Yesterday we did a quick write-up of the Alden proGrabit because we stripped one of the screws when removing the banister from the wall, which was being removed because we were painting the stairwell.
Plans had been in place to paint the stairwell for about three years. It took us that long because the color decision was left to one of the editors, who we now realize has some "difficulties" with color (she claims its because she's a word person, not a picture person). After painting six different color squares on the walls three years ago and then just leaving them there because she didn't like any of them and had, unbeknownst to her, given up on the choosing of the color, someone else decided to go to the paint store, pick out a color, and start painting. (Although in her defense, most of the visitors to the office thought the six color squares were, um, art, and that we deliberately put them there.)
Normally, we would have used this opportunity to try out the latest painting device but after a brief discussion we thought it would be good to do this project using "old school" tools to set a baseline. There are still plenty of walls in the RainyDayMagazine office to "freshen up."
The key to getting good
results has more to do with the amount of prep work than the actual painting. Spackling, sanding, and taping are all critical to the effort. If we had to pick one of the three, taping is definitely the most important step. Some might be tempted to skip and use those plastic painting "guides" and other such tools, but take our word on this... spend the time taping.
We had both rollers and brushes available for this project, and fter a few minutes, it was clear that rollers were the way to go. The coverage was smoother and faster...about 10x faster. One other tip is to use the 2" wide tape if you use rollers. It will let you run the rollers right up to the ceiling without getting paint on a surface you don't want to.
Music is another key ingredient (along with food) which keeps the crew painting and working in harmony. Our setup was this Altec Lansing T612 iPod Speaker system. It is portable, puts out great sound, and easily controlled.
We got most of the job finished over the course of the weekend. Two coats for flat color paint went onto the walls. One coat of glossy white went on to the stair risers and side trim. There is still a day's worth of minor touch-ups and clean up left, but we'll leave that to the interns. [Permalink]- Painting stairwell
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