Chalkboard Paint Tags in 5 Easy Steps!

Posted on March 1, 2016August 6, 2019

Benjamin Moore’s Chalkboard Paint is a versatile product that can really bring out the “creative” in us! Here’s an interesting project by Betsy Thompson from our 17th Street Store that might get you thinking about some different ways you can use Chalkboard Paint in your own home!

Chalkboard Storage Tags

STEP 1

The first step is to gather all your supplies. You’ll need some wooden tags from a local art supply store as well as some light-colored chalk designed specifically for chalkboards. Finally, you’ll want to stop at RepcoLite for some primer, a quart of Benjamin Moore’s Chalkboard Paint (in whatever color you want!), and a sheet of 180 grit sandpaper.

STEP 2

The second step is to apply primer to the wooden tags. In our project, we used a spray primer to minimize brush strokes or roller marks on the tags and because it’s a little quicker! Now, even though “Primer-and-Paint-in-one” products are very popular, we still recommend the primer step in a project like this. The reason is that bare wood can be exceptionally porous. The helps fill in the wood grain and creates a smooth surface for the Chalkboard Paint.

STEP 3

The third step involves a light sanding of the primed tags. Depending on how quickly your particular primer dries, you might be able to do this quite soon after application. At any rate, when the primer is sufficiently dry, lightly sand the surface to knock down any raised wood fibers. When finished, wipe the tags clean with a damp cloth. Don’t introduce a lot of water to the surface. We’re only talking about using a damp rag to get the dust that you created from the sanding step off of the surface.

See Corona Excalibur Brushes in our Shop!

STEP 4

The fourth step is to apply the Chalkboard Paint. Once the tags have dried from step four, apply one or two coats of Benjamin Moore Chalkboard Paint. In our project, we used a high quality Corona Excalibur Brush for application. However you accomplish it, Whether rolling or brushing, make sure you use a high quality applicator. Cheap brushes will be more likely to leave brush strokes (or release bristles into your finish). Cheaper roller covers will provide you with a rougher, orange-peel, texture.

STEP 5

The final step is to condition the chalkboard surface. After allowing the painted area to cure for at least 3 days, rub the entire chalkboard surface with a piece of white chalk. After you’ve erased that, you’re chalkboard surface is ready for use!

Benjamin Moore’s Chalkboard Paint is available in any color in the Benjamin Moore spectrum. So, get creative! Think outside the box and see what you can come up with!

Some Hints:

For erasing, we recommend using a clean, damp cloth or paper towel. We do not recommend using a chalkboard eraser.
You’ll acheive the best results when using light-colored chalk designed for use on chalkboards.

The Great Flaking Paint Disaster of 2016

Posted on February 29, 2016August 6, 2019

Peeling paint. Pattern of blue grunge material. Damaged paint. Scratched old plate

Photo courtesy of bigstockphoto.com

In our home, the previous owners painted a 4” wide border around the ceiling in the living room. On that border, there were a few small spots where the paint was flaking off. On a Saturday morning a couple of weekends ago, my wife was out of the house for a couple of hours, so I thought I’d surprise her by touching those spots up.

I grabbed some sandpaper and set out to accomplish what I should have been a 5 minute job only to find that wherever I touched the sandpaper to that border, the paint fell off. In huge patches. It was terrifying. Everywhere the sandpaper touched, a silver-dollar-sized section of paint came loose from the ceiling and fell to the floor like huge a snowflake. I would sand in ever expanding circles, expecting (hoping) to find some section of paint that was still stuck to the ceiling, but no. No matter where I sanded more and more flakes started falling. At that point, the kids came in, saw the mess on the floor and all the missing paint on the ceiling, and said “Mom’s going to kill you when she gets home….”

Oh, of course my wife wasn’t going to kill me. Probably. I was concerned, however, about the problem that I now had on my hands. If you’ve ever dealt with peeling paint issues, then you know the frustration and anxiety I was feeling.

See, these are problems that have to be fixed the right way. There are no shortcuts. There are no quick fixes. Fixing it the wrong way, the quick way, usually ends up creating bigger problems down the road. Instead, fixing a problem like this takes patience as well as some blood, sweat, and tears. Here’s how you do it:

STEP 1: FIND OUT WHY IT FAILED

The first step to fixing anything at all is finding out why it needs fixing in the first place. You can treat the symptoms, but it’s likely the problem will recur until you actually address the problem that caused the failure in the first place. In my instance, with the peeling paint on my ceiling, the problem was caused (as is usually the case) by poor surface prep. When I examined the paint chips I found that the backs were gritty and chalky. That means the grit or powder was there before the paint was applied. The paint stuck to that rather than the ceiling itself and thus came off easily when bumped or stressed.

When it comes to peeling paint, surface contamination of one kind or another is typically the cause. Sometimes it’s drywall dust, sometimes it’s due to cleaning agents, soap films, or other contaminants like that.

Surface contamination is the one of the typical causes of many paint peeling problems. The other main cause is due to the painted surface simply being too smooth or hard. Sometimes we paint over a glossy, hard enamel finish and the new paint peels right off when bumped or scratched. Without scuff-sanding or priming surfaces like that with primers like BIN primer from Zinsser, you’re just asking for the paint to fail.

So all that to say, if you’ve got a peeling paint problem of your own, the place to start is by doing a little detective work. Figure out why it peeled. From there, you’ll be able to plan the next step in the repair process.

STEP 2: LET THE SCRAPING and SANDING BEGIN!

Once I figured out the reason my paint failed, now all that was left was to do the work and fix it the right way. Sadly, that’s easier said than done.

See, when it comes to peeling paint, the only solution is to get all of the loose paint off. All of it. If paint is left on the surface, it’s absolutely necessary that it’s left there only because it’s stuck so well it wouldn’t come off!

So, to get the paint off that border section of my ceiling, the only fix is for me is to get out a paint scraper, some sandpaper, and go to work. It’ll take some time and it’ll create a fair amount of mess, but any shortcut I take will only result in bigger problems down the road.

For example, on my ceiling, with the paint peeling as badly and easily as it is, if I were to paint over that old paint–even though some areas seem to be adhering quite well–the surface tension of the new paint as it dries would likely be enough to pull loose new sections. Soon, that paint I’d left on the ceiling would be coming off and taking all of my new paint with it!

To avoid that, the right solution is to get all of the loose paint off. Once that’s done, a second part of this step is to go around and give some attention to all the areas of paint that remain on the surface. Most likely, when you examine these spots, you’ll see rough edges where the remaining paint meets bare spots on the wall. These spots will not be filled and disappear when you apply your new paint. In most cases you can minimize the visual appearance of these spots by sanding all the edges of the remaining paint. Sand the spots smooth in order to create a smooth transition from the bare surface to the remaining paint.

Also, if you determine that the reason your paint is flaking is because the surface you painted is too shiny or smooth, then you need to make sure you scuff sand the surface with a 150 – 180 grit sandpaper.

STEP 3: GET THE DUST OFF

Once the sanding/scraping process is complete, it’s absolutely imperative that the surface be as dust-free as possible. That may mean wiping it down with a damp rag or it may mean vacuuming it with a shop-vac. Either way, that surface needs to be dust-free or the problem will just repeat.

Likewise, if the paint failed because of an oily residue left by a cleaning agent or something else, the surface needs to be washed well with a degreasing agent like TSP (Tri-Sodium Phosphate) before any new painting is done. Remember: without eliminating the source of the failure, the problem will only repeat.

STEP 4: ROLL ON THE NEW PAINT

When the surface is completely clean (and I can wipe it with your hand and not have a chalky, dusty residue come off on my palm), then it’s time for my new finish paint. (In certain situations, a primer might be recommended. You’ll probably want to talk to someone at RepcoLite if you have any questions about whether you need a primer or not.)

I’ll probably apply a primer coat to my ceiling just to be safe. After that, I’ll roll on two coats of finish and finally, after all of that, I should be done and the living room will be better than before. And, best of all, it should look good and resist flaking or peeling for years to come!

Peeling paint can be a very frustrating situation. And when it happens to us, we may find ourselves tempted to take a shortcut or an easy way out. However, in a situation like this, shortcuts just don’t produce good results. Instead, take the time to do the project the right way. It’s a lengthier, more time-consuming fix, but it will give you much better results (and save you a lot of repeat work) in the long run!

The Fabric Softener Fix for Stripping Wallpaper!

Posted on January 28, 2016August 6, 2019

On August 28, 2015, we finally closed on our home in Fruitport, Michigan. Being a short sale, Patrick and I had been waiting since late February of that same year to sign the documents, solidifying the closure. I knew it would be months before we could move in, even after the closure, but that was the least of my worries. We were inching closer to our ultimate goal of remodeling a home. Standing two stories tall, half brick-half vinyl siding, attached garage, on just shy of an acre, seven bedrooms, and three and one-half baths, we were eager to start our adventure in reconstructing and cosmetically reconditioning a three thousand square foot, 1970’s retro home.

A twenty foot dumpster had barely enough space for all the garbage and debris we removed from the home. White ceramic tile and soiled carpet had been pried and stripped from the floors; drywall torn down in the master closet, living room, basement, and upstairs spare bathroom; three layers of shingles had been removed from the roof surrounding the fireplace. Yet, despite all this, the most agonizing and time consuming demolition project was still ahead: the removal of the wallpaper!

Throughout the whole process, my most valuable resource was Patrick’s mom, Phyllis, and her sister, Aunt Diane. Thanks to their much-appreciated help, we were able to remove the majority of wallpaper from six walls, including the kitchen, two bedrooms, a master walk-in closet, and two bathrooms in two days time.

However, even though we got the job finished in the end, it wasn’t without some complications. In fact, after many “oops” and a bunch of experimentation as to what solutions and tools to use, it occurred to me that stripping wallpaper was going to take a lot more time and patience than I had anticipated. Who knew that dogs of all shapes and sizes holding balloons could be so intimidating? (see the photos!) It only took us three walls of peeling quarter-sized paper pieces, one-by-one before I was found myself ready to defeat.

It was around that time, at the moment of near despair, that we decided to shift gears and try something different.

After reading somewhere that fabric softener actually helped in the process of removing wallpaper, we decided to give it a try. After all, what was there to lose?

So, in a yellow garden Sprayer, we combined 1/2 gallon of SUPER hot water (though not quite boiling) with 1/2 gallon of fabric softener (we used the least expensive!) along with 1 cup of DIF Concentrate Wallpaper Remover.

Using a PaperTiger by Zinsser, I scored the wallpaper in circular motions. And here, I’d like to urge a little caution: I cannot stress how important it is not to press too hard when scoring. Using too much pressure with the PaperTiger can easily result in damaged drywall. Light to medium pressure works just fine.

To prevent damage to our sub floors, we used Blue Painter’s Tape to stick plastic sheeting to the top lip of all base boards to catch excess solution that dripped from the walls.

(On a side note: If you find yourself removing wallpaper in a room or setting where you’re concerned about using a garden sprayer, you can get the same effect by using a spray bottle filled with solution!)

Anyway, once we had all the prep work done, we sprayed our new solution onto the walls and let it sit for 20-30 minutes, then scraped it off using a variety of different wallpaper scrapers and putty knives.

The paper came off with remarkable ease and we realized we were finally closing in on finishing the project. A second application of solution was applied to clean what residual glue was left after the wallpaper had been peeled away. After a final wipe down using a sponge and hot water, the walls were left to dry.

Removing wallpaper isn’t typically an easy or fun project, but with the right tools, a little elbow grease, and the right team of determined women (in our case!) you can get it done in a short amount of time.

For us, when all was said and done, we celebrated our accomplishment with a well-deserved Mr. Scribbs pizza and I found myself considering the next step in this renovation!

Supplies Used:

Extremely hot tap water
Fabric softener (Any kind works: We used the least expensive)
DIF Concentrate wallpaper remover
Hand held 2 gallon garden sprayer
5-in-1 Hyde hand tool
Bucket of hot water
Large yellow sponge and bucket of hot water
Painter’s tape
Painter’s plastic
Ladder
Gloves
Lots of patience!!

3 Reasons Why Simply White Simply Works

Posted on January 12, 2016August 6, 2019

Photo by Bessler_2014

It’s old news, I know, but the color of 2016 is white. Yeah. White. Oh, technically it’s #OC-117 Simply White from Benjamin Moore, but, for all practical purposes, it’s white.

And that seems so profoundly . . . boring. White? The Benjamin Moore color system is home to over 3,500 bright, soft, wild, calming, deep, muted colors and the best they could come up with for 2016 was white?

A few months ago when the news came out, I thought it was crazy. The bold joke of some group of color professionals at Benjamin Moore who just didn’t care anymore. A group of people who, while sitting around sipping designer drinks, decided collectively: “let’s go into that meeting tomorrow and tell them white and see what happens! It’ll be hilarious!”

Yet, instead of being laughed out of whatever official color meeting took place, nobody got the joke and white was officially enshrined as the color of the year.

White?

That’s what I thought, anyway.

And then I saw some of the photos Benjamin Moore was using in their promotions. I read some of the explanations, the stories, the Narrative (with a capital “N”). And it started to make sense. Here are 3 reasons why I’ve changed my mind on Simply White.

Simplification

White simplifies. It declutters. It breathes a sense of calm, of peace, of cleanliness into a room. In this day and age of overwhelming visual stimulation, what’s needed most is often a simplification. A harbor. A space where visual overload isn’t allowed. A space where we can sit with a cup of coffee and the only distractions are the swirling snow outside the window and the gentle creaking of the hardwood when the furnace runs. White conveys that sense of calm, that sense of peace that is lacking in so much of our lives.

The Perfect Backdrop

White provides the perfect backdrop for all the other colors we use in our homes. As Ellen O’Neill, Benjamin Moore’s Creative Director, states in an interview with Architectural Digest: “When we were redesigning the showroom in the D&D Building, I said, ‘Just paint it all white because the story here is about all of our colors. And the best way to see those colors is in a white space.'”

What she’s getting at is this: white doesn’t compete for primacy. White’s content to take the backseat, to highlight another color, to direct all attention that way. In a space with white walls, any other color will gain strength, will stand out, can become the accent tone that gives a room it’s personality. And the beauty of it is that that color doesn’t need to be a vibrant orange, a deep blue, a dark red in order to do this. In a white room, that accent color can be as simple as a honey-hued stain on a couple of wood stools in a kitchen. Or the wooden beams on a ceiling. Or a slate gray countertop. Or a denim blue wall. Or a mossy green dresser. A white backdrop infuses each of these simple tones with a strength and a power in our decorating that they don’t have when surrounded by other colors.

Accommodating

Finally, white is imminently easy to work with. Working in a paint store and knowing the struggles many folks have when they try to find colors for their home, this is a very important point for me. Sure, design and style are important, but so is practicality. And Simply White is imminently practical. Why? Because it works in any decor. It adapts easily, fluidly, to whatever style you prefer. It can look rustic and it can look modern. It can work in a home where the desire is to create a lived-in, comfortable setting and it can work in a space where the goal is to create a pristine, almost clinical cleanliness. Few other colors are this accommodating. Few will look this good in so many settings with so little effort.

Making Home Feel Like Home

Benjamin Moore’s decision to make Simply White the color of the year was a bit of a surprise. And while at first it seemed like a choice devoid of serious thought, I’ve changed my mind. And on this particularly blustery winter day, I find myself drawn into the rooms in the photos. The simplicity, the clean lines, the natural tones…they make every one of those rooms feel, in a strange sense, like home. And that’s the point and power of paint, isn’t it? To take a space that’s wrapped in something as impersonal and cold as drywall and plaster and turn it into something that feels like home.

Q-Tip Touchups!

Posted on November 7, 2014August 6, 2019

Here’s a shortcut you can try next time you’ve got to touch up a few nail holes or wall dings in your home. Rather than get out a brush or a small roller and a tray, pick up a Q-Tip. Yes. I really mean one of these things:

Here’s the scoop: a Q-Tip is perfect for small touch up areas. You wouldn’t certainly want to do any large areas with it–that’s what rollers and brushes are for–but if you’d love a quick, painless method to touch up small nail holes, this is it. You just use it and toss it. No clean up, no mess. The small size of the touch up spot means it will easily blend in to the existing wall and, even if you’ve got a slightly larger area to cover, you can turn the Q-Tip on its side and use it as a micro-mini-roller. It takes a little bit of getting used to, but once you do, you’ll find out how easy this is for those quick touch ups!

My Shortcut to the Movie Theater

Posted on November 4, 2014August 6, 2019

“Century Theaters” by taviamcgrath is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Hey, we all love shortcuts, don’t we? At any rate, I love shortcuts. I love the idea that there’s a path, a way–a quicker way–to get from point A to point B than the path that everybody else is taking. Yeah . . . shortcuts are cool. At least, they’re cool when they work. When they don’t . . . we’ll that’s another story.

Years ago, I was attending a seminary in Kentucky and for the first time in my entire life (at least since I graduated from elementary school)–for the first time in my entire life since elementary school, I was cool and people actually wanted to be around me–even girls. Of course, it was all because I was one of the few people there who had a car and therefore that meant I could drive them places and drop them off at malls and restaurants and come back and get them later so they wouldn’t have to ride the bus or just stay home . . . but hey, like I said, girls wanted to ride in my car with me and whatever their reason, I wasn’t arguing.

Well, one particular day–a day I’ll never forget–ever–a group of us were driving to a movie theater. My friend Rick from New York was in the passenger seat and our friends Kate, from Australia, and Mallory from somewhere in the deep south were in the back seat. I, of course, was driving. And I was on top of the world. I was driving up and down through the hilly, horse-country of Kentucky. They skies were clear blue–cloudless–and I hung my arm out the window and felt especially suave as the wind whipped through my medium-length brown hair: I was a man with women in my car. And they were going to let me go to the movie theater with them. And actually sit by them when we watched the movie. It was a whole new world. And I was clipping along on the very top of it.

That is, until we crested the top of a hill and looked down on the main road that would lead us to the theater and we saw that there was a huge traffic back-up. We were already pushing the limits for time and with this back up, there was absolutely no chance we’d make the movie. Everybody groaned–of course, we were all seminary students, so nobody said anything bad–though, just to shatter your image of seminary students, nobody said “Praise the Lord” either. The girls were sad, Rick was sad and I was depressed. But then I remembered something. There was a short cut I had taken a few weeks ago when I was by myself and this same thing had happened. I had cut through a Piggly Wiggly parking lot, caught a back road and had discovered, on accident, the back entrance to the theater.

Those memories flashed through my mind in an instant and I quickly looked around as we were approaching the traffic jam–ahhh, there it was, the entrance to the parking lot I had cut through–I still had time to make it–If I acted fast.

I put both hands on the wheel, set my jaw, checked my rearview mirror and jerked the car to the right. One of the girls screamed in a high pitched squeel–“What are you doing?” I turned to answer her when I realized it was Rick screaming. The girls were just white-knuckling it in the back seat. I donned my most action-hero-like voice and grumbled “We’re taking a shortcut.” And then I looked in the rearview mirror and made eye-contact with Kate–the girl I was rather interested in–and I said (yes, this all happened)–I said, “I’ll get you to that movie, Kate–don’t you worry.” Oh yeah . . . I lived in some sort of bizarre imaginary world back then and you can see why having girls in my car was a new experience for me.

Anyway, like some kind of renegade cowboy, I nosed my little blue cavalier into that parking lot and I hit the gas. In moments, we were rocketing (at what seemed like 40 miles per hour or so) through that empty parking lot. We were driving past that traffic on the main road like it was standing still. When my passengers saw the driveway exit I was heading for and when they saw the movie theater sign, they got over their initial fear and actually cheered. The girls patted me on the back and said things like “good thinking!” Rick quit squealing and started rubbing his hands together as he estimated that we still had time to get in, get tickets, get popcorn and find good seats before the flick started.

We were riding high. It was moment I’ll never forget–I was the hero–I had navigated our vehicle around the gridlock and had brought us–against all odds–successfully and on-time to our destination. The girls were impressed. I was the captain of that vessel and, for that brief second, I was the captain of our destinies.

But then something happened–as usually is the case for me. You see, I made the mistake of looking into the rearview mirror as we were rocketing toward that driveway that would lead us to the theater. For just a second, I locked eyes with Kate and I winked. (Yeah, just call me John Wayne).

I winked to let her know I had done it–that I had known all along that we’d be fine–that I had made good on my promise to get her to that movie. All that in a little wink that lasted just a split second.

However, unfortunately, at the exact moment, I was winking into the rearview mirror, I should have been looking ahead. If I had, I would have seen the parking lot abutment that was approaching my car at a tremendous speed. You know what these things are right? I know you do, I just don’t know what to call them–they’re the short concrete bumps at the end of each parking space in some parking lots–nothing tall, but definitely something solid.

Anyway, My little blue car hit one of those going . . . I don’t know 20 mph . . . 30 mph . . . 10 mph . . . I have no idea . . . all I remember is that one second, I was winking and the next second my head was smashing into the roof of the car as it went airborne–Dukes of Hazzard style–over the abutment.

That moment was chaos in the car–the girls were tossed all over the place in the back seat, Rick started screaming again–squeeling in a high-pitched, annoying scream–and I . . . Dan Hansen, Seminary student . . . child of God . . . hollered out only one thing. It was a short word, but I said it loudly and really stretched it out (almost as if I were saying it in slow motion) and then, just to be sure I had adequately covered the situation, I said it 5 more times in a row.

Well, somehow, when the car came down, I managed to get it under control and bring it to a stop. Rick was crying, I was shaking and wondering if I had really said what I thought I said out loud. The girls were shaken up and Kate asked me what the heck I was thinking . . . though, again, to taint your image of seminary students, she didn’t use the word “heck.” (But she’s from Australia, so that’s ok. Honestly, I think they even use it in place of “Amen” when they say the Lord’s Prayer).

I tried to regain my composure, but it was impossible. I started edging my car slowly toward the parking lot entrance we had been driving toward before the abutment event, but now the car was making weird thumping and banging sounds. These were not coming from the radio. I checked.

They were coming from somewhere underneath the car. There were problems–big problems–with my car and I was all alone in Kentucky and I didn’t know where to bring it and my car was the only thing making me cool. I said to Rick that we should probably drop by a shop and see if they can find out what’s wrong with the car. The girls asked if we could drop them off at the theater while we did that. And I did. And that was the end of my brief stint as a cool guy on campus. Even after my car was fixed, I never regained cool status–I had been labelled as a moron on the road.

Seminary students can be so cruel.

Anyway, some shortcuts are great. Some really help you get through projects quickly or get to a given location faster than everybody else. Other ones make you look like an idiot, blow your chances with Kate from Australia and cost you about $700 in damage to your car.

Those are the shortcuts I take most often. Next time we’ll discuss how this relates to paint.