Posted by Peter Martino on Fri, Jul 03, 2009 @ 06:48 AM
If you are a homeowner considering painting the 
exterior of your home in Rhode Island there are several factors you should consider. Whether you plan on attempting the paint job yourself or hiring a Rhode Island painting contractor the three factors described below will be helpful.
Factor #1: Strict Rhode Island Lead Removal Laws: Rhode Island is one of the strictest states in the U.S. regarding the removal of lead paint. The government assumes any home build before 1978 contains lead paint. If a homeowner or painting contractor does not abide by the federal, state, and local regulations they can be subject to serious fines. Contact your local health department before starting a project to get information on the approved methods of paint removal such as wet sanding, low-heat removal, and HEPA vaccuum power sanding.
Factor #2: Environmental moisture issues: Many of Rhode Island homes are within a few miles of the coast. Moisture laden, salty air can cause wood to deteriorate prematurely and can cause paint to have difficulty adhering properly. Consider purchasing a moisture meter and check several areas of the wood substrate for high levels of moisture. This will help prevent you from a frustrating cycle of peeling due to moisture.
Factor #3: Persistent peeling problems: Many homeowners and even dishonest or unprofessional house painters think they can solve ongoing moisture problems. The truth is recurring problems with peeling, blistering, or flaking paint are rarely due to bad paint, lack of primer, or bad prep work (although those can be factors). A vast majority of peeling problems are due to an interior or exterior moisture problem. It can often be difficult to determine the source of the problem, but in many cases it's best to replace some or all of the effected areas.
If you are a looking for a professional and honest house painter in Rhode Island contact United Home Experts to help you with your paint job. Contact Us.
Posted by Peter Martino on Fri, Jun 19, 2009 @ 09:00 AM
Painting contractors face more challenges now then ever. If you open the yellow pages from 5 or 10 years ago it's inevitable that a majority of the painting contractors listed are out of business, have relocated, or changed their name. These are some of the obstacles facing traditional painting contractors:
New Products:
Siding: More and more homeowners are choosing to install siding on their home to get away from the 5-7 year paint cycle. Vinyl siding and fiber cement siding are the 2 most commonly used products today.
"Lifetime Paints": Whether or not these products are too good to be true, which most experts suggest they are, is a discussion for another article. However they are still tapping into the share of customers that used to use traditional painting contractors. These "lifetime coating" companies rely heavily on the fact that the average homeowner sells and moves in less than 10 years.
Stricter Laws:
VOC Laws: Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's) are the additives that produce off-gases released from paint products. They can be harmful to our heath and the environment. Paint manufacturers are consistently changing the formulation of their products to abide by the more stringent state and federal regulations.
Lead Paint Removal:
Over 30 years after paint companies stopped using lead as an ingredient in paint, painting contractors still have to be careful. The state and town governments have very strict laws about how painters can and cannot remove lead paint. Knowing these laws and abiding by them is difficult for painting contractors.
These are just a couple of the obstacles facing the traditional painting contractor today. The important thing is that they be ready to adapt to a constantly changing industry.