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Atlanta Residential Commercial & Exterior Painting, Atlanta Painting Company, House Painters, Atlanta, Alpharetta, Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Brookhaven, Buckhead, Roswell, Marietta, Milton, Decatur

House Painting Contractors in Alpharetta GA

Summer is not officially here according to the equinox, but we’ve past Memorial Day and that means summer in Georgia.  This summer, GreenWave Solutions is going to offer exclusive Alpharetta house painting specials!

Alpharetta, one of Atlanta’s most affluent suburbs, has wide open spaces blanketed with subdivisions full of beautiful homes.  Many of these houses are between 10-20 years old and need the attention of GreenWave Solutions Alpharetta painters.

Exterior house painting is a simple and inexpensive way to preserve and maintain the beauty of your home.  It starts with a thorough pressure washing to remove dirt, debris and other surface contaminants.  After pressure washing, we will perform any carpentry and replace rotten wood or siding.  Then we prepare everything for painting.  This includes caulking gaps and joints, scraping peeling painting, priming bare areas, filling holes and patching imperfections.

Once the house is ready, it time to paint it.  GreenWave Solutions applies exterior coating using professional paint sprayers, just as the manufacturers recommend.  Spraying applies a thicker, smoother coating which translates to a longer lasting job for our clients.  Don’t be fooled by the “we do all work by hand” line.  It may sound good, but machines do better than humans when operated by a skilled professional.

Why do we use bulldozers to move dirt instead of using 300 guys with shovels?

At this point, we are almost done beautifying your home.  We perform quality inspection walk through with our client and project manager.  At this point, we fix any touch ups and tie up all loose ends.

Finally, we clean up and leave our job site how it was when we got there; except of course for the magnificent, freshly painted house.

This isn’t the only way to perform exterior painting in Alpharetta, but it is the way that GreenWave Solutions has a nearly perfect customer satisfaction record.

Call us today for your free residential painting estimate – 404-549-7776

Our 15% off discount applies to all residential projects costing $1500.00 or more and includes:

 

Primers are important to professional painting companies, interior painters, exterior painting.

What is the Purpose of Primers?

If you have ever been into a paint store you probably heard something about primers.  Whether you were asking about how to paint something or reading informational pamphlets, you learned that primers are important.  When talking to clients, I realize that “normal” people don’t know the exact definition of primers.  This article will help correct that.

What does a primer do?

Prepares a substrate to accept a top coat.

This is a short but vague answer.  A better answer is extrapolated when another question is asked.

What do you need the primer to do?

Answering this question will better define for what primers are used.  There are many different types of primers, each having a different purpose.  Here are some common applications for primers.

  • Promoting adhesion – This is important when painting hard, glossy surfaces like glass, plastic, metal, or porcelain.  If you painted directly on these surfaces, the paint would scrape off.  Bonding primers make these surfaces paintable.
  • Sealing stains – Painting over water, smoke or oil stains requires priming to prevent the stains from bleeding through the paint.
  • Sealing wood – In order to prevent tannin and knots to bleed through paint, you must prime raw wood.
  • Changing colors – When making drastic color changes, priming can save a coat or two of paint.
  • Smoothing substrates – Extremely rough and porous surfaces, like cinder blocks, are primed with a very thick coating so that the paint has an even surface.
  • Equalizing porosity – Primers are used to create a uniform porosity so that paints will have a uniform finish.  An example of this new drywall.  The drywall, tape, and finishing compound all have different porosity and require  priming if using a non-flat paint.
  • Preventing/Re-mediating rust  – There are primers that prevent rust on ferrous metals and others that reform rust into an inert metal.
  • Industrial applications – There are numerous specialty primers used for industrial painting applications.  These uses are too specific and technical for the purposes of this article.  If you have questions using these primers, you need to read the manufacturer specifications.

This concludes primers 101.  If you have more questions, email us using our contact form.

By

President of GreenWave Solutions, Atlanta’s painting company and house painters.  GreenWave Solutions offers the best painter services in Alpharetta, Atlanta, Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Roswell, Brookhaven, Duluth, Grant Park, Inman Park, Buckhead, Midtown, and many more!  We offer house painting in Johns Creek.

We are the best painters in Atlanta.

Interior and exterior Brookhaven painters and professional painting company.

How to Paint a Bathroom

This “How To” article is easier than wallpaper removal or popcorn removal.  We are going to learn how to paint a bathroom.  When painting a bathroom, the most important decision is what type of paint to use.

Bathrooms are unique rooms because they are high traffic and wet conditions.  The paint in bathrooms must be durable enough to withstand the traffic, but also water-resistant to stand up against steam from showers.  The simplest measure of determining durability of interior paints is sheen.  The higher the sheen, the more durable the coating.

In the old days, satin was the “go to” finish for baths.  Satin has lower sheen than semi-gloss but is more durable than flats.  With the advance in coating technologies, manufacturers have developed “washable flats” and matte finishes.  Washable flats and matte finishes have an angular sheen closer to a flat with durability that surpasses semi-gloss.  These finishes are typically reserved for premium quality lines of paint.  All major manufacturers have this finish as part of their product line.

Matte finish paints apply the same way as other those with other sheens.  Due to the high quality nature of these paints, they usually apply better than other paints.  Many have exceptional hide and are self priming.  GreenWave Solutions uses Sherwin Williams’ premium lines Duration Home and Emerald.

After you have chosen which paint you are going to use, it’s time to start painting.

To see how professional contractors do interior painting, see our “How to paint a room” article.

The easiest way to paint a bathroom or any other room is to hire a house painting contractor.  GreenWave Solutions has been Metro Atlanta’s premier painting company for over 8 years.  We specialize in interior painting, exterior painting, and all other residential and commercial painting.  Our goal for 2012 is to be the best painters in Alpharetta.  Our service area isn’t limited to Alpharetta.  We service Roswell, John’s Creek, Milton, Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Buckhead, Brookhaven, and most major Atlanta suburbs.

Call today to schedule your free estimate.

By: GreenWave Solutions, the best house painters in Alpharetta.

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Atlanta Wallpaper Removal, Roswell, Alpharetta, Decatur, Sandy Springs, Buckhead, Chamblee

How to Remove Wallpaper

We are going to tackle one of the most tedious and annoying jobs for do-it-yourselfers – wallpaper removal.

Anyone who has removed wallpaper knows that it is a horrible experience.  The scraping is horrible enough, but after it is done, you are left with dirty damaged drywall.  Then you learn that refinishing walls is harder than it looks on HGTV.  After that you get to have fun priming and painting.  I can’t tell you that there is secret to make wallpaper removal easy, but I will tell how professional painters do it.  Here we go.

1. Gather all you materials.  This is list of almost everything you need (there may be other items that I take for granted because I see this all the time.  Please don’t send me hate mail if I forgot something).

  • a steamer
  • scrapers
  • construction paper and plastic
  • painters tape
  • sponges and rags
  • wallpaper removal gel or solution (optional)
  • powder drywall joint compound, “mud” (45 minute)
  • mud pans
  • finishing knives
  • paint brushes
  • rollers, frames, pole
  • sand paper and pole sander
  • dust masks and eye protection
  • alkyd or shellac based primer
  • paint

2. Prepare your work area.  Cover floors with the construction paper.  Try and close off the area using the plastic.  This is for keeping the dust contained.  Remember to close any intake ducts or turn off HVAC.  Take off switch plates, electrical outlet covers, and anything else that’s in way.  This process is annoying, but you will be glad you did it at the end.  It controls dust and makes clean up MUCH easier.  Trust me.

3. Time to start removing the wallpaper.  If you are using wallpaper scorers and gels, follow the manufacturers instructions.  If you have a steamer, start steaming.  I recommend using a scoring tool to make holes in the vinyl layer.  This helps the heat and steam get through the paper for better release.  This can go two ways; either the paper is going to comes off in nice big pieces or small ones.  Pray for the first option.  Use your scraper to get under the paper and GENTLY scrape the paper and adhesive from the wall.  Try your best to avoid gouging holes in the wall.  The more damage you do during the removal, the more difficult refinishing the wall is going to be.  Keep a bucket of warm water and wipe off the wallpaper adhesive while its wet.  This also will facilitate next steps.

4. By now you are ready for a break.  Take a break, eat something, drink a beer and let the walls dry.

5. Refinish the walls.  This can be tricky.  Make sure you mix the drywall compound using the ratio on the bag.  Only mix small amounts at a time.  Using your finishing knives, apply a THIN layer of mud over the areas that have damage or are rough.  The trick here is too use as little finishing compound as necessary to bury imperfections.  Remember the more you put on, the more you are going to have to sand off to achieve a professional finish.  Also, it is much easier to apply a thin 2nd layer coat having to sand down a even a 1/4 inch of excess.  Putting too much joint compound is one of the most common rookie mistakes.  After the mud dries (about 45 min depending on temperature and humidity), sand it down.  I recommend 150-220 grit paper.  Wear a dust mask and even goggles.  It is going to be disgustingly dusty.  That is why we made a barrier with plastic and closed intake vents in step 1.  Drywall dusts really sucks.  I’ve seen projects where people forget to turn on HVAC and the dust gets sucked up and blown through an entire house.  Not cool.

After you have sanded the walls, refinish any areas that need more work.  After everything is dry, take a damp rag or sponge and wipe all of the loose dust from the walls.

6. Take another break.

7. Now that you have smooth, clean walls you are going to prime everything that had wallpaper on it.  I recommend using an alkyd or shellac based primer for this.  Wallpaper adhesive is a water soluble, starch based product.  Using a waterborne primer can sometimes reactivate the glue and cause problems for the paint.  Alkyd and shellac based primers are going to have higher VOCs and typically have bad fumes.  Get fans blowing and open windows because these are bad to breathe.  Use a respirator if you have one.  Keep kids away, too.  They will have plenty of time to damage their brains in college.  The good news is that these products do dry quickly so the fumes dissipate quickly.

8. You’re almost done.  All that’s left is the easy part – painting.  Everything should still be prepared from priming so painting is super easy.  Choose your favorite paint and color and paint.  If you are using a dark color, have the paint store tint your primer so that one coat of paint will cover adequately.

Congratulations!  You have successfully removed and repainted a wallpapered area.  You also learned why so many people opt to call professional painting companies to do this job.  Doing it yourself can save you money, but the hassle and stress may cost you your sanity.

GreenWave Solutions specializes in wallpaper removal.  We remove residential and commercial wall coverings.  Call us to schedule your free estimate today!

GreenWave is also the best interior house painters, exterior house painters, and house painting company and serves Atlanta, Alpharetta, Brookhaven, Buckhead, Chamblee, Doraville, Dunwoody, Grant Park, Inman Park, Johns Creek, Duluth, Milton, Roswell, and most major suburbs.

By: Daniel Macris, President of GreenWave Solutions, the best house painters in Sandy Springs.

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Painting and Painters in Alpharetta, Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Buckhead, Dunwoody, Roswell, Brookhaven

Color Consultations in Atlanta

GreenWave Solutions is excited to announce that we are enhancing our Atlanta color consultations service!

We have added a professionally accredited interior designer to our team.  I want to specify she is an interior designer and not an interior decorator. The difference is that an interior designer has to go to college, earn a degree and accreditation, and have intimate knowledge of the art and science associated with design.  An interior decorator just has to get some business cards made and tell people that they have to rearrange their furniture.

GreenWave Solutions’ interior designer graduated from The Art Institute of Atlanta with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design.  The Art Institute of Atlanta’s interior design program is recognized as one of the nation’s elite.  She has over 7 years of interior design experience including designing homes for some of the southeast’s largest builders.  She is adept and passionate about color consultation, remodeling, and even computer aided design software suites.

Our consultation rates are industry competitive.

Call us today for your interior design consultation needs!

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GreenWave Solutions also does painting in Alpharetta, Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Roswell, Dunwoody, Buckhead, Duluth, John’s Creek, Milton, and the other upscale Metro area suburbs.

GreenWave Solutions has the best painters in Atlanta.

Interior and exterior Brookhaven painters and professional painting company.

Painters in Alpharetta and House Painting Services

GreenWave Solutions would like to tell the residents of Alpharetta that we are serving the Alpharetta area.  This means that Alpharetta now has access to the best painting company in Georgia.  Our Alpharetta house painters are the same skilled and experienced professionals that has made GreenWave Solutions one of the most trusted names in painting during the last 6 years.

GreenWave Solutions specializes in residential painting, commercial painting, interior painting, exterior painting, cabinet staining and painting, and more.  Call our Alpharetta painting division today for a free estimate.

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Mention this article and receive 15% off any painting service over $1200 (good through 2012).