7 Exterior Power Washing Mistakes To Avoid in Denver Metro, CO
When you have some cleaning to do on the exterior of your home, there are many ways and techniques that you can use to make it happen but some are considerably more efficient than others.
With power washing being one of the best ways to clean your home exterior, it’s noteworthy that there are also ways to err in the process and possibly cause extreme damage to your property or worse… injury to yourself or others.
Let’s now look at seven exterior power washing mistakes to avoid in Denver Metro, CO.
1. Leaving Your Plants Unprotected
Your plants are sensitive, especially to things such as water comes out at a tremendous amount of pressure, as well as some of the cleaners that are often used in power washing.
Instead of power washing with your plants unprotected (which may lead to their getting damaged or possibly destroyed), make the time to cover your plants during the power washing process — after gently sprinkling the plants with some water to keep them moist — with a bit of plastic covering.
This will ensure that the plants are kept okay during the washing process.
2. Too Much Pressure Applied
You may be well aware of the fact that the way that power washers work is by shooting out water with a greater pressure such that it is able to clean surfaces quite well with considerably less water used.
However, when you are cleaning there are different pressures which you can set your washer and there are some which will be just too strong for certain surfaces.
Particularly strong streams can even punch holes in the surfaces you try to wash, so it is worth starting with a lower pressure before moving on to higher pressures.
3. Trying To Clean Your Tile Roof
In the world of power washing, one major mistake that people make in starting out is to think that just about anything can be cleaned with their power washer.
This is often not the case as can be demonstrated by the many tile roofs that are damaged by the use of pressure washing — it seems like a good idea in principles but too often, a little too much pressure is used and tiles are blown entirely off the roof.
The better thing to do is to use a less powerful washer for the roof, perhaps even a simple garden hose — this will not damage your roof the way a power washer can.
4. Painted Surfaces Care
If you are considering washing a painted surface, it’s worth noting how long it has been since the surface was painted — and if it was painted a while ago and has seen a lot of sun, reconsider using pressure washing on it.
The issue with washing older painted surfaces is that you can loosen or remove paint entirely if it has been there long enough or has had enough exposure to the sun.
5. Starting From The Bottom
Another mistake that is commonly made is in cleaning homes from the bottom rather than starting from the top.
When you wash the top of your home, the dirt pretty much has nowhere to go but down… and if you’ve already washed the bottom of your home, you’re just going to be getting it dirty all over again.
6. Not Using Any Detergent
Though your power washer is going to do a lot of good just through the pressure that it uses, but making good use of detergent is an important part of the cleaning process.
With a good detergent, you can really get some of the grime off of the surfaces, and you can then rinse off with plain water.
7. Using Hot Water
Lastly please make sure that you do not even consider using hot water with your home pressure washer — for even though it is a common practice in commercial cleaning, it’s not something you should do with home cleaning.
Hot water in home cleaning can damage your equipment, quite possibly, or the surfaces that you are looking to clean — better to stay safe with colder water.
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.
7 Tips For Painting Bathroom Cabinets in Denver Metro, CO
When you’re looking to make your bathroom look better, one area where you might want to look is the cabinets — after all, they’re the right thing for storing your bathroom needs and supplies, and if they don’t look good your whole bathroom suffers.
You may not realize it, but you don’t have to replace your bathroom cabinets if you don’t like their look — though there are some instances in which this is the best route (notably, when the cabinets are more or less falling apart and just need to be replaced.)
Painting your cabinets is a good alternative to replacing them when possible, and you might even end up with cabinets that look significantly better than before.
Let’s look at seven tips for painting bathroom cabinets in Denver Metro, CO.
1. Having The Right Kind Of Paint
You might be already aware that when you are painting an interior surface, there’s going to be a different paint that you’re going to use than if you were to paint an exterior surface.
That being the case, there are actually interior paints that are more appropriate for some rooms than others — and for painting your bathroom cabinets, a paint that is mold and mildew resistant is best.
This is because of the higher amount of moisture that can be found in a bathroom at any given point in time.
2. Choosing An Appropriate Color
You of course would want to make sure that you are going to have the right color for your bathroom cabinets, but how can you be sure that you’ve chosen a good color other than painting and then seeing how it looks?
A way for you to achieve this best is to get some small samples of paint and to paint a little bit of the cabinets — and to allow it to dry, of course.
This way, you can see how the color will look on the cabinets — and not just at that moment but you can check back at different times of the day in a variety of lighting conditions.
3. Wait For Dry Surfaces
In the process of painting just about anything, you aren’t going to want to paint or do really anything over top wet surfaces — for this will be bad for the end painting result.
The best thing that you can do is to make sure to wait for surfaces to dry before moving on to the next step.
4. Do Not Paint Too Quickly
As long as a painting project can be, you might be tempted to try painting more quickly — this would be a mistake, however, and to do this would likely cause the painting project to ultimately take longer.
This is because you are likely to make more mistakes when you paint more quickly — and these mistakes would then have to be corrected.
5. Ventilation Is Key
In just about any painting project, you’re going to have to have good ventilation.
This is also the case when you are painting your bathroom cabinets, and could come in the form of having the windows open to get some fresh air in as well as get the fumes from the paint out, and having the door or doors open as well.
6. Clean Before Painting
Before you start the painting process, you should take the time to clean the area near where you are going to paint as well as to clean the cabinets themselves.
This is because a well cleaned surface is better painted than one that is dirty.
7. Smooth Surfaces Are Necessary
Lastly, you should be aware that if you want your bathroom cabinet paint job to go smoothly… you’re going to need to have a smooth surface.
There are a number of ways to ensure a smooth surface — sanding, for example, and also using primer prior to applying the first coat of paint.
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.
5 Environmentally Friendly Curb Appeal Improvements in Denver Metro, CO
When you’re looking to improve the look of the exterior of your home, you might think about things like the overall curb appeal, and what that means — the way that a person is going to perceive your home from the distance of the curb.
One element that some people don’t think about when they are working on improving their curb appeal is the impact that they are going to have on the environment — but there are ways that you can boost your curb appeal while being friendly to the environment.
With that being the case, let’s look at and consider five environmentally friendly curb appeal improvements in Denver Metro, CO.
1. Better Lighting For Your Porch
The porch is a place where people tend to like to spend time and if you are looking to boost your curb appeal while having the environment in mind, you’re going to want to consider replacing the light bulbs that you have on your porch, and possibly even the whole lighting system.
The thing about older lighting systems is that they tend to use a lot more electricity than newer systems, and with light bulbs you are looking at basically the same thing — bulbs that are newer tend to last longer and use less electricity as well — and sometimes can even still be just as bright or even brighter!
2. Walkway Made From Recycled Or Reused Materials
If you don’t have a walkway, you can take this opportunity to get a walkway leading to one of your doors that is not only attractive but also made of materials that previously served another purpose.
There are people who will take broken pieces of clay pots (meant for exterior gardening, that is) and will turn that shattered clay into pieces of their walkway.
By doing this you are not only boosting your curb appeal, you are doing so in an environmentally friendly manner.
3. Trimming The Trees
One of the more simple ways that you can boost your curb appeal while at the same time being friendly to the environment is to trim your trees.
Believe it or not, your trees do require periodic trimming, and if there is one thing that is not so pleasant to look at it is trees that are allowed to be unkempt — it is pretty quick for people to look at such a house and think that there’s something wrong with it based on just the appearance of the trees.
4. Cleaning The Roof
Another thing that you can do to boost your curb appeal is to clean your roof — and this is not only healthy as far as improving your curb appeal, it also will help the overall health of your home.
It is said that if you have certain accumulations on your roof, it’s entirely possible that over time those accumulations will eat away at your roof (depending on what kind of materials they are that have accumulated on the roof) and then allow rainwater and snow to drip directly into your home!
Better to make it a habit to either clean or have someone clean your roof so that you don’t encounter such problems.
5. Food Instead Of Lawn
Lastly, think about the possibility that instead of having a purely grass driven lawn, you make some plots of land available for growing things like fruits and vegetables.
For doing this is not only good in terms of the aesthetics, but it is also really good for the environment — if you think about it, growing grass is one of the most inefficient ways that you can make use of a plot of land.
True, grass does have its uses but food has even more uses and can be quite good as it provides food and looks nice at the same time.
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.
7 Ways To Update Your Kitchen On A Budget in Denver Metro, CO
When you have a kitchen that looks supremely dated, there are many things that you can do to make it look better — but if budget is a concern, you may be concerned that it will be difficult if not impossible to improve it.
The good thing you should know is that it’s entirely possible to update the look of your kitchen without spending a lot of money.
With that being the case, let’s now look at seven ways to update your kitchen on a budget in Denver Metro, CO.
1. Accent Wall
An accent wall can be a great way to make your kitchen look that much better and it doesn’t come at a great cost.
What’s really nice about a good accent wall is that it can be the kind that is made of cloth if you want, or even just painting the wall a different color than the other walls.
2. Crown Molding
Crown molding is a good update to your kitchen cabinets, and it doesn’t have to come at a great cost to you.
Crown molding can come from a number of places, but there are good stores where you can get crown molding that perhaps was less popular and so come to you for a better price.
3. Hardware From A Thrift Store
One simple way that you can update the look of your kitchen is to entirely change the hardware that you have on your kitchen cabinets.
Though you might think that getting new hardware for your kitchen cabinets necessarily means that you’re going to have to spend a good amount of money, this is not at all the case.
There are many places that you can get hardware for your kitchen cabinets for a really good price — places like thrift stores and in some cases even antique stores, where good deals can be had.
4. Replacing The Faucet
Another excellent way of updating the look of your kitchen without spending a lot of money is to replace the faucet that you have in the kitchen with a better one — or even one that is just about the same, just a less worn down version.
This can save you money in two ways — for one, you might save a good amount of money in that your newer sink might be better at not wasting money than the old faucet.
Additionally, your newer faucet will make for a nice boost in the value of your kitchen, which will be better in the long run as you might eventually consider selling your home.
5. Puck Lights
One thing that you can reliably count on in terms of improving the look of your kitchen is an improvement of the lighting — but lighting can be one of the more costly aspects of improving any room such as a kitchen.
One way that you can up your lighting game without spending a lot of money is to get so-called puck lights, which are usually called this because of how they look like little hockey pucks.
They can go under your kitchen cabinets and will add light there, easily turning on and off with a tap and sometimes not even needing an external power source (but rather needing batteries — but rechargeable batteries are good for this.)
6. Stencils For Cabinets
A nice way that you can get your kitchen cabinets to look better without even having a lick of artistic ability is to buy special stencils that fit over the front of one of the cabinet doors, and painting what is on the stencil.
What it really means is that you’ll be adding a nice image to your cabinets at a fairly low cost.
7. Removing A Couple Of Cabinet Doors
Lastly, an interesting way that you can update your kitchen is to simply remove the cabinet doors from your kitchen cabinet.
It’s something that’s relatively simple, not too difficult to doo, and best of all basically won’t cost you anything — and can improve the look of your kitchen.
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.
7 Mistakes You Should Avoid Cleaning Your Roof in Denver Metro, CO
Your roof is something you often take for granted, but you can immediately come to realize how important it is the moment it fails you — if you find yourself with rainwater dripping on your head while you are in the living room, the urgency of a good roof will be quite clear.
It is therefore quite essential that you take the time to make sure that you clean the roof, but when you do so to try to avoid making some rather bad (yet avoidable) mistakes that could jeopardize the good health of the roof.
Let’s now look at and consider seven mistakes you should avoid cleaning your roof in Denver Metro, CO.
1. Standing On Your Roof
This is not a general principle — there are many circumstances in which it is perfectly okay for you to stand on your roof — but given what you will be doing (cleaning your roof) it may be just a little too dangerous for you to try standing up there while cleaning.
Granted, there are also safety precautions you can take to make sure that it’s okay for you to stand up there but generally speaking, it is a lot better if you clean the roof from a ladder or even a well built scaffolding system.
True, the latter is a bit costly but if you are deep cleaning your roof it may be worth doing.
2. Using A Power Washer For Your Tiled Roofs
It’s entirely possible that you’ve seen some videos in which you see someone taking a power washer and their sidewalks go from one color to another — and you think that’s great, I should do that to my filthy roof!
This is not a good idea — indeed, there’s a possibility that you could damage your roof and with a tiled roof you might even get some of the tiles to fully come off and get destroyed.
3. Cleaning The Roof When It’s Too Sunny
Though of course there are many things that you can do when it is sunny out but if you have plans to clean your roof, it’s better to wait for an overcast day.
This is because your typical roof cleaning chemicals will have substances in them that, if exposed to direct sunlight, might evaporate more quickly than necessary for the chemicals to take hold and clean your roof.
4. Ignoring Your Gutters
While it is true that the primary thing that you are set to do when you are cleaning your roof is to, well, clean your roof — you should not ignore your gutters.
You should at the very least give your gutters a once over while you are up and cleaning your roof and making sure that nothing needs to be done further to clean them — that they are in good enough condition to not have to at the very least make a plan to eventually clean them.
5. Not Protecting Your Plants
The very same chemicals that you are going to use to clean your roof might harm your plants if you aren’t careful and protect them.
The best thing you can do is to take some plastic material and after misting the plants to keep them moist, cover them to keep them safe from the chemical cleaners.
6. Not Trying Different Cleaners For Roofs That Need Deeper Cleaning
If you find that your roof is so dirty that the light cleaning that you are doing is not working, it’s a mistake to try the same cleaning techniques.
Rather, it’s far better to look at deeper techniques that you can use to clean the roof.
7. Not Wearing Protective Gear
Lastly, make sure that when you are cleaning your roof, you are wearing the right protective gear — things for your hands (your hands can easily get cut based on what’s on there…) as well as your eyes and even heavy boots.
Though it may seem burdensome, it is far better than not wearing such equipment and then getting hurt.
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.
