as possible.
This means that you are going to have to properly clean the surface of the deck being stained, but just as importantly you should remove any and all loose debris that may have come onto the deck — leaves, branches, and that sort of thing.
If you ultimately must clean the deck in a manner that gets it wet or even moist at all, you’re going to have to allow time to pass before you move on to the next step in the staining process.
2. TEST STAINS BEFORE COMMITTING TO THEM
In looking to stain your deck, you may think that you have the best idea of how it is going to look based purely on a printed slip of paper, but this is not at all the case.
Indeed, your best bet for having a stain that is going to look exactly how you’re going to want it to look involves getting small samples of the stain as well as wood that is like that which makes up your deck – applying this stain to the wood will let you have a good idea of how the stain will really look.
3. BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR DAMAGE
In looking to keep your deck looking good, you should keep an eye out for damage that might have occurred to it before it gets worse and makes it so that you have to do more complicated forms of repair later on.
The ways that a deck can get damaged are quite numerous, but they could be anything from something falling onto the deck during normal use to normal wood rot that can happen over time to even a good solid branch landing on the deck and causing a little damage that might not go noticed unless you look for it.
If it does turn out that there is sufficient damage that a whole deck plank needs to be replaced, you should be sure to get a piece of wood that matches the kind of wood that originally made up the deck.
4. SAND BEFORE YOU STAIN
Lastly, you should know that in an effort to make your deck look better, you should properly sand the surface that is going to be stained well before you apply the first coat of stain.
The reason that this is as important as it is comes from the fact that when you have a smoother surface, it’s considerably easier to apply the stain – and in a sense, the stain is also taken by the deck better, as it were.
It’s key that you should clean the sanding dust from the area before you stain – you wouldn’t want dust mixed in with the stain sticking to your deck.
DON’T SETTLE FOR JUST ANY PAINTER WHEN YOU CAN GET THE ATTENTION TO DETAIL AND PROFESSIONALISM FROM IMHOFF FINE RESIDENTIAL PAINTING IN DENVER METRO, CO. CALL US TODAY TO SPEAK WITH ONE OF OUR PROFESSIONAL COLOR CONSULTANTS.
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by dybvirtual | Mar 13, 2022 | Exterior Home Painting
Porch Painting Tips in Denver Metro, CO
In looking at the overall condition of your home, you may come to eventually realize that just as you can have a better looking house when you paint either the exterior or the interior, you can focus on certain parts of your exterior to improve upon their look.
Some people, for example, will have a look at a well constructed wooden porch and say that it looks the best exactly the way that it is, but maybe just stained a bit to protect it and to enhance the natural beauty of the material.
Others will opt to paint the porch and will want to use a color that is distinct from the exterior of the house – perhaps one that is going to complement or even contrast with the color or colors that you find on the exterior of the house.
When you want to paint your porch it’s useful to do so in a constructive manner and to take advantage of the information that you can gather regarding how to do it best.
Let’s take a look at some porch painting tips in Denver Metro, CO
1. Check the Weather
Since you’re going to be painting outside, you’re going to want to have a good look at the weather and make sure that the weather is right for such a paint project.
For example, you are not going to want to paint outside when the weather is too cold or too hot, but rather a more moderate temperature so that
It’s also important that you don’t think about painting if it’s raining or snowing outside – though of course, the snow will be immediately understandable due to the temperature, you won’t want to paint when it’s raining because the paint will be quite sensitive to a moist surface.
2. Use The Right Kind Of Paint
You’re likely to already know this, but there are quite a lot of paints that you’re going to be able to use when you’re painting your porch, but only a few of them are going to be actually proper.
You’ll need to start with making sure that the paint that you use is meant for being used for the exterior of your home, but also ideally that you will make use of a paint that is right for the sort of material that makes up your porch.
You’ll also want to take into consideration the kind of weather that you’ll expect to see in your area and base your paint choice on this – there are paints that are better for resisting moisture, for example.
3. Sand Before You Paint
You may not realize it but part of the painting process is ensuring that the surface that you are painting is as smooth as possible.
One thing that you will be able to do to get a smoother porch to paint is to sand, and this will involve getting either an electric or manual sander and sanding the surface that is going to be painted gently until you achieve a smooth surface.
Once you have finished sanding, you will want to remove the sanding dust from the porch that comes about from the sanding process as it isn’t something you want to get in your paint and get it dirty.
4. Allow Time To Dry
In painting your porch there will be a few steps wherein you will get the surface moist, so to speak – like when you clean the porch and it is slightly moist after you have washed it.
You need to wait after each of these steps before you move on to the next step because there are few things that ruin a paint job quite like having a moist surface.
Don’t settle for just any painter when you can get the attention to detail and professionalism from Imhoff Fine Residential Painting in Denver Metro, CO. Call us today to speak with one of our professional color consultants.
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by dybvirtual | Dec 25, 2021 | Exterior Home Painting
7 Exterior Painting Tips To Consider in Denver Metro, CO
There are few painting projects that have the scope of an exterior painting project – given that the size of your home on the outside is considerably larger than the surfaces you will find in any given interior room, this makes sense.
If you come to an exterior painting project well prepared both with the equipment that you need, the necessary consumable supplies (paint and more) and have the knowledge necessary to get the work done, you will find that the overall project will go much better and smoother – and smooth is a word that counts for a lot in painting!
Let’s now look at and consider seven exterior painting tips to consider in Denver Metro, CO
1. Paint For The Weather
In painting the exterior of your home, one thing that you should bear in mind is the weather you’re going to be facing over the course of the year and how that’s going to affect your house.
Accordingly, you should make use of paint that is going to be better against certain weather elements that are common in your area – there are paints that are better suited when it snows often (as it does in the winter in Denver) and other paints that provide protection against extreme sun exposure.
2. Consider The Weather When Painting
Speaking of the weather, you should also take the weather into consideration when you’re thinking about what time of the year you are going to want to paint your home.
If it’s too hot outside, for example, paint will dry too quickly and you won’t want that — but you also don’t want it so cold that it takes a long time for your paint to dry.
Aim for a more moderate temperature and try to paint during the time of the day when the sun isn’t beating down right upon you to make it a more pleasant painting project.
3. Make A Painting Schedule
It’s important to make the time to plan out your painting schedule.
As will be explained below, you will have to allow a good amount of time for surfaces to dry so you should think about how long it will actually take you to paint or prepare a certain part of your exterior being painted, and then leave plenty of time for the surface to dry.
In doing so you will be better prepared overall for your painting project and know how long it is going to take.
4. Clean Before You Paint
On the note of preparation, you should make sure that the exterior surface of your home is cleaned quite well before you paint it.
A good surface to be painted should be properly clean as it helps to make sure that the paint adheres to the surface being painted and it contributes to an overall uniform look.
5. Protect Your Plants
In painting the exterior of your home you may not realize that you are putting your plants in a perilous position as you are painting but this is very much the case.
It’s a good idea to see how you can protect your plants — sometimes something as simple as a plastic sheet can help get them protected, and if you know you will be covering them for longer periods you should mist them with water.
6. Take Care Of Your Pets
We love our pets and want them to be well but during an exterior painting project we need to make sure that they are safe and that the house doesn’t get an accidental extra dose of paint on it.
Keep your pets indoors during the hours when you are painting or at least keep them well leashed so they don’t run around and possibly knock over painting supplies.
7. Allow Time For Surfaces To Dry
Lastly, remember that one simple way to utterly ruin a painting project is to try to paint over a wet surface.
Whether you’ve just cleaned your home’s exterior or you have applied one coat of paint and need to apply a second, make sure you allow the surfaces to dry before you move on to the next step in the process.
Don’t settle for just any painter when you can get the attention to detail and professionalism from Imhoff Fine Residential Painting in Denver Metro, CO. Call us today to speak with one of our professional color consultants.
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by dybvirtual | Dec 20, 2021 | Exterior Home Painting
5 Brick Painting Mistakes To Avoid When Painting Your Home Exterior in Denver Metro, CO
In painting the exterior of your home, it’s entirely possible that you’re going to notice that there is quite a bit of a difference between how things are when you are painting a home with a brick exterior versus painting the exterior when it is made of other materials.
It’s important to note that if you make certain painting mistakes in painting your brick exterior, you are very likely to suffer as a result and may ultimately cost you a lot to repair both in terms of time and money.
However, by avoiding these mistakes you can be sure that you’re not going to have at least some of these issues down the line.
Let’s look at five brick painting mistakes to avoid when painting your home exterior in Denver Metro, CO
1. Not Removing Mold First
One big mistake that people tend to make when they are looking to paint the brick exterior of their home is to not make the effort and time to remove the mold that may be sitting there on the surface.
Though some would have you believe that there is nothing wrong with leaving the mold on and that having even just a touch of mold on there is no big deal since you’re going to be painting anyhow, this is definitely not the case and you should be aware that all you’re really doing by this is setting yourself up for a long term failure on the exterior of your home.
Make the time to remove that mold and you will find that the paint job ultimately will look significantly better as a result.
2. Not Cleaning The Area At All
Next up in the perilous mistakes that a person might make while looking to paint their brick home exterior is that of not even trying to clean the area around where they are going to be painting.
The thing about home exteriors that needs to be understood is that whatever is in the area when you are trying to paint has a good chance of making its way onto your home exterior, depending on how well the grounds are protected, so to speak.
By cleaning the area, you are going to be doing right by your painting work in that you won’t have as much of a chance of having these things end up on the surface of your paint work.
3. Skipping The Primer Coat
In preparing to paint your home exterior, you should know that there’s a rather key part of getting the surface of your brick exterior ready to be painted and that is applying a coat of primer.
Making use of a coat of primer is a good way to ensure that your home’s exterior surface is more smooth and has the proper adhesion for the subsequent coats of paint.
4. Not Allowing Coats To Dry
In the world of painting your home exterior, there are as you may know more than one coat of paint and at least one coat of primer that will be applied to the surface.
If you want to make sure that things go well with your painting project, you have to make sure that you allow each coat to fully dry before you move on to the next step in the process.
5. Using The Wrong Kind Of Paint
Lastly, one of the biggest mistakes that people will sometimes find themselves making is just using the absolutely wrong kind of painting for painting their brick exterior.
There are so many kinds of paint that you can use for a brick exterior but there are also paints you should not be using – avoid using these paints (that are not meant for brick) if you want the paintwork to go well.
Don’t settle for just any painter when you can get the attention to detail and professionalism from Imhoff Fine Residential Painting in Denver Metro, CO. Call us today to speak with one of our professional color consultants.
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by dybvirtual | Sep 17, 2021 | Exterior Home Painting
7 Professional Vinyl Siding Painting Tips in Denver Metro, CO
There are many kinds of exteriors that you’re going to be able to find in your home, ranging from wood paneling to brick to even vinyl siding.
As vinyl siding exploded in popularity due to how easy it is to apply, people sometimes find themselves wondering how they can also keep it looking good via a semi-regular painting.
Let’s now look at and consider seven professional vinyl siding painting tips in Denver Metro, CO.
1. Wait For Proper Weather
The first thing you should know about painting the exterior of your vinyl-sided house is that you have to wait for the weather to be just right before you start the painting process.
This means that the weather should not be too warm that the paint would dry too quickly (which leads to painting problems) and it also should be not too cold (same!).
Rather, it should be a good ‘in between’ temperature that will allow the paint to dry at a good pace — and in any case, you should not paint while it is raining or if it has just rained (more on dry surfaces in a bit!).
2. Clean It Well
A well-painted home exterior starts with one that is clean, and this means that you have to take the time to clean your home exterior and checking to make sure that you get rid of all of the mold and mildew, and other grime that may stick to your home exterior.
Though some may want to skip this entirely and just try to paint over the problem areas, you can rest assured that this is not going to benefit you ultimately – you’re going to have a dirty house that has paint on top.
3. Allow Time To Dry
The surface of your home has to be fully dry after you clean it – water and the primer that you’re going to apply to the home surface do not get along well, to say the least.
If you’ve ever seen the exterior of a home that has bubbles all over the paintwork, one way that this comes about is from not allowing surfaces to dry.
4. Primer Before You Paint
Before you apply the first coat of paint, you’re going to want to apply a coat of primer – it’s not really as much of an optional thing as some may suggest.
This is because the paint will adhere to a surface with primer much better than one without primer — primer is quite adhesive and keeps it adhered for a longer period of time.
5. Allow Primer To Dry As Well
You’re going to need to allow the primer to dry just the same way that you would allow the surface of your home to dry after cleaning.
Here too if you don’t allow the primer to dry there will be problems, just that there will be somewhat different problems – you can find yourself getting a primer on your brush coming off as you’re trying to apply the first coat of paint.
It bears mentioning that you are going to have to allow the first coat of paint to dry before you paint the second coat of paint if it turns out a second coat is even necessary.
6. Protect Areas Where You Are Painting
When you’re painting the exterior of your home you have to make sure to protect the ground near where you are painting.
Doing so ensures that you don’t find yourself with paint or primer or the like dripping down onto your yard.
7. Sometimes A Second Coat Is Needed
Lastly, you should know that it may be necessary to apply a second coat of paint to the exterior of your home if the first coat doesn’t cut it, so to speak.
You will know when the first coat has dried if a second coat will be necessary.
Don’t settle for just any painter when you can get the attention to detail and professionalism from Imhoff Fine Residential Painting in Denver Metro, CO. Call us today to speak with one of our professional color consultants.
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