Exterior

With Canada’s often harsh climate, buildings show the adverse affects of our cold winters and hot summers, making the best paint jobs look aged and worn out sooner than more stable climates. Common signs of weather damage are: cracked and peeling paint, fading, water damage, mould, wood rot and even damage to the surface underneath the paint.

The key to beautiful exterior paint jobs is always surface preparation. There are three steps to a good surface prep job:

• Clean the surface using soapy water for siding or a pressure washer for bricks and masonry
• Remove any loose paint, fill and sand smooth on surface to be painted
• Prime and seal surfaces with the appropriate primer

Once the substrate is cleaned, repaired of any damage and primed the finishing coats are carefully applied using a brush and roller or spray equipment. With today’s technologies, exterior paints and stains are always being reformulated and refined to make them more durable, colourfast and eco-friendly.

Traditionally, because of our climate and its extremities, oil paint has been the first choice of painters due to its durability outside. While oil (or alkyd as it is often called) is a good candidate for exteriors, it is not particularly good for the environment. The fumes from the paint release harmful vapors called VOCs into the atmosphere. Cleaning tools used with oil paints requires solvents which are also harmful in the air we breathe and in our water.

Wallpaper

Wallpaper is much like paint in the sense that it is being used to transform the atmosphere of your space. Unlike paint, wallpaper opens up a whole plethora of options with colours, patterns, textures and even the papers sheen. While this may seem daunting at first, choosing from such a range of variables for your space can be quite exciting.

Here are four of the most common types of wall covering:

• Solid Paper:

  The most basic of paper wall coverings. This covering has no vinyl backing to it, therefore it is more fragile than other paper coverings and requires more care taken during application and when cleaning it.

• Vinyl-Coated Paper:

  Paper wall covering with a thin vinyl coating. The vinyl reinforcement makes this a bit more durable than a solid paper wall covering while maintaining the same appearance as solid paper. Vinyl-coated paper still tends to need careful application and a light touch when cleaning it.

• Paper-Backed Vinyl Paper:

  This covering has a vinyl layer on top with a layer of paper as the backing. This is a very common choice for consumers these days. It generally comes pre-pasted and it is more washable than the previous examples.

• Fabric-Backed Vinyl:

  A vinyl wall covering with a fabric backing. The most common fabric used is either made of cheesecloth or fibreglass. This type of wall covering is stronger and heavier than the previous examples making it washable and, because it is less likely to tear it can be stripped and not damage the substrate underneath.