Wallcovering: Paint, Products, and Characteristics
Paint is the most common wallcovering option for most homeowners in Ottawa, Ontario.
Residential painting offers an instant facelift to your home, both interior, and exterior, with very little hassle.
If you’re planning to sell your home any time soon, repainting it can increase its appeal and overall value.
Having said that, choosing the correct type of paint is one of the biggest challenges for most homeowners.
Choosing the right paint formulation, color, and finish can quickly become overwhelming if you don’t have the skill and experience.
In this article, we will be sharing some paint types and characteristics to help you quickly choose the right paint type.
There are two main families of paints:
• Water-based paints: are also called acrylic paints. They contain binders, pigments, additives, and solvents. As it is water-based paint, the majority solvent is water. Some synthetic solvents are sometimes present in small amounts. This type of paint is suitable for almost any type of material and is easy to maintain. Also, they dry quickly and emit less odor and products harmful to health during application.
• The paints are based on synthetic solvents: same general composition as the water paint, but with synthetic solvents. There are oil paints, oil-based solvents, and alkyds, with emulsified oil-based water solvents. Synthetic solvent-based paint adheres better to surfaces and camouflages wall imperfections. However, it gives off strong odors, takes longer to dry, deteriorates quickly, and release chemicals harmful to health, especially oil paint.
Paint is generally affordable and relatively easy to apply – depending on the type of paint.
The color possibilities are almost endless, and there are several types of paint suitable for every room in the home, for example, moisture-resistant paints, designed specifically for kitchens and bathrooms.
In addition, several types of finish are also available; they are grouped under three main categories:
• Matte: absorbs light
• Glossy: reflects light
• Satin: a compromise between matt and shiny, with a silky appearance.
The choice of finish generally depends on the type of surface you want to paint (new, damaged, imperfect, etc.) and the room (traffic, etc.)
Modern paints and those based on water, such as oil paint latex, emit less toxic products and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) harmful to the health of residents and those who apply paint.
There are even recycled paints.
Some paints release more volatile organic compounds (VOC) than others – especially solvent-based ones.
It is, therefore, necessary to avoid applying them in bedrooms. Also, hard-to-reach surfaces such as the ceiling or corners can make the application more difficult.
For such situations, we recommend that you hire a professional painting contractor in Ottawa, Ontario, to make your job easier and ensure a job well done.
Finally, the surface on which the paint is applied must be well prepared according to the type of coating already present and the type of paint that will be applied to it.
For example, a water-based paint like latex cannot be applied directly over oil-based paint.
In some cases, in addition to cleaning and degreasing the surface, you need to add a primer or other pretreatment (sanding, etc.) before applying the paint.
A minimum of two coats is generally required for durability.
Need Help With That?
Choosing paint types and colors can be fun and a little intimidating at the same time.
But don’t worry, if you haven’t made up your minds yet, our team at Millers Painting Company can help.
We offer free paint and paint color consultancy alongside high-quality residential and commercial painting services in Kanata, Nepean, Barrhaven, and Westboro areas of Ottawa, Ontario.
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