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Don’t rent spraying equipment that isn’t well maintained. A first-rate rental company will size the pump to your job, recommend spray tips, and explain how everything works. For good measure, ask for an operator’s manual, too. Finally, get satisfactory answers to these questions: (1) Is the equipment clean? Rental companies charge extra if equipment is […]

In recent years, spray-painting equipment has become much easier to operate and maintain. Spraying is most appropriate where you’ve gota whole house to paint or where surfaces are ornate (gingerbread trim), multifaceted (shin­gles), textured (stucco), or otherwise difficult to cover with a brush or roller. Spraying is also smarter when you need to apply numerous […]

Ladders and scaffolding are essential for many painting jobs. For more on them, see Chapter 3. MASKS AND CARTRIDGES Disposable paper masks will keep out sanding dust, but you need a filtered mask when spraying paints or applying chemical strippers. For any task involving leaded paint, wear a full-face respi­rator mask with replaceable HEPA (purple) […]

Before heading for the paint store, calculate the square footage of surfaces to be painted. Then compare those figures with the coverage figures listed on the paint containers. Unless a wall is preponderantly glass, don’t bother to subtract the square footage of windows and glass doors from your total. You’ll eventually need the extra paint […]

Whether you’re painting exterior or interior sur­faces, latex paints are probably the best bet. The next sections explain why. Two essential definitions. ► Oil-based paints and stains may contain linseed oil, tung oil, or synthetic resins called alkyds. Because alkyds are the most common "oil" in oil-based paints, professionals often use the term alkyd instead […]

Painting is probably the most popular reno­vation task because its effects are immediate and striking. For not much money or effort, you can get a complete change of scenery and heart. If you own a few basic tools, your costs will be lim­ited to the few tools you’ll need to rent and the paint you […]

There are several ways to construct false beams. Two are shown here. The first is to make a ladder frame (imagine a ladder set horizontally) clad with finish boards. This type, shown below, runs perpendicular to ceiling joists so its top board can be screwed to them; end-nail "ladder rungs” to the top board before […]

Crown molding dresses up the wall-ceiling joint, as do its fancy cousins cornices, which are formed from several boards. Crown molding can be as simple as a single piece of shaped trim angled along the corners of the ceiling, or you can pair it with a backing trim to ensure a solid nailing sur­face, which […]

As noted in "The Case for Not Leveling Trim,” on p. 415, baseboard and crown molding should follow floors and ceilings, rather than level lines projected across the walls. If floors and ceilings are level, fine. Otherwise, leveled trim next to out-of-level surfaces is glaringly obvious. INSTALLING BASEBOARDS Install the finish floors first, with a […]

Lightly sand and prime the stool, including its underside and ends to prevent its absorbing moisture from condensation or driving rains. After the paint is thoroughly dry, apply water­proof glue to the underside of the stool, level it, and nail it to the rough sill using two or three 6d galvanized finish nails. Try not […]