Blog
What’s Your Weekend Worth?
I heard a story not too long ago from a homeowner who needed their deck stained, that reminded me of the value we provide as a painting service.
This homeowner had figured out that all it would cost to stain his deck was a can of stain and a case of beer. The stain was for the deck, and the beer was for his two best friends who were going to help him. They picked a Saturday in the middle of summer that worked for all of their schedules. As they started to stain the deck, the skies opened up and down poured. So they decided to open the beer and wait it out.
After a couple beers the rain stopped, but it was lunchtime so this homeowner decided to throw some stuff on the grill. The work that was done had washed away and needed to be restained, so they were going to need to eat in order to get through all the work ahead. They ate and drank until mid afternoon when the deck had dried sufficiently to where they could start working again. But then this homeowner realized he wasn't going to have enough stain, so he needed to go down to Home Depot to get another can. His friends waited, drank a little more, and talked until he got back. By this time his friends had to leave and the deck staining project was postponed for another day. That day never came.
The the beer is long gone, and the deck remained half-stained, an eyesore and a nagging reminder to this homeowner of a project unfinished.
How much are your weekends worth? A simple home exterior project that may take you weeks to finish, is all in a days work for us.
Not only will we do it fast, we will do it right. Decks are often in full sun. They warp and split with the heat. There is usually a fair amount of sanding and nail setting prep work to do before we stain, to make sure the deck stays in good shape until the next time around.
The moral of the story? Let your friends do what they do best–be friends. And hire us to do what we do best–give you back your weekends!
Paint or Stain?
Paint or stain? How to decide…
The question as to whether your house should be painted or stained depends on several factors. Both have advantages and disadvantages. New England weather can have extreme changes in temperature.
In New Hampshire, house painting and staining should be done every 5 to 7 years. If you have a new home with cedar siding or shakes, wood stain is probably your best bet. Stains have an infinite number of colors and transparencies that allow you to see the wood grain or be totally opaque as in a solid body stain. Solid body stains look no different than paint. If your home has been painted in the past, you'll probably want to stay with paint because the entire body and trim would have to be sanded to accept stain. This is labor-intensive and cost prohibitive.
An advantage to stain is that it absorbs into the wood and provides protection deeper, as opposed to paint, which forms a skin or vapor barrier on the outer surface. Because of this, stain does not require a primer coat to adhere. The disadvantage to stain is that it can be hard to tell when it has lost its effectiveness and moisture resistance. A stained house that has been let go too long can develop rot and mildew issues, which can be expensive to repair.
Exterior house paint puts a beautiful rich finish on your house that can last for just as long as stain. Paint forms a protective vapor barrier to seal out moisture. You know that it's time to repaint when you see peeling and blistering. Better to plan to repaint every five years, then to wait too long and end up having to do a lot of prep work sanding and priming an existing house. Paint allows you the option to change the color, regardless of what is underneath. This is difficult to do with stain.
If you're not sure whether you have a solid body stain or paint on your house, or you'd like to know when you should plan to paint your homes exterior again, call us to come and give you a free home exterior assessment. It's always better to plan for your house painting, then to wait until it's too late!
