The Color Wheel

Every color bears some type of of relationship to all other colors. Take a look at the illustration on this page. It is called a "color wheel." By becoming famil­iar with the color wheel, you will have a better under­standing of the relationship between colors. More important, you will be better able to select combina­tions of colors that will look great on your home.
Working with the color wheel, you can advise almost limitless number of attractive decorating schemes. But most successful color combinations will fall into one of the following categories:
· Monochromatic. This color scheme employs only one basic color, but in several different values. An example would be a home exterior with light blue siding and dark blue shutters and trim.
· Adjacent. This system combines two or more colors that are located next to each other on the color wheel - blue, blue-violet and blue-green, for example.
To get the best results with this system, try to select colors that do not have the same value and intensity,
· Complementary. This type of scheme uses colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel, such as red and green, or yellow and violet. If you choose this system, you might want to select a subtle color and dominant color, to prevent from clashing.
· Triadic. A triadic scheme employs three colors that are equidistant on the color wheel- as example, yellow-orange, blue-green and red-violet. For best results, you should choose one dominant color and use other two as subtle accents colors.

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Color Selection

Clearly the most personal decision involved in any interior or exterior painting project is the color of paint to apply. If green is your favorite color, you will be drawn to that color family when you go to your local paint store. If you like blue, you will probably find a place for it somewhere in your home.
And you should follow your instincts when select­ing paint color. You are the one who will be living with your color choices. Decorating your home with your own favorite hues is what gives your home its own unique personality.
But while it is true that there are no hard and fast rules about paint color selection, there are certain color systems that are appealing to the average eye, Under­standing them can help you make the best decisions on color choice.

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Selecting the Right Paint Sheen

Selecting the ideal sheen or gloss level for an interior or exterior paint job involves both aesthetic and practical considerations. From an aesthetic standpoint, a degree of sheen or gloss is useful in creating visual interest, particularly indoors. From a practical standpoint, the right sheen or gloss can help to extend the life of the paint job, whether it be an interior or exterior application.

Most brands of paint come in at least four levels of sheen. "Gloss" paints, as the name implies, have the highest light-reflective characteristics. Then in declining order of sheen, are semigloss paints; eggshell, satin, or low lustre paints, and flat paints. Both latex and oil-based paints are available in different sheen levels.

Gloss Paint

"Gloss" paints, often called "high gloss" finishes, have a highly reflective appearance. These are the toughest, most durable and most stain-resistant types of paint. They are easier to clean than paints with less reflectiveness. So they are ideal for areas exposed to heavy traffic or heavy use- especially where fingerprints or grime are common.

Because of their highly reflective appearance, however, gloss paints tend to highlight surface imperfections. As a result, if your walls or woodwork are marred or irregular, you might want to select a paint with lower sheen level.

Both latex and oil-based gloss paints are sometimes referred to as "enamels". By way of comparison, latex enamels have several advantages: They dry more quickly, resist yellowing, and have better mildew resistance, making them ideal for bathrooms, kitchens, and laundry rooms. On the other hand, high quality oil-based enamels are harder, have greater abrasion resistance and, in some cases have a slightly higher gloss.

Semigloss Paint

"Semigloss" paints have a slightly glossy appearance that is not as highly reflective as that of gloss paints. They offer good stain resistance and are easy to clean, so they are a good choice if you have young children. Most expert agree that the highest quality semigloss paints are 100% acrylic latex paints, which also come in enamel grades.

Eggshell, Satin or Low Lustre Paint

Regardless of the same, these paints have a sheen level lower than semigloss, yet more lustrous than flat paints. ("Satin" or "low lustre" paints sometimes have a slightly higher sheen than "eggshell" finishes.)

Paints in this category tend to impart ab appearance of greater warmth and depth to surfaces than do flat paints. They also resist stains better than flat paints, although not as well as semigloss and gloss paints.

Flat Paint

"Flat" paints are non-reflective, so they tend to conceal surface imperfections better than paints with higher sheen levels. If your walls are dented or rough, this type of paint is a good choice. Likewise, flat paints are a good choice for ceilings, because of their low reflectivity.

Flat paints also are invaluable when painting over new drywall where the tape job is not carefully sanded or where very porous joint compound has been used. In these cases, flat paints can help make surfaces look smooth and uniform. For new construction or repair work where unpainted drywall or joint compound is involved, an interior primer is recommended so that the new paint will have the best uniformity of appearance.

One thing to keep in mind: In some instances, you may have trouble removing stains from flat finishes. They non reflective surfaces have a porous texture, which can trap dirt and make cleaning difficult when compared to paints with higher sheen. So it is wise to use flat paints only in areas that do not tend get soiled.

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Quality Paint=Great Value

Painting with top quality paint can add years to the life of paint job and save hundreds or even thousands of dollars (US) in the form of lower home maintenance costs. This is especially true with exterior paints. With proper surface preparation, top quality exterior paint can last 10 years or more, compared to about four years with ordinary exterior paint.

The best way to appreciate this "investment value" of top quality paint is to compare the life-cycle cost or "cost per year of service" for high quality and ordinary paints. Consider a hypothetical case, involving a 3,500-sq-foot home requiring 20 gallons of exterior paint:

• At US$15 per gallon for 20 gallons* of paint, it would cost US$300 to paint the home using an ordinary paint. If the expected lifespan is four years, the cost of the paint per year of service is US$75.
• If a top quality exterior paint were used instead, and the cost per gallon were US$25 per gallon, the total paint cost would be US$500 (US$25 per gallon X 20 gallons). But this paint job will last 10 years or more, so the cost per year of service is at the most, a more economical US$50!.

If you were to hire a contractor to do your painting, you would realize an even greater advantage by choosing a top quality paint instead of an ordinary paint in terms of cost per year of service.

While these examples are typical of the kind of savings that are possible by choosing high quality exterior paint, your precise savings may be different depending on a number of factors, including how well you do your surface preparation, local weather conditions, the cost of paint in your area, and other variables.

In any event, since you don't have to paint as often when you use top quality paint, you will also save a great deal of work and time.

The fact remains, when it comes to paint, it pays to invest in the best. And that is true whether you are doing exterior or interior painting.

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Tips for Painting-Volume Solids

Volume Solids

The pigment and resin determine the % Volume Solids

• The portion of the paint which remains after the solvent has evaporated, therefore volume solids determines dry film thickness.
  

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The importance of Paint Quality

Regardless of the type of paint you will be using, one of the most important factors in the ultimate success of any paint job is the quality of paint used. On this subject, experts agree: You should use the highest quality paint to get the best paint performance.

How do you identify top quality paint? Unless you are paint chemist, you should simply purchase the best paint within your favorite manufacturer's line of products. More costly paints typically contain a higher percentage of better quality ingredients that are critical to superior paint performance.

Top quality paints outperform ordinary grades of paint in many ways:

• They are more durable and long-lasting.
• They often have better hiding characteristics, which is especially important when you are painting over a darker color.
• They are easier to apply.
• They have more uniform color and sheen, and they maintain original color and sheen better over time, so your paint job will continue to look good for a longer period.
• They frequently contain higher levels of additives- for example, more mildewcide to help keep unsightly mildew in check.

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Tips for Painting-When existing coating is unknown

When existing coating is unknown

• To test the substrate, use denatured alcohol, if paint come off, it is latex.

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Characteristics of Latex Paints

Water-based latex paints have always been popular with do-it-yourself and professional painters because of their easy cleanup with plain soap and water. But today's quality latex paints offer significant performance advantages as well.

Compared to oil-based paints, top quality exterior latex paints have greater durability in the form of better color retention and chalk resistance, so they continue to look good for years. Since they do not tend to get brittle as oil-based paints do, they have better resistance to cracking. Latex paints also dry much faster than oil-based paints (typically in one to six hours), which allows you to quickly apply a second coat.

Quality latex paints that have "100% acrylic" binders are specially durable and highly flexible. They tend to adhere extremely well to a variety of exterior surfaces, which means they have a greater resistance to troublesome paint failures like blistering, flaking and peeling, compared with other latex paints.

Field tests at the Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute, where paint performance has been tested for more than 40 years, show that top quality 100% acrylic latex paints are an excellent choice when painting any of the following surfaces:

• wood, particularly in areas that experience freezing temperatures;
• new stucco and masonry;
• weathered aluminum siding.

You can also use quality latex paints on interior trim. They have better resistance to chipping that do oil-based paints, which continue to harden over time and eventually become brittle.

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Characteristics of Oil-based Paints

Top Quality oil-based paints have excellent adhesion characteristics, which means they get a tight grip on the surface being painted. And good adhesion is essential for a durable paint job. However, oil-based coatings do to oxidize and get brittle over time, which can lead to cracking problems in exterior applications.

That said, oil based coatings are still the best choice in two circumstances:

• when repainting exterior surfaces with heavy "chalking" (chalk is the powdery substance that come off on your hand when you run it across the surface); and
• when repainting any exterior or interior surface has four or more layers of old oil-based paint (the number of layers can often be determined by removing some paint chips and examining them).

There are also circumstances in which you should never apply oil-based or alkyd paints. For example they should not be applied directly to fresh masonry, nor to galvanized iron. In either case, the result will probably be a very quick failure of the paint.

If you decide to use oil-based coatings, be aware that they are more difficult to apply and clean up after than latex paints. They also take longer to dry-sometimes, 24 hours or more- so you cannot apply a second coat as quickly as you can with latex paint.

Oil-based paints can be used for certain applications within the home- for example, on interior trim. But keep in mind that these paints have more noticeably more odor than latex paints. That, combined with the slow dry time, may put your rooms out of service of a short while, If you use oil-based paints, you will also have to use paint thinner to clean up drips and equipment, which means that you must use extra care in handling and disposing of rags.

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