Quality of work can add thousands of dollars to the value of your home
The quality of the finished paint work depends mostly on the painter himself and his ability to prep the job to its highest standard so that he produces a finish that is of superior quality and will not only add value but also that WOW factor that all customers (and future buyers of your home) are looking to achieve when they build their homes. This can sometimes be an expensive process.
The quality of the finish will depend on the trades that have come before him and the quality of the work they produce in order to make the painters work easier. The majority of the work the painter does is the preparation. Sometime that can equate to 80% of the job. The higher the standard of finish that the customer wants the more detailed preparation that is needed to achieve the final look of the work.
Take for example the High Gloss finish of a black front door. There are many painters out there who will tell a customer to do a semi-gloss finish as it’s a better look. I call bullshit on this as they first of all don’t know what they are doing and second of all can’t do the job to begin with.
The process is actually quite simple. You have a nine (9) step process that you go through to achieve this look.
Step 1: Sand the doors. What I mean by sanding is to take the doors to a matt finish where all the gloss is taken back and the imperfections on the door is visible. Use a high quality filler to fill all the low spots an imperfections in the door and sand them back to a smooth finish where all the filler marks are not visible.
Step 2: High quality oil based (preferable) primer that is applied evenly of the door. This can be done with either a spray gun, a 4mm microfiber/foam roller or with a high quality synthetic brush. An acrylic based primer can also be used but I have found through 30 years’ experience that the oil based products are of better quality
Step 3: Once the door is dry you then go back and sand the door down again to a matt finish taking all the gloss of and checking for imperfections. Once this is done then you fill a second time in order to make sure the door as flat and as level as possible. Sand the filler marks smooth so as you don’t see them.
Step 4: Prime/Undercoat the door again so as to seal in the filler marks so that they don’t come through on the first coat of top coat. This is a crucial and critical step that many painters don’t do and or don’t know to do.
Step 5: Sand the door again back to a matt finish. Not a scuff sand. This is done so that you are sure that all the imperfections are covered and that the door is as straight as possible. If there are imperfections again or the door is still not straight them you will have to go back again and fill, sand and prime the door again.
Step 6: Apply the first topcoat of high quality high gloss enamel on the door and make sure that you apply the paint evenly and with as little marks (brush marks) as possible
Step 7 : Sand not scuff sand the door back again so as to make sure that you get any dust of the door and make sure that you get an even and smooth coverage on the door. One top coat is never enough as you will not get the full impact of the colour and the volume of colour. A second topcoat is always required for all doors
Step 8: A second and final topcoat of high gloss enamel is applied on the door in a dust free environment (a controlled environment is preferred where you can control the amount of dust in the room)
Step 9: Check the door once it’s dry and make sure it has an even a smooth coverage before you present it to the customer. If it has dust or imperfections the you will have to go back and sand the door and give it another topcoat.
That’s it as easy as that. As easy as that.
