The "How To" Painting Contractor

Lead Paint in Four Parts

Terry Ladd — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:12:24 +0000

Dealing with Lead based Paint

Many people are concerned about lead paint in their homes. People have been concerned about the health of their living environment for a long time, but it seems that this concern has increased as more scientific data about the effects of environment on human health have been realized. Many contractors care enough about their customers to educate them about the risks and the steps they will take to mitigate them, but other contractors either don’t know the risks and solutions, or don’t care. If you are thinking about a paint project on your home, inside or out, it makes sense to inform yourself about the issues involved.

Dealing with the lead paint that is in your home is a complex issue, more than can be discussed in one article, so I’m going to break this into four parts:

Part 1: The Risks and the Law(s)

Part 2: Encapsulation Versus Abatement

Part 3: Interior Encapsulation

Part 4: Exterior Encapsulation

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Part 1: The Risks and the Law(s)

Lead was Standard Practice for a Long Time

Lead was added to paints to provide a number of benefits, but chiefly to provide durability to the paint film. Using lead-based paint increased the average life expectancy of a paint job significantly. Painters who valued their reputation loved this durability, as did customers. In fact, even once lead based paint was being phased out of the industry, painters would buy white lead and add it to the paint at the jobsite.

However, the health effects from exposure to lead base paint chips and dust became too serious to ignore. Lead is a toxin that causes a lot of harm to anyone who is exposed, but even more so to specific portions of the population. In children under the age of five, a period when the brain is still developing, lead exposure dramatically increases the risk of mental handicap, learning disabilities, and behavioral problems. “Under five” includes in utero, meaning that pregnant women are a high risk population. Exposure can also lead to fertility problems and even sterility in teens and adults. People with breathing issues are also at increased risk when exposed to lead. No one is safe when exposed to lead and measures have been taken to protect all of us.

Today, paint contractors have three main responsibilities when it comes to dealing with lead paint: 1) they must protect the general public, 2) they must protect their workers, and 3) they must protect the environment. The laws that govern when and how these responsibilities must be met fall under the purview of different government agencies. There is overlap among these agency mandates, as well as conflicting requirements between them. The government has the right idea, but as with anything, the devil is in the details.

The initial measures started with legislation and regulations that removed the use of lead paint from residential use in 1978. This was more of an environmental concern at first, as the EPA was the governing agency involved with regulation of lead. Then the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) got involved with regulations to protect employees. As more and more evidence of the harmful effects of lead were released, the civil and criminal courts became involved as parents of effects children sought compensation from the paint manufacturers in a number of high profile cases in Rhode Island and Connecticut.

This says nothing of the state and local governments who then set up their own agencies and regulations, usually much more stringent that the federal requirements. (Where I run my painting business, I regularly deal with the California Department of Health Services, CalOSHA, and the Office of the San Francisco Building Inspector, each of whom have very stringent and enforced regulations).

Interestingly enough, there was no federal requirement that painting contractors take any specific training for dealing with the disturbance of lead based paint until just recently. Starting in April of 2010, any contractor who disturbs lead based paint as part of their normal operations must take a mandatory training session. While many states and municipalities have had these requirements in place for a long time, the federal government is just catching up.

The new EPA requirements will not mean much in states that have traditionally been highly regulated, such as California, but will do quite a bit to increase contractor awareness of the issues in states that have traditionally been more laissez faire, so long as the regulations are enforced. If you are contemplating a painting project and your home was built before 1978, be sure to ask each contractor you speak with to document their certification under this new EPA regulation.

So that’s the background of the regulatory environment. It doesn’t mean much without understanding how it is actually implemented on your project. To understand that, you’ll need a basic understanding of my next topic, Part 2 of this article, the difference between “encapsulation” and “abatement”.

Brush & Roll Vs. Spray – Interior

Terry Ladd — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:05:15 +0000

Unlike the exterior of your home, the decision to use either the brush & roll or spray application method has little to do with coverage, but more to do with your aesthetic choice of the finish and the ease of setting up the areas to be painted.

The brush & roll application method leaves more texture on the painted surfaces than the spray method. Rollers leave what is called “stipple” on walls. A roller’s nap refers to the thickness of the material on the roller cover and common sizes include ¼”, 3/8”, ½”, ¾” and 1”. The thinker the nap, the heavier the stipple that is left on the walls. Some people like some stipple, others don’t. In areas that are repainted frequently, such as rental units, this stipple can build up, making the texture of on the wall appear much heavier.

Brushing walls is usually reserved for “cutting in” around electrical receptacles, windows and doorframes, along baseboards, and where walls meet ceilings (and vice versa). Brushing on walls is used when the walls are being rolled out, but not when they are being sprayed out. Sometimes, there will be visible differences to the texture of the paint where “cut in” areas have been brushed (they show as being smooth or with slight brush marks) and where the main body of the walls has been rolled (areas with stipple). This is often very minor and difficult to see, so it not a concern for most people.

A bigger problems with the brush & roll method is called “picture framing”. Areas that are “cut in” with a brush appear either lighter or darker than the areas that are rolled out. This is more of a problem when only one coat is applied and/or there is a significant color change being performed. Picture framing problems usually disappear with additional coats of paint.

Spraying out walls leaves a very smooth, even finish with no stipple. On trim, spraying leaves a look that is similar to a “factory finish”. On the other hand, brushing out trim leaves brush marks. Neither is better than the other – it is a personal choice as to which you like. Some people like the look of brush marks on the trim, as it shows the delicate handwork of the paint job. Others like the smooth, clean lines of a spray finish, especially on new construction or remodel projects because it gives a more contemporary or modern look.

A more limiting factor in the decision to use one method over the other has to do with how difficult it is to protect all the areas that are not to be painted. Spraying out ceilings, walls or trim results in a light mist of paint (or “overspray”) landing on all surfaces in the area to be painted. This means that all areas not to be painted must be tightly and securely protected. Rosin paper is commonly taped down on the floors. Plastic sheeting is taped over the windows. HVAC vents and other opening must be tightly covered. Furniture and belongings must be moved out of the space or very securely wrapped and taped. All this protection takes time and effort which you will be paying for.

Alternatively, the brush & roll method does not require the same amount of protection. Sure, floors, window glass, and personal belongings need to be protected, but they will not be exposed to the invasive floating mist that spraying creates. Drop cloths and plastic sheeting will usually suffice and is significantly easier to put in place and tear down.

I hope this helps clear up some of the misconceptions about, differences between, and reasons to use one application method over another.

Brush-n-Roll vs. Spray – Exterior

Terry Ladd — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:46:36 +0000

Customers ask me all the time about which application method my painters are going to use to apply the primers and paints. It seems these customers have a bias against spraying and want to ensure that we are not going to spray the coatings on. For many customers, spraying is the inferior application method.

This is not necessarily so. The goal when applying coatings is to get a smooth, even thickness of the paint film on all areas. An experienced spray applicator can achieve a superior coating than an average brush-and-roll guy, and vice versa. In fact, it is often harder to get an even, uniform paint film using a roller than a sprayer. As the roller is dipped, comes out of the bucket, and is rolled in the wall, the area the roller is first applied to receives a thicker coat than the areas covered as the roller is rolled farther along. Usually, the painter will then roll back into the areas with the thicker coating to even out the paint on the wall, but it is very hard to ensure that the coating is even in all areas.

On the other hand, the spray that comes out of a spray rig is applied at the same rate to all surfaces, when applied correctly. Factors that may change the thickness of the paint film when spraying are 1) differences is speed applied (speeding up or slowing down the path of the spray gun will result in a thinner or thinker coat), and 2) variances in the distance from the surface being coated (closer to the surface will result in a narrower but thicker coat, and vice versa).

An experienced spray applicator will keep the speed and distance of the gun from the wall even, resulting in a smooth, uniform coat of paint. Moreover, the correct way to spray is to overlap passes of the gun by 35-50% on each pass, and then apply a second coat perpendicular to the first coat, creating a cross-hatched pattern that goes even further to ensure a smooth, even finish.

Alternatively, there is a method my company and a few others often use called a “spray with a back roll/brush”. In this method, a spray rig is used to get the paint from the bucket onto the wall in the most efficient manner – less labor because there is no dipping of a roller, and the coverage is fairly uniform. Right behind the sprayer, though, is a painter who is rolling and/or brushing the wet paint out. This provides the best of both worlds: efficient and even application of the paint material onto the wall with the sprayer, and assurance that all cracks, gaps, and crevices receive the proper coating via the pressure of a brush or roller.

In sum, the different application methods are not indicative of quality in and of themselves – the quality of the finish is going to be determined by the skill of the painter using the tools of his choice. Application method is something you should discuss with your estimator or contractor as part of the estimation appointment and understand why s/he proposes to do it the way s/he does.

Oil vs. Latex – Intercoat Adhesion Problems

Terry Ladd — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:27:50 +0000

The average homeowner cannot tell if the existing coating on the trim of their homes, as well as the walls and ceilings in their kitchens/bathrooms is an oil or latex coating just by looking or touching it. However, it is important to know before applying a new latex coat of paint because applying latex over old oil finishes is guaranteed to result in intercoat adhesion problems – the new paint will scratch right off the old finishes.

Intercoat adhesion problems arise when a latex paint is applied over an older oil paint. Paint needs something to grab on to when it is applied, and the old oil paint finishes (especially semi-gloss and full gloss finishes) are not very porous. The result is that when new latex paints are applied to old oil finishes, they do not form the proper bond to resist scratches and nicks.

The solution is to create a more porous finish on the existing oil paint, then apply the new latex paint. Doing so provides a good “bed” for the new paint to bite into, thereby eliminating the intercoat adhesion problem.

There are three common methods for creating this more porous finish prior to the application of the new latex paint. First, there is scuff sanding. This involves using fine grit sandpaper and running it over every square inch of semi- or full-gloss oil paint to roughen up the surface. The upside of this method is that it does not require an intermediate coat of material/paint/primer, and so reduces the materials cost for the project. The down side is that it is easy to miss minor areas.

The second method is to use a deglosser. Special deglossing chemicals have been developed to be wiped on the semi- and full-gloss surfaces. These chemicals open up the pores on the surface of the old oil finish, providing a nice bed for the new latex to bite into. As with scuff sanding, this process does not require a full coat of material to be applied, thus saving you material and labor costs, but it uses noxious chemicals and minor areas might be missed.

The third method is to apply a specialty primer to all the semi- and full-gloss areas. These primers are formulated to bite into the brittle oil finish, as well as provide a porous bed for the new latex. This will give you the best performance over the longer term, but it involves having a full coat of a specialty coating applied, and most likely applied by hand. This means more costs for both materials and labor, but will ensure that the new finish will not scratch off easily and will be durable for years to come.

Oil vs. Latex Paints

Terry Ladd — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:57:07 +0000

Many homeowners seem to be convinced that oil (also known as alkyd) paints are better than latex (also known as water-based or water borne) paints, to the point where they often insist that their contractor use an oil based paint. And while this used to be true, it is no longer.

Starting in the mid-to-late 1970s, various government agencies started regulating the use of certain chemicals and ingredients commonly used in house paints. They started by restricting the use of lead in paint, and every few years they added another chemical or component to the list of ingredients paint manufacturers were required to phase out of use. The initial purpose of these regulations was to protect the public from exposure to harmful components. As the environmental movement gained steam, protecting our world became an additional goal.

One result of all these legislative and regulatory changes is that today’s oil paints have been so modified that they no longer provide the durability and longevity they used to provide. In fact, the major paint manufacturers are phasing out oil paints altogether.

There was a period during the 1990s and early 2000s when the reduced quality of the oils was still superior to the latexes of the times. However, the quality of the oils has continued to decline at the same time that the technology used in the latexes has gotten much better. Today, oils are disappearing from the market and the new latexes are as good, or even better, than the old oils used to be.

Certain specialty coatings are still oil-based, such as some specific metal and flooring products, as well as transparent wood and concrete stains, and some specialty primers, but non-oil alternatives are also available and will perform well. For the vast majority of applications found on a standard residential project, there is no need to use oil paints.

This should clear up any confusion about oils versus latexes. However, if you plan on using latexes over old oil paints, there is an issues called Intercoat Adhesion Failure you should be aware of, and will be covered in my next blog post.