Professional Painting Tips to Avoid Injury and Increase Your Home’s Value
Painting your space is an amazing way to revamp and affordably increase its value. Is your inner voice saying—Can I paint my house myself? Are you planning to save a few extra bucks on your painting project by going DIY?
DIY is a tempting way, especially when so many people are around trying and sharing their experiences via blogs or YouTube videos. Painting a small, simple wall can be easy and a DIY-able thing to do. However, not so much if you plan to revamp your whole property. While you might find a lot of content online on how to paint, prime, do it right and make your walls beautiful, little do these blogs talk about safety. Records suggest that 300 people died while falling off a latter last year. Bet you didn’t read this in any of those tutorials.
With such jobs, there are high risks of accidents during the process when you’re painting the roof, outdoors, or wired areas. Having the correct ladders and scuffling to do the job, using appropriate protective gears, and having a workman’s compensation to cover accidents thus becomes crucial. In this blog post, we’re going to talk about a few safety measures right from professional painters that you must take into consideration for DIY and when and why you must hire a pro for your project.
SAFETY MEASURES FOR DIY PAINTING
Preparing for Safe Painting
Not every good-smelling thing is safe, especially not paint. Usually, paints and related substances like stripper, stain, and caulk emit harmful fumes and are highly flammable. A little ignorance here can cause you immediate and long-term health risks. Preparing for safety thus becomes a crucial step before you start painting.
You must avoid having an open flame near painting materials like the pilot light from a furnace or heater. Another safety alert to take into consideration is to avoid inhaling the harmful fumes for paints. You can do that by ensuring the area is properly ventilated—the window and doors are open, and there is adequate air circulation through fans. Wearing a respirator is also recommended for this purpose, or you could wear a dust mask while sanding to prevent fine dust particles from entering your lungs.
Testing for Lead
Do you know when your home was built? If it was before 1978, then there are chances you might find lead in the old paint layers. Lead, a harmful substance, was a component of paint used widely before the 1970s when there was no awareness. Checking for lead in homes built-before 1978 is an important step, which all professional painters perform as a safety measure before they begin to paint.
Preventing Accidents Around Electric Outlets
Electrical outlets can be tough to work around, especially when they are located in complex areas like bathrooms or any other space that is constantly exposed to moisture. At such places, there are chances of accidents. To avoid that, professional painters usually cover all electrical outlets with the painter’s tape. In critical areas like bathrooms, they take additional preventive measures by removing the outlet or the switch altogether or turning off the power of the are before beginning the process. This reduces the risk of electric shocks and life-threatening accidents during the painting process.
Taking Care with the Ladder
A ladder is something almost every home has—yours might as well. But are you sure the ladder you have is good for Painting? Surprisingly, ladder safety is one of the most underrated things and can be a great concern and a reason for accidents during Painting. Due to negligence, we often feel inclined to use the old wobbly ladder at home that has been our family heirloom. But considering the amount of time you’d have to climb it while painting your wall, this might not be a good idea. Also, the ladder for Painting must have space to hang the paint bucket so that you can dip your brush without hassle.
Another mistake that many people make is getting too casual and trying to reach out to that distant spot without shifting the ladder. It is an invitation to accident, and the good thing would be to step down instead, change the ladder and then climb up again to paint it. A few more minutes and effort can save you all the pain of a fall from the ladder.
Painting can be a tough job; that’s why we have professional painters. If you are going for DIY, you must assess if it is a practical idea for your project. Not sure what to do? Saving the cost of hiring a professional painter and painting your home with your hands can be tempting, but is it worth risking your safety. Here’s a pro tip for you to understand whether to DIY or hire a professional. You must hire a professional if…
- Your ceilings are too high
- Your walls are in bad condition
- You’re planning to use a specialty finish
- You’re painting the exterior
A professional painter knows how to stay safe while painting and can help avoid any accidents. And, of course, that is not the only benefit he brings along. He knows what he’s doing; he has done it multiple times and can help you increase the value of your home by elevating its look with the right paint. You can search for ‘exterior house painters in your area‘ or ‘interior house painters in your area‘ online to find reliable leads. Below are the benefits of hiring a professional painter for your project.
BENEFITS OF HIRING A PROFESSIONAL FOR YOUR PROJECT
A professional painter can make your experience hassle-free and add value to your property as he brings along his experience and perfection in the job. Here are some factors that will definitely go in your list of ‘Pros’ for hiring a painter.
Ensuring Safety
The above read must have given you a fair idea of how important safety is in a painting job. While painting a piece of furniture or a small area on the wall is good for DIY, high ceilings and exteriors are extremely dangerous for people with no experience. Are you still willing to risk it? A little accident can drain all the money you are planning to save on medical bills and whatnot. A professional painter knows his job is risky and takes all the precautions to prevent accidents, including the use of protective gear. They generally have workman insurance as well to cover for on-site accidents, if any. Also, they’ve spent hours painting ceilings and walls of homes, buildings, and other properties and are less likely to be in an accident.
Saving Cost
Is cost the major factor for you going DIY? Then you are in for a surprise (or rather a shock) as you might end up spending more. This is because you will have to buy all the painting equipment like roller, buckets, brushes and even a new ladder. And it will be stupid to apply a $70 paint will a roller worth a dollar (You will be compromising the quality of your final outcome). Also, you might end up consuming more paint, primer, and other materials as compared to a professional painter, increasing your expenses substantially. Not to forget the constant need to move furniture around and take care of other things around.
It can consume a lot of time (away from your work) and effort. All this could lead to constant headaches and more expenses. A professional painter knows what’s best for you and achieves the results cost-effectively.
Making Process Hassle-Free
If you are going for DIY, you might as well say BYE-BYE to all your comfort. When asked DIY-ers how they felt after the first day of paint, most of them replied that they hadn’t been able to feel their muscles? A painting job requires moving your arm back and forth constantly for hours at a certain pressure to ensure that the application is uniform throughout. This can be extremely painful for those trying it for the first time. And when you have to do that process on a ceiling, the difficulty reaches a whole new level (not to forget the paint dripping in your eye sometimes). Having no prior knowledge, DIY-ers realize that they’ve opened Pandora’s box after the first day of their painting process.
Putting the Right Color
Have you ever picked out a painting color for your wall and found that it looked completely different on your wall? This could be because of the base color of your wall or the lighting in the room. A paint that might seem red in the box can go pink on your walls. A professional painter can help you bring your imagination to life by bringing the same color you want on your walls. They also provide sample tests by putting paint options on the wall to give you a fair idea of how it may look for better decision-making.
Ensuring Quality through Experience
You’ve spent dollars on buying luxury paint, but will you be able to render it the finish a professional can? Patchy or poor walls can be challenging to paint. A small hole that you fixed in the wall through a patch to bring evenness can cause inconsistency in the final look. This is because while it may look fine when the paint is still wet, that might not be the case as it dries up.
You might also end up damaging your property due to a lack of experience. No matter how meticulously you put the tapes to save your flooring or windows, the paint still might reach the area and cause damage.
FINAL THOUGHTS…
Painting is an affordable but major change that can elevate the look of your entire home. Trusting a professional can be challenging; thus, you need to do thorough background checks, interviews, and much more to make sure you are giving your home in the right hands. You can check out our blog on how to hire a professional painter for a comprehensive guide on the process.
If you are looking for quality exterior and interior house painters in your area, please visit our website. We have a directory of qualified and experienced painters who can help you get the job done right!