5 Steps To Properly Stain Your Wooden Fence in Colleyville, TX

When you have a wooden fence and are looking to improve the look, one thing you might consider is either painting or staining it.

Both have their benefits, but for those that like the look of the grain of their wooden fence, staining the fence is the superior way to go about doing it.

There are ways that you can go about staining your wooden fence such that the look of the fence is considerably improved and the stain job lasts longer

With that being the case, here are five steps to properly stain your wooden fence in Colleyville, TX.

1. Examine The Fence For Issues That Need Correcting

The fence first needs to be first scrutinized for any kind of defect that may be present that would cause a problem with the staining process.
The kinds of problems that you may have are small holes where there had been nails or even areas where you can find imperfections due to pieces of fence that are missing.
If you happen to find these areas, you are going to have to sand appropriate areas and also fix and remove that which needs to be removed.

2. Clean The Fence
A dirty fence is a fence that you're not going to be able to stain -- can you just imagine a layer of dirt or dust that is on top of your wooden fence and then trying to apply a coat of stain to it?
All you would do is stain the dirt instead of staining the fence.
There are a few ways you can go about cleaning your fence, one of which is that you can take a wood cleaner and apply it over the surface of the fence.
You can then clean off the dirt and grime with water and a good use of a brush and what some people might refer to as elbow grease.
Alternatively, if you have access to a power washer you can use one to really get the dirt off of your fence -- you will want to be careful not to be too close to the fence or use too strong of a setting as it is possible to damage the fence.

3. Prepare The Work Area
The next thing you're going to want to do is to prepare your staining work area.
Specifically, what you're going to want to do is to make sure that you have the right amount of stain available to stain the fence and that you also have some protective equipment for the area around your fence prior to staining.
One important thing that you would want to have is some kind of heavy drop cloth or weighted tarp to protect the ground and your home from the staining process.
The reason you will want to consider weighted tarps or a heavy drop cloth is that other materials that cover the ground might shift around as you are walking.​
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4. Stain The Fence
Now you are ready to stain the fence -- you can apply a coat of stain to your wooden fence.
You will have to allow your stain to dry if you are planning on applying more than one coat of the stain.
It is good to know that the more coats of stain you apply, the darker and deeper the color of the stain that you are applying.

​5. Give The Fence Time To Dry
The last thing you'll want to do is to give your fence adequate time to rest, or dry.
It's important that you do this, even if you are planning on adding more coats of stain, because you don't want to inadvertently remove layers of stain as you are attempting to add coats of stain.
The period of drying is going to be at least a full day but it could be up to two days depending on what kind of weather you're having and how humid things are in your area.

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Need some advice on a project in Colleyville, TX? Illuminate Painting can help you with your painting needs. Schedule an estimate or call us at (325) 305-6005.

7 Helpful Hints for Exterior Paint Prep in Grapevine, TX

When you are looking to paint the exterior of your home, you should know that you are undertaking a sizable project, one that won't just take a day or two but rather at least three to four days, and that's when you have a couple of people helping you with it.
It's also extremely useful to have a bit of knowledge on your side as it were, some practical advice that will guide you through the process of painting the exterior of your home.

With that in mind, here are seven helpful hints for exterior paint prep in Grapevine, TX.

1. Know Where Your Ladders Will Go

A major way that people get injured is to fall off of a ladder -- it can be something that can really hurt a person if they are to fall off of it.
A reason that this happens is that ladders aren't properly placed and/ or are not held in place by someone helping the person that goes up the ladder to paint.
If you start out by at least knowing where you are going to be putting your ladder, you will be able to know how to properly secure it when you are painting the higher parts of the exterior of your home.

2. Be Aware Of How Much Paint You Will Need

If there's one thing that wastes time, it's running out of your supplies and then needing to go out and get more of them.
Paint, for example -- if you run out of paint before you are finished painting the exterior of your home, you will need to get more of it.
The best way to prevent this from happening, of course, is to be well aware in advance how much paint you will be needing for your exterior painting project.
If you need to figure out how much paint you will need for a given exterior painting project, it's just a matter of calculating how many square feet of wall you have and, based on that, how much paint you will need.
The kind of exterior you have will also have an influence on how much paint you will need as different kinds of surface require more or less paint.

3. Move Anything That Can Be Moved

When you are painting the exterior of your home, you need to make sure that anything outside of your home that isn't your actual home exterior doesn't get painted.
If it's possible to move things, relocate them so that they won't possibly get any paint on them -- make sure that you have a place to put them.

4. Cover Anything That Cannot Be Moved Or Easily Cleaned

When you have things outside of your home that cannot be so easily moved (like a bed of roses, for example) you are best off covering those things so that those things don't get paint splattered onto them.
It's a lot easier to clean or dispose of a tarp than to try to remove paint from the surface of a rose, certainly.

5. Take Care Of The Pets So They Don't Get Hurt (Or Worse)

When you have a small furry friend -- whether that means you have an energetic puppy that loves to run around or even a happy cat that likes to get out on occasion, it's important to take measures so that they do not get hurt... or worse.
What this means is that you need to take measures to ensure that your pet remains indoors during the entire painting project from beginning to end, with exception being if you need to take a dog out for a walk -- but with good leash control, you can avoid the hazards that exist outside.
Just the possibility of a leash wrapping around one of your paint buckets and spreading the paint inside everywhere or even tugging down on the ladder... should get you thinking that you need to properly prepare and know how to best take care of your friend during the paint project.

6. Scraping And Sanding

If this isn't the first paint job on the house you're going to see loose and flaking paint in some areas.
The best thing you can do for this is to scrape the loose paint off and to properly sand those areas such that the surface of your house is even.

7. Prime Before Painting

It's important that you prime before you paint your house -- this means that you put on a coat of primer before you apply the first coat of paint -- and there is almost always more than one coat of paint.
The primer is useful as it helps the paint adhere to the exterior of your home.

Need some advice on a project? Illuminate Painting can help you with your painting needs. Schedule an estimate or call us at (325) 305-6005.

7 Things You Should Know About Using Spray paint in Southlake, TX


When you're painting your home, whether it is the interior or the exterior of your home, you might look for things to help you get the job done better.
Some would suggest that you could have a better time with your home painting if you use spray paint in order to paint your home.
There are some pros and cons to using spray paint when you're painting, which are good to bear in mind.

​With that in mind, let us look at and consider seven things you should know about using spray paint in Southlake, TX


1. There Is Special Paint For Painting Plastic

Though typically, it's not possible to paint plastic using spray paint, this is the case only with your typical spray paint.
There are spray paints that are specially made for painting plastics, which is a good thing if you are for example looking to paint a plastic fence.

2. Spray paint May Cost Less Over The Long Run

There are those who will tell you that spray painting is a bad idea because it costs more money than traditional buckets of paint.
This doesn't take into consideration the fact that time is an asset as well, and when you paint your home (your interior or exterior) with spray paint, it takes considerably less time to do so.
That being the case, it therefore costs less depending of course on how much you time is worth, so to speak.

3. Fifty Percent Overlap Is Ideal

As you paint with spray paint, you will end up overlapping to some extent -- the less you overlap, the greater the odds are that you will have some areas with heavier and some lighter coverage.
If you have a fifty percent overlap, on the other hand, and are able to consistently keep it that way, you will have a better paint job overall.

4. Parallel Moves Are Better Than Swinging Arcs

It may seem like a perfectly natural thing to swing your arm in a sort of arc as you are painting the interior or exterior of your home.
This will inevitably lead to some parts of your paint job being much more heavy in coverage, and others being considerably lighter.
The better approach is to do a consistent parallel movement as you are doing your interior or exterior paint job.

5. Prime Before Painting

Yes, it is necessary to even prime when it comes to spray painting your home interior or exterior.
There are spray paint primers that are available, and it is advisable to prime before you paint, even when you are spray painting.

6. Don't Spray Paint When It Is Too Cold

The ideal temperature range for painting with spray paint is between sixty and eighty or so degrees Fahrenheit.
Too low of a temperature and you will find that your paint will bubble -- and even worse, it's entirely possible that the paint will quite literally freeze on the surface of what you are painting, and that is not going to be good for any paint job.

7. Don't Go Cheap On Spray Paint

​If you find your spray paint in the dollar spot of your local store, you're very likely going to have a bad time when you are painting.
Such spray painting is bound to lead to bubbling in your coats of paint.
It's quite possible to correct bubbling once it occurs but it would be best to avoid them entirely.
You will do yourself a favor if you skip the cheap spray paint section entirely and go for only the kinds of spray paints that are more recommended by your local paint store or recommended online.​
  
​Need some advice on a project? Illuminate Painting can help you with your painting needs. Schedule an estimate or call us at (325) 305-6005.

7 Tips and Tricks For Painting Over Wallpaper in Coppell, TX

When you are looking to paint the interior walls of your home, you will on occasion come across walls that have wallpaper on them.

There is of course the option to remove the wallpaper entirely, but in some cases it is actually better to paint over the wallpaper than to try to remove it.

Specifically, if you have difficulty removing the wallpaper you might just find it easier to paint over it.

With that being the case, let us now look at seven tips and tricks for painting over wallpaper in Coppell, TX.

1. Make Sure It Actually Cannot Or Should Not Be Removed

Before you go through the process of painting over your wallpaper, you should make sure that you aren't able to paint over them.

You'll be able to tell that the wallpaper is better removed if you can see large parts of the corners just peeling off before you do anything.

If that is not the case, you will be sure that you should choose painting over the wallpaper instead.

2. Whatever Is Not Fully Stuck Down Should Be Fixed

If you see any slightly loose pieces that look like they are at all coming up, you should make sure that you get it fully down.

These may even be corners of the wallpaper that can be corrected in the form of being stuck down with adhesive.

It's good to get these stuck down so that your wall  will have the foundation of a smooth surface to begin with.

3. Clean Your Walls

The walls of your home should not be dirty at all when you are looking to paint them, perhaps even more so when you are painting over wallpaper.

The presence of dust and dirt will have be a sort of impediment to the painting process as you won't want to paint over the dust.

A good dish-washing soap coupled with a sponge and time will help get your walls clean.

4. Cover Seams Properly

The seams of the wallpaper will be quite visible unless you cover them properly.

The way that you will want to do that is to use a joint compound, which will entirely cover the seams.

After you have covered the seams, make sure that you sand them down such that you return the surface to being as smooth as possible.

5. Repair Damage And Sand Again

When you have a wall that has wallpaper on it, you will sometimes see that there are small holes that need to be taken care of in some manner.

The best thing you can do for the holes in the wallpaper is to use spackle to fill in the holes.

Once you have filled in the holes in the wallpaper, you will want to sand well to keep your surface smooth.

6. Use An Oil Based Sealer And Primer

An oil based sealer and primer will be the next step to painting over your wall.

Painting with an oil based sealer and primer is good as it will help facilitate the paint going onto the wallpaper. 

7. Paint The Wallpaper

Lastly, of course, you will actually paint your wallpaper.

Having prepared everything until this point this will be the easiest part of the process -- your primer having been given time to dry, you just need to put on the first coat of paint, wait, and then possibly put on a second coat of paint.

People often find that they will need a second coat of paint when they are painting over wallpaper.

​Need some advice on a project? Illuminate Painting can help you with your painting needs. Schedule an estimate or call us at (325) 305-6005.