Power Washing
First, we use a high pressure stream of water, typically ejected from a hand-held wand or nozzle, to clean the areas to be painted. Customers often ask us if this will harm their home. You can rest assured that we will not damage your home. This is because we put the power washer on a low pressure setting when applying the bleach. Then we let the bleach and water do the cleaning. After several minutes we wash the solution off the house. Damage occurs when one uses a power washer as an instrument to blast off loose paint – we don’t do this. We use the machine to clean only.
We use bleach to kill mold and mildew. However, the concentration is not strong enough to kill shrubs or trees. We will be happy to protect delicate flowers and gardens with plastic drop cloths upon your request.
We usually power wash a day or two before we start the job. We will call ahead to let you know when we are coming so that you can shut all doors and windows.
Job Set Up
We will remove all wood or plastic shutters, downspouts (if not riveted to gutters), miscellaneous hardware and house numbers. Lights will be removed or covered. If the windows are to be painted we will also remove the storm windows and screens.
Light Carpentry
If you need carpentry repairs ahead of time, please let us know. We handle light carpentry ourselves, and have referrals to trusted contractors for larger jobs. It’s best to have all carpentry work completed before the paint job starts.
Color Selection
It’s a good idea to have colors selected before the job starts. If you have the address of a house that you like the colors, feel free to let us know and we will try to contact the owners for the color names. For more information, check out our Choosing Colors page.
If you want to go to a local paint store for Benjamin Moore colors try:
Babel’s Paint & Decorating Store
1424 Highland Ave., Needham, MA
(781) 444-7950
Powershaving/3 Step Sanding Process
Optimum Painters uses a house prep system that includes paint shavers connected to high performance HEPA filtered vacuums. This system virtually eliminates sanding dust from the perimeter of your home. After the shaving has been completed we sand again with random orbiting sanders to smooth everything out for the primer coat. When the primer coat has dried, we sand a third time, this time by hand, to eliminate the raising of the grain caused by the drying primer.
We do not use heat guns or chemical strippers.
Caulking, Patching & Puttying
Caulking seals cracks and repairs gaps between siding and trim. It is a great way to provide an airtight and watertight seal. We use DAP Alex Plus acrylic latex caulking which carries a 25 year warranty.
We use exterior spackle or two-part Bondo filler to patch holes that are too big for caulking (for example, holes caused by woodpeckers).
If the painting of windows is included in the job, we will remove the storm windows/screens and leave them in front of the window that they came from (please do not stack storm windows and place in a separate place. If you need to move the windows and screens please label them so we know which window they go with).
Please ask us if you would like a screen put back to keep bugs out on those hot summer nights!
We remove all loose putty and re-putty with DAP 33 glazing compound. Lightly cracked putty areas can easily be filled in with glazing compound.
Window puttying can create a mess on the windows and we wash all windows (exterior sides) and storm windows (both sides) before we leave the job. (Not many companies do this!).
Broken glass and broken storm windows can be repaired for an extra charge.
High Quality Products
PAINTS
Most paint companies offer different grades of paint. The poor quality commercial grade paints are commonly used without the customer’s knowledge. We use the Moorgard/Moorglo exterior latex paints from Benjamin Moore. We recommend using latex products. They are porous and allow moisture to pass through which enables the house to “breathe.” On most homes we use MoorGlo paint on the trim, doors, shutters and windows. Moorglo is a paint which dries to a soft gloss finish.
The most common Moore product that we use is MoorGard paint. Also a latex, it dries to a low lustre or eggshell finish. It works great for shingles or clapboards.
If you would like to use the new Aura paints by Benjamin Moore,
there will be an extra charge per gallon. These paint are still too new for us to recommend, but so far we are very impressed with them. See www.benjaminmoore.com for more details on Aura paints.
STAINS
Exterior stains come in three choices:
- Solid stains
- Semi-solid stains
- Clear wood preservatives
The most common of these is solid stain which is very similar to paint only its coat thickness is about 1/3 that of a paint coat. Solid stains dry to a flat finish and will show a bit more of the wood grain than a paint coat.
We use Benjamin Moore Moorwood solid stains. For an extra fee per gallon you can opt for the new Arborcoat stains. Both products offer tremendous hiding power and leave wood bathed in rich, opaque color that conceals all the grain, but still allows
the texture to show through. These stains provide a flat, opaque finish that is water repellent, as well as mildew and fade resistant.
Semi-solid stains are usually oil based. They are high in solvents and low in pigment and they penetrate deeply into wood. These stains can not be used over previously painted surfaces. They are commonly used on decks and fences. We use Benjamin Moore C329 Deck and Siding stain.
Wood preservatives are similar to semi-solid stains without the color pigment. We use them often on decks. Our choice is Benjamin Moore’s C321 Hardwood finish. However, deck stains are constantly subject to federal VOC laws and therefore the quality of these products does not appear to be as strong as they once were.
PRIMERS
Our choice for most paint jobs is Benjamin Moore’s Moorwhite penetrating oil-based primer, their best exterior primer. It provides excellent hiding and leveling properties, and improves adhesion on weathered and prepared chalky surfaces.
Oil primers seal wood much better than latex primers and they create a sounder bondable surface for the finish coat.
When using a solid stain product we use Benjamin Moore’s Moorwood 094 oil-based primer.
All primers can be tinted, if necessary, to the finish color. We often tint primers to the finish color so that they are not visible through the top coat.
For railings or other metal items we generally use spray can oil-base primers.
Some areas, such as porch ceilings, may have brown water stains. Another common area where a stain blocking primer is needed is on wood knots that have bled through the existing paint. We treat these areas with stain blocking primers. Our choice is Zinsser Cover Stain Primer-Sealer.
BRUSHES & ROLLERS
Almost as important to the final product as the prep work is the quality of the application tools used. We have tried many brands of brushes and rollers over the years and our favorite is PURDY. Their products are among the most expensive brushes
and rollers available. Cheap brushes and rollers produce cheap results. That’s why we use the best application tools.
In almost all cases we apply the paint by hand (brush/roller) but we also do have several Titan paint spray machines that we use if needed or if the customer requests them.
For more information, contact us at (781) 235-4448, or send us your project ideas via email.
