Paint and Colour – helpful tips

Decide if you want to preserve, restore, or rehabilitate.

• preserve = maintain existing colour and paint type
• restore = change colour and paint type to match selected historic period
• rehabilitate = update colour and paint to a sympathetic but not necessarily historically accurate treatment

Choose an appropriate colour.

• Check Municipal Heritage Committee guidelines for your house or district.
• Compare earlier paint samples or photographs of your house.
• Avoid too many accent colours.

Choose the right type of paint.

• Consider: the existing paint, the surface to be painted, your desired finish.
• Choices include primers and sealers, oil-based paints, latex acrylic paints, milk paints, calcimine/whitewash, clear coat finishes.
• Consult the Region of Waterloo Practical Guide to Paint and Colour [pdf] for more information.

Whether you hire help or do the work yourself, preparation is key.

Without proper prep, painting is a waste of time and money!

You may not need to repaint, just clean surfaces.

• Surface grime and organic matter make paint look dull and dingy.
• Wash this away with soapy water.
• You may not need to repaint.

Solve mildew, chalking, and staining problems before you repaint.

• Mildew is a black fungus that feeds on the nutrients in paint.
• Test with a drop of household bleach. Mildew will turn white.
• Prevent mildew by scrubbing with a soft brush and a mixture of one cup non-ammonia detergent, four cups bleach, 16 cups water.
• Rinse well. Repaint with mildew-resistant paint.

• Chalking is the sun-caused breakdown of resin in oil-based paint.
• Test by rubbing your hand on the paint. Your hand will turn gray.
• Remove chalking with a stiff brush and mild detergent solution.
• Rinse thoroughly, dry, and repaint with high quality acrylic latex paint.

• Stains may be from rusting of metal. Sand. Repaint with rust-inhibiting paint.
• Stains may caused by chemical reaction between moisture and compounds in red cedar or redwood. Wash with 1-1 solution of denatured alcohol and water. Rinse. Apply stain-blocking primer.

Know when to wash, when to rough up surfaces, or when to remove old paint.

• Read the Region of Waterloo Practical Guide to Paint and Colour [pdf] sections on crazing, wrinkling, blistering, alligatoring and peeling.
• Solve underlying problems before you paint.

If hiring professionals, ask what prep they will do. Make sure their preparation work is appropriate.

• Hire a qualified contractor.
• Ask for a list of previous projects.
• Ask for references, and check them out.