A Gallon of Paint: The Tire of the Home Improvement World

Posted on January 18, 2011August 6, 2019

I drive an old car. An OLD car. It’s a 1996 Chevy Cavalier. It’s purple. It used to be my wife’s. And yet, even though it has all that going against it–even though it’s probably one of the least “manly” cars you’re likely to see on the road–I continue to drive it. The reasons? It’s paid for and it continues to run.

That is, until a couple months ago. See, a couple months ago, the front end started giving out.

Now, I should be clear and explain that I’m not a car guy. So, what I mean when I say the “front end started giving out,” is simply that the car started shaking violently whenever I exceeded 30mph. In fact, it would shake so violently that the flabby skin under my arms–you know, where your muscles would be . . . if you had them–started jiggling and bouncing and flopping all over the place. It got so bad that just feeling it bouncing started to make me motion sick.

After one excessively jiggly ride, I got out of the car, waited for the flabby skin to settle down, and then announced to anybody who was listening (my wife), that it was time for a new car “because this one’s shot.”

However, before I jumped into the process of buying a new vehicle–and partly because I knew of my limitations as a “car guy”–I brought my little purple car in to a repair shop so they could confirm my diagnosis of death. Surprisingly, after about 15 minutes with the car, they informed me that I needed a new passenger-side front tire.

Yeah. Instead of the $4000 bill for replacing my front end, I needed a $67 tire.

Well, naturally, I told them to go ahead with the work and I was shocked when I drove the car off the lot and my flabby underarm skin didn’t jounce all over the place. It was hard to believe that a $67 tire could make all that difference. But it did.

And crazy as it sounds . . . a gallon of paint is just like that tire.

See, many folks look at their homes and, if they’re bored with it or if their feeling that some changes need to be made, most of them feel that the solution is to remodel. They debate whether or not they should tear out a wall, put in new flooring, rip out their cabinets and replace them with new. They toy around with the ideas of buying new furniture, new artwork, new window treatments all in the hopes of sprucing up their home and giving it a much-needed facelift.

However, what many folks don’t realize is that a gallon of paint can often make all the difference in the world.

Now, maybe that doesn’t sound accurate to you, but it’s the truth. Painting a room in your home is rated by almost every home decorator and home fix-it guru as the best “bang-for-your-buck” project you can tackle. And the reason is simple: the color on our walls does more to influence the look and feel of a room than almost anything else.

You want to make your furniture look new? Then put a new backdrop behind it. Change that taupe on your walls to a brighter color, a darker color, a lighter color. Go with a green or a blue or a grey and watch how your couch or your chairs suddenly take on new life.

Sick of those old cabinets? Well, rather than rip them out and replace them (easily a $10,000 project), why not repaint them? Get rid of that old wood look and turn them white, or bisque or whatever color you can imagine. Sure, it will take some work, but in the end, you can probably accomplish the project for under $200–much less than the cabinet re-do.

To get back to my car scenario: I was convinced the only way to make a difference in the way my car felt, was to either drop $4000 on huge repairs or to buy a new car. I was shocked to find out that something so small–a new tire–could make the car drive almost like new. In the same way, don’t let yourself be convinced that the only way to spruce up your home significantly is to tackle some hugely expensive remodel project. A gallon of paint can go a long way’s toward changing the look and feel and attitude of any room–and at a price you just can’t beat.

New Year’s Thoughts: Grape Juice and Mt. Vesuvius

Posted on January 3, 2011August 6, 2019

On New Year’s Eve this year, my wife bought two bottles of Sparkling Grape juice. And as I popped them open at 12:01 am on January 1, I was suddenly reminded of a memory from my childhood.

See, it wasn’t for New Year’s Eve (because when I was a kid, I don’t know if we ever saw the clock hit 11:00pm) but for some other festive reason, mom purchased a bottle of Sparkling Red Grape Juice. (Truth be told, it was probably on sale).

Anyway, at dinner that fateful evening we ended with our little glasses of Grape Juice and then Dad crammed the plug into the bottle and asked me to put it in the fridge.

Everybody remained seated at the table while I took the bottle into the kitchen. However, part way across the room, I looked at the bottle. Through the greenish glass, I saw the small amount of remaining juice sloshing around. And then, after opening the door to the fridge, before I put the bottle in, I shook it. I don’t know why. Maybe because I was a kid and didn’t know any better. Maybe because I wanted to watch it fizz in the bottle. Maybe because I secretly hoped it would do what Champagne always does in the movies: make a loud pop and then fizz and dribble out of the bottle.

I truly don’t remember what exactly I was thinking, but I DO remember watching the stuff in the bottle start to fizz and boil immediately after the shaking. I then remember looking at the little plastic plug dad had crammed into the neck of the bottle. Then–and you’ve got to understand, things were moving quickly from this point on–I remember noticing that the plug was moving—out.

At that point, it was a foot race. I shot across that room like my life depended on it. Because it did.

My little-kid-barefeet slapped the linoleum like a track star’s as I sprang across the room. Wind whipped through my hair and my eyes teared (partly because of the speed at which I ran and partly because I was scared). Using almost superhuman speed–like the Flash–I basically teleported across that room and ended up at the sink because, in my limited understanding of the situation, I believed I could contain the inevitable spill there. Sadly, no.

As I arrived at the sink, that noble, brave cap gave up the fight and exploded from the bottle with the force of a cannonball. It shot past my head, hit the ceiling with a loud thump and then shot off in another direction. I don’t know where it went because, at that point, I had other problems: immediately following the cap event was a volcanic eruption that most likely dwarfed Vesuvius.

It could only be described as an explosion. It was over in less than a second, but it was devastating. I remember standing there and looking at the curtains covered with red grape juice that looked like blood. I looked at the walls and saw them dripping with grape juice that looked like blood. I turned and saw that the floor was covered with red foam that looked like . . . blood. The cupboards were coated. The fridge was still open and was covered with juice—inside and out. And then, I looked still farther and saw my entire family staring at me.

I’ll never forget two things about my family as they sat there. First, I’ll never forget dad’s expression. It was a mixture of absolute shock, supreme sadness, and a strange delight in seeing the sheer awesomeness of the explosion. (Because no matter how old guys get, they still like explosions).

The other thing I’ll never forget is staring at the back of mom’s curly head. She didn’t turn and look at me. She just sat there–looking the other way. Hunched over. Her back was coated in grape juice. Her hair was full of it. But she didn’t turn–not at first. She just sat there. Maybe she was counting–trying to remain calm. Maybe she was recovering from the shock. Maybe she was praying. I don’t know.

All I remember thinking was that at some point, she was going to turn around and then, to paraphrase Ricky Ricardo, I was going to have a lot of ‘splaining to do.

Well, eventually, inevitably, she did turn around. The entire family watched her with bated breath, though nobody moved a muscle. Their wide eyes followed mom as she slowly turned in her chair. Finally, after an eternity, her eyes settled on me. I wiped the grape juice out of my eyes so I could see my executioner. I knew I was toast, but I wanted to go with some dignity.

However, instead of launching into a tirade I would have deserved, my mom laughed. And then, of course, the whole family laughed. Except for me. (Because I figured it was a trick).

Turns out, it wasn’t. Oh, when we got to cleaning it up (and believe me, the “WE” I refer to was largely “ME”) it wasn’t all giggles and fun. But still, mom never laid into me like I expected. It remains one of the most unexpected reactions I’ve ever experienced.

And as we turn over a New Year on the calendar, and I saw those bottles of sparkling grape juice that my wife had purchased, it made me think about that whole event. It’s funny, I don’t remember the cleaning process very clearly. I don’t remember what happened with my clothes, the curtains, how long it all took, and so on. I don’t remember the details of the horror. What I do remember is not getting figuratively killed. Which was awesome. And it made me think about my kids and my wife and the people I encounter on a daily basis. How often do those same people cause way less frustration for me than I caused for mom? And yet, how often do I fail to cut them any slack?

The things people remember will be the times of mercy and kindness, the smile that came when a scowl was expected. Moving into this year, that’s going to be one of my goals. To extend a little grace. Even when my kids are as dumb as I always was . . . .

Tessa Meets the Corona Excalibur Brush

Posted on December 15, 2010August 6, 2019

This is Tessa. She looks cute, I’ll give her that. But behind those eyes lurks a bizarre sense of humor and a complete lack of fear and forethought.

See, a week and a half ago, she microwaved something for 30 minutes or more. The entire kitchen filled with black smoke and my wife and I spent nearly 5 hours (till 2:30 in the morning) scrubbing and cleaning and washing and airing out the home.

That was bad enough, but then last night, Tessa almost pushed things over the top. Almost. She was thwarted in her attempts because of a wise purchase I had made a few hours earlier.

Allow me to explain: A couple nights ago I started a paint project in our kitchen. I had finished most of the work on that first night and last night, I decided to finish up by painting some chalkboard paint on a small area on the wall so my wife could make notes, keep a small grocery list or whatever.

Anyway, that was last night’s project and before I left RepcoLite at the end of the day, I walked through the aisles picking up the supplies I was going to need. I grabbed some tape, a roller, some primer for another project and then, finally, I ended up in the brush aisle.

Now, you may remember another blog post where I wrote about a particular brush that I really love—the Chinex Excalibur brush from Corona. It’s a great brush—it cleans up easily, it applies paint beautifully and in every other way, it’s been the best brush I’ve ever owned. I’ve talked about it on the radio, I’ve written about it, and I’ve plugged it to our customers over and over and over again. I love it. Actually, I LOVED it.

See, about a month ago, I wrecked mine. I used it for polyurethane and forgot to clean it up. I found it a few days later, lying face down on my workbench. It was a terrible loss—an inglorious end for such a magnificent tool—and I’ve been mad at myself ever since.

Anyway, back to yesterday: I was walking through the aisles at RepcoLite and I came to the brushes. My first inclination—since I’m trying to watch what I spend—was to pick up the cheap brush for my paint job that night. I could get a $7 brush, get a couple uses out of it and toss it. I was just about to do that when I saw a new Chinex Excalibur brush on the shelf. That made me pause. I debated back and forth for a while and finally settled on the more expensive brush—exactly the same as the one I had wrecked a month or so ago.

I felt a little bad about spending the extra money . . . but before long I was at home working—applying my black chalkboard paint to the wall using my new brush.

Well, everything went well: I finished the project quickly and started to wash out my new brush and put my stuff away for the night. I had only run the brush under the tap for about 30 seconds when one of the kids hollered for my attention. When they didn’t quit, I quickly spun the brush in my hands to remove the excess water and I set it on the counter planning to come back later and rinse it a little better.

5 minutes later, after dealing with the kid who needed help, I came back to finish my brush cleaning job and discovered the brush was missing. I looked everywhere. It was nowhere to be found. So I did what I always do when I can’t find something: I called for the kids and asked who took it.

Well, it didn’t take long for Tessa (ahh, back to Tessa)—the one who microwaved our kitchen a couple nights ago—to come slinking out of the living room with my brush in her hands.

When she gave it to me, I asked her what she had been doing with it. She answered, as all kids everywhere answer: “nothing” and then she quickly tried to leave.

Well, something wasn’t quite right, so I pressed the issue: “were you brushing things in the living room?”

She looked down, up, sideways—everywhere except at me—and finally answered: “yes.”

Well, that made me nervous—she’d been brushing in the living room with a brush that I’d just had black paint in and which I had only rinsed out for a few seconds before putting down on the counter . . . and then I moved beyond nervous when a horrible thought hit me: we had just received new chairs from my inlaws. The only new things in our home right now. The only things that really could be damaged or wrecked by a little kid with a paint brush.

I gulped and asked the question I didn’t want to ask: “Did you brush the chairs?”

Tessa looked at me . . . debated . . . I could see the turmoil in her little crazy 5 year old kid eyes . . . and then she finally answered: “Well, Hannah told me to do it.”

Now, this is Hannah. She’s 3 years old. Would you listen to Hannah if she told you to do something? No. Nobody in their right mind would listen to Hannah on matters of grave importance. Why Tessa routinely chooses to listen to her is something that I cannot even begin to understand. However, at that particular moment, I wasn’t even thinking about it. I was thinking about all the different tricks I know to help me get black paint out of light fabric. That is, I was thinking about those things until I got to the chairs and noticed something amazing: they were completely clean.

Tessa even showed me where she brushed them. I turned on all the lights, examined them closely, and still . . . no paint. Not a smudge . . . not even a watered-down. gray streak. Nothing.

Well, naturally, I grabbed the brush and looked it over . . . and I realized how wise my purchase at RepcoLite earlier had been: the brush was perfectly—absolutely—clean.

I had only given it a quick, 30 second rinse in the sink. I had been pulled away from my task before I could adequately clean it. And yet, because of the special nature of the bristles used in this brush . . . that 30 seconds had been enough to rinse away every single last ounce of black paint. In fact, after just 30 seconds under running water this brush was clean enough to brush over brand new chairs and not leave a mark.

Now, I wouldn’t recommend trying that. In fact, I’ll never intentionally try it again . . . but I will, one more time, recommend the corona excalibur brush as THE best brush I’ve ever owned. Do yourself a favor . . . and pick one up. Drop the money just once and you’re not going to be sorry.

Must-Have Tools for Every Homeowner

Posted on November 16, 2010August 6, 2019

Many of the common home improvement jobs we run into during the course of owning a home are of the small variety: little touch-ups on our trim, patching some dinged-up drywall, and stuff like that.

In and of themselves, these jobs take 10 minutes here, 20 minutes there. But, unfortunately, many of these little jobs require some specific tools. If we don't have the right tools on hand, the tendency is to put the job off, to wait on it until we get the right supplies.

And when we do that, it doesn't take long for the jobs to pile up into mountains of work. Suddenly the 20 minute job is joined by 14 other 20 minute jobs and we find ourselves looking at hours and hours of work.

Having the right tools on hand means you can accomplish jobs quickly and easily. You can basically cross them off your "To-Do" list before you even put them on. And best of all, compiling this "emergency kit" of "Must-Have" tools should cost as little as $50.

Let's Get to the List:

THE CHINEX EXCALIBUR BRUSH from CORONA. OK, this is the one area where we'd recommend that you splurge a little. This brush from Corona is comprised of special filaments that are chemically engineered to release latex paints. This means a couple of things. First, the brush will apply latex paints remarkably well. Secondly (and more importantly, in my book), this means the brush will clean up easily. Literally, you can swirl this brush around in a bucket of water for about 30 seconds and then run it under a tap for 10-15 seconds more and it will be perfectly clean. That's why we recommend it for your "Emergency Kit". The ease with which it cleans up makes it less of a pain for you to switch colors and accomplish multiple little touch-ups quickly and easily.

PUTTY KNIVES. If you're going to stock up on a little bit of spackling compound, then you better get a few putty knives to go with it. Now, if you want some high-quality knives, you can buy them at RepcoLite for about $5.00 - $7.00 or so. But if you want something cheaper for your "Emergency Kit", look into the plastic knives we stock. Oh, they're not going to last forever, but if you're just filling a few holes or doing a little puttying, they'll be fine. You can purchase them in 1", 2" and 3" sizes--each one less than $1.00.

TAPE. Always have a roll of safe-release painter's blue tape from 3M around. Sure, you could purchase cheaper rolls of tape, but the safe-release tape is nice because it can be used on so many different surfaces. It's the only tape I know of that can perform well on walls, trim, freshly painted areas, and wallpaper. Regular tape is limited as to where it can be used, but the safe-release 3M tape can be used in almost any situation you encounter. And, as an added benefit, this tape offers remarkably crisp cut-in lines.

Sheep from Norway and Web-Based Color Tools

Posted on November 3, 2010August 6, 2019

“Attentive Sheep” by enki22 is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Sometimes, the most difficult part of the painting process is picking the right colors. After all, nobody wants to spend money and time on a project only to end up with colors they don’t like all over their walls. For that matter, nobody wants to spend time and money on a project only to end up with colors that they “like” on their walls. We want to go through the work of that painting process and end up with results we love.

And so, many would-be home re-decorators find themselves bogged down in the very first step of the painting process: color selection. Because really, it’s all about color. If you put the right combination of colors together, the project turns out great. Use the wrong colors and it’s not going to matter whether or not you used the highest quality paints, the best brushes and roller covers made from the wool of spotless sheep raised in the pristine, picturesque landscapes of Norway (or wherever). All the fancy tools and quality paints in the world can’t save you from a bad color combo.

Color’s critical to every paint project and finding your inspiration isn’t always easy. As a result, many people start a project expecting to make big changes in their home. By the end of the project, however, they find that they’ve fallen back into old standards they’ve become comfortable with. They know those color schemes worked in their home and they know they’re safe. But we also all know that “safe” isn’t always fun.

Finding new colors, new combinations, exciting themes seems tricky, but it doesn’t need to be. In fact, the internet is filled with great color tools that will help you visualize color combinations you may never have thought of before. These tools are designed for various purposes, but all of them can be used by the savvy home re-decorator to narrow down her colors, and, most importantly, to help her step outside of her standard color schemes.

Benjamin Moore’s Color Chooser

The first online tool I want to recommend to you is the Benjamin Moore Color Chooser. This is a standard tool designed specifically for selecting paint color combinations.

When you click the link, you’ll be taken to a page where you can create your own projects, store colors and do all kinds of other tasks. But the main thrust of the site is to allow you to pick from a variety of sample room photos and then fill in the walls, the trim, the ceilings with the Benjamin Moore Colors of your choice. You’ll be able to see how the colors interact with each other and you’ll get an idea about what certain color combos might look like in your home.

Spin the Color Wheel

Another great tool is called Spin the Color Wheel. And while it sounds like a game show, you’re not going to win any prizes here (except maybe a cool color scheme for your bathroom).

Spin the Color Wheel is actually a tool that’s designed to help web-designers find perfect color schemes for, well, websites. And it’s actually kind of fun. (Even without the prizes. Or Pat Sajak. Or the crowd chanting “Spin. The. Wheel!”)

You just go to the site and click the “Spin the Color Wheel” button on the right. When you do so, you’ll be presented with 3 random color samples. If you don’t like any of them, you can “spin again”. If you like one or two of them, you can press a little “hold” button. This will lock this color down so it doesn’t change with subsequent spins of the wheel.

After going through it a couple times, I found 3 or 4 color schemes that I thought were pretty interesting (one of which is displayed in the picture above). Oh, they may need a little tweaking here and there, but still . . . I went from having no idea what colors to choose or what would look good together to having 3 or 4 places to start from.

The Color Wizard

The Color Wizard is another web-designer tool. But, just like the Color Wheel one we just talked about, the Color Wizard can help you narrow down paint colors and discover new themes.

This one works based on some RED, GREEN and BLUE sliders. You just drag the sliders from left to right and your color samples change. Sounds pretty basic, right? Well, there’s an interesting twist to this site that makes it worth checking out: using a selection panel on the left of the color sample window, you can select different types of color schemes. You can select Complimentary Colors and the options you receive when you drag the sliders will represent complimentary colors on a color wheel. Or, you could select Analagous Colors and you’ll be presented with samples that are strictly analagous. It’s a great way to explore color, and, like the other tools I mentioned above, it’s a great way to jump start your creative mind and help you discover color schemes you may never have considered before.

All in All…

All in all, tools like these are great ways for nervous or newbie decorators to discover color schemes and open their eyes to the wide world of color. However, I’d recommend a couple cautions.

First, remember that the colors you see on your screen (especially when using the Benjamin Moore color chooser or any other paint-related color tool) are not necessarily accurate representations of the color in real life. Your monitor may show colors with a greener tint than they really have, or maybe a redder tone. In real life, when you see the chips you thought looked so good on the computer, you might find that they don’t look good at all.

But don’t despair! Use the color selection tools on the internet for a basis for color selection. If you saw a great tan, blue and green combination, but don’t like the color chips when you see them in real life, then find other chips that come close to the colors as you saw them on your monitor.

A second caution I’d urge is this: the web-designer tools are not going to present you with nice and tidy paint chip references. Instead, you’re going to get color names like “#FF7700” or the ever popular “#D1BEAD”. These are web colors and web-designers and other geeks know what they mean. If you go into a paint store with those numbers, you’re going to get a lot of blank stares. So, use those colors as starting points. Use them to figure out what colors you like to see together and then, when you go to the paint store, do your best to recreate what you found. Good luck, have fun . . . and most importantly, get painting!

Silicone Caulk: The Cheese Grater of the Home Improvement World

Posted on October 28, 2010August 6, 2019

OK, that title is convoluted at best. But it’s more attention-grabbing than the first title I tossed up there: Silicone Caulk–Use With CAUTION. Yeah, after typing that, I almost fell asleep. So I changed the title in the hopes of infusing it with energy and lively interest.

Anyway, if you read the earlier post about cheese graters, you’ll realize what I’m getting at here. If you missed the post about cheese graters . . . well, you need to check it out (here!).

The point of that post was to poke fun at myself and stress the point that there are certain items out there . . . in the wide, scary world . . . that look innocent, but can really screw up your day. Cheese graters and dental picks are just a couple.

Today, we’re shifting back into the world of home improvements and were going to talk, as the title suggests, about the Cheese Grater of the Home Improvement World: Silicone Caulk.

See, silicone caulk, if you’re not familiar with it, is a type of caulk that sticks tenaciously to almost any surface. It’s also extremely water resistant. Those two qualities make it tremendously useful . . . but also, “sneakily” dangerous.

Let me explain: silicone caulk is so resistant to almost everything, that nothing . . . NOTHING . . . will stick to it. It repels water, moisture, paint and even itself. And that’s where the danger lies.

Every now and then, folks pick up a tube of silicone caulk by accident at a home improvement warehouse. They just wander down an aisle, grab a tube and take it home. Then, they go ahead and do all their caulking. They caulk around their woodwork, around their windows, around their crown molding . . . they caulk everywhere.

And then, after all that work is done, they start painting. And that’s when they notice that the paint doesn’t seem to be sticking. At all. Wherever they applied their caulk, they discover the paint won’t adhere.

Now normally, when this happens, people are sad. They’re frustrated. They’re angry. But they’re usually not flipping out yet. And this is because they don’t understand the nature of silicone caulk. They figure they’ll just buy some new caulk–some paintable caulk–and they’ll put that over the silicone. Or, worst-case-scenario, they’ll prime all the silicone caulk with a special primer before they paint. Either way, they figure there’s a relatively simple solution.

But unfortunately, there’s not. As I mentioned earlier, nothing will stick to silicone caulk. I even used ALL CAPS to express that idea. Nothing will stick to silicone–not even silicone. And that means the only way to truly fix the problem is to remove the caulk. Completely.

Now, for some people, caulking and painting a room is bad enough. Not everybody wakes up every morning, just longing for another paint job to accomplish. But even if you like painting and caulking, nobody likes caulking, painting, discovering a problem, removing the caulk, scrubbing the walls, re-caulking and finally re-painting. That’s just no fun at all.

And that’s why I’m suggesting that silicone caulk needs to be used with caution. In the right situation, it can’t be beat. In a bathroom, between your tub surround and your tub, it’s ideal. But in an area where you plan to do some painting . . . avoid it like the plague.