Can I Paint My Ceiling A Different Color Than White?

Not many people realize that it is completely acceptable to paint your ceilings a color that is not white. Although ceilings are typically painted in either a white or off-white, they do not need to be. Applying a color to the ceiling can create a unique and elegant look.

There are a couple of things to consider when looking at options for the ceiling.

If your ceiling has mouldings or other architectural features, it presents a nice possibility for applying an accent color. Examples include:

How To Give Your Composite Deck a Second Life

Although composite decks are some of the lowest maintenance and best quality deck systems available, they still aren’t wear and tear proof. Composite decks fade over time and receive damage from the abrasive elements in Maryland.

With composite deck, you can get by without an annual staining, but after the material is 2 to 3 years old, a simple staining or repainting can go a long way in beautifying your deck.

Here is an easy 4-step process that will surely freshen and bring your deck back to life.

1. Remove mildew.

• Make a solution of one part bleach to three parts water and apply it to the entire deck surface. Wait 20 minutes and scrub the deck thoroughly to remove all mildew. After you’ve scrubbed the deck, rinse it thoroughly to remove all the solution and mildew residue.

2. Remove gloss.

• Gently sand the entire deck surface with a fine #220 sandpaper. When you are finished, wash the deck with an all-purpose detergent or deck-cleaner to remove all dust and debris, and then rinse it away thoroughly.

3. Take a quick break and let the deck surface dry completely.

4. Decide whether you want to paint or stain your deck and finish up the job.

• If you want to paint your deck: First apply a quality exterior latex primer. Then apply a good quality latex deck paint (a higher-gloss finish is recommended because it will be easier to clean and will have better mildew resistance).
• If you want to stain your deck: Simply apply whatever stain you wish to use. The PQI recommends a quality acrylic latex solid color stain for composite decking. 

One last tip: make note of whatever type of paint or stain you use. Since this process should be repeated every 3 to 5 years to keep your deck fresh, the results will be much better if you use the same type of finish.

If you have any questions, or would like any help with this project, give Hallco Enterprises a call at: 301-831-3679. 

Maryland and DC Nursery Painting Ideas

More and more people have been becoming aware of the pollutants and chemicals in paint that are harmful for humans and for the eco-system.

Already 80% of paints sold in the residential market are water-based latex paints rather than the more toxic oil-based paints. Although using water-based paint does reduce the number of toxic Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) released in the air, it still emits harmful inhalants even years after the paint drys.

You can make your home toxic-free with the eco-friendly paint, called Zero-VOC paint. Benjamin Moore carries a great line: Natura®. It's virtually odorless and meets the green seal standards.

If you are about to paint or repaint your nursery, consider using the child-safe paint. Each child likes to be unique, so in order to inexpensively create a special room for your child, you can use creative stencils or decals.

If you would like help with your project, call Hallco Enterprises for a free estimate.

Hallco Painting is pleased to serve the Maryland area, including the communities of Bethesda, Maryland, Brunswick, Maryland, Clarksburg, Maryland, Frederick, Maryland, Gaithersburg, Maryland, Germantown, Maryland, Howard County, Maryland, Potomac, Maryland, Rockville, Maryland, Silver Spring, Maryland, Takoma Park, Maryland.

Is is more expensive to paint walls or a new door?

I was recently asked the great question: “Is it more expensive to paint a wall or a new, unfinished door?” Although doors don't have as much surface area as walls, a door is typically more expensive to paint since it is more complicated than painting a wall. It requires more skill, and usually takes longer.

A new door requires a complete prime coat. Once the primer dries, it raises the woodgrain making it more rough. The door then needs to be sanded and dusted before applying two finish coats. When beginning to brush the door, the painter must use a systematic pattern to avoid obvious brush strokes and overlaps in the woodgrain. 

Whether new or existing, walls are easier because they require less prep work, and a roller is more forgiving than a paint-brush with lines and brush-strokes. Handling a brush takes years to master; a good brushman can hand-brush a door and make it appear almost sprayed. 

It is almost always more time-consuming and expensive to paint doors and wood trim. But of course it also depends on how big the projects are and how much detail is on the walls, door and trim. A good way to save money and also get a quality job is to paint the walls yourself and then hire a professional and experienced paint company to paint your door and trim. It's amazing how great your home can look with a quality painted trim. 

Classy Ways to Freshen Your Home

Flat Panel Stairway Wainscoting

Kitchen Wood Paneling

Since June seems to be the starter month for hosting guests, it is a great time to think about redoing some of your interior decor. There are numerous ways to add freshness and elegance to your home. For instance, you can add an accent wall in the living room or dining room, change the color of your trim, install crown mouldings or chair rails, paint your entry door a new vibrant color, etc... there is no end to the possibilities.

One of the easiest ways to transform a room or a hallway from bland to sophisticated is to add chair rail and wainscoting. These paneling techniques are especially fitting for houses in Montgomery, Howard and Frederick counties because of the classic architecture. Someone skilled at do-it-yourself projects or a professional installer can quickly produce an attention-grabbing effect in a variety of ways. Such as:

• Beadboard: gives the appearance of vertical boards with routered edges, framed by the baseboards and a waist-height chair rail.
• Shadow boxes: a series of boxes created with moulding, resembling a row of picture frames along the lower portion of the wall.
• Panel Moulding: similar to shadow boxes, this type of moulding creates a series of recessed boxes which add depth and perspective to a flat wall.

You can check out the DIY network site for a variety of moulding, paneling, and wainscoting ideas.

We at Hallco Enterprises can suggest a myriad of inexpensive ways to add detail and class to your home. If you have several small things you would like to get done, try our Painter for A Day program to get it all done quickly and efficiently. Contact us online or at 301-831-3679 to receive a free project consultation and estimate.  

June Is the Time To Spruce-up Your Exterior Woodwork

June is the kick-off month for hosting guests. Whether for a graduation party, spring grilling with friends, or for garden parties, summer is the time to use and display your exterior woodwork. 

Now that the weather is warm enough to be using your patio or deck you may notice sagging siding or warping deck-boards in need of repair. Early summer is also when you may notice wood-boring insects, such as termites or carpenter bees, trying to make their homes inside of your trimming, decks or fences.

Hallco Painting is a professional and friendly painting company serving the Montgomery, Frederick & Howard counties. We can help you replace any damaged wood and treat worn surfaces to beautify and protect your home for many more seasons.

If you have several small things you would like done, try our Painter for a Day program to get it all done quickly and professionally. Give us a call at (301) 831-3679 or contact us online to receive a project consultation and estimate.

Tips To Choosing an Exterior Color For Your Home

As a homeowner, you want to choose a color that gives a good first impression of your home. Picking a color for the exterior is not an effortless ordeal.

One thing you should know is that choosing a color at a paint store isn’t a precise way to decide which color would be best for your home. Colors can appear to be much different on a color wheel than they are in natural lighting or on a greater surface area. Some colors may look great on a color chip, but after the whole painting process, the color may end up looking different than you had intended.

When going to choose a color, pick your two favorite colors from color swatches and get samples to paint on various parts of your home exterior to get an accurate feel of what will actually look best. (For those of you who live in a gated community or a community with Bylaws, remember your options could be limited.)

One of the best ways to determine which colors you like best is to look at houses around your neighborhood. Feel free to approach neighbors or homeowners to ask what color they used. Getting their house color tips will give you an accurate representation of what your home will look like after the paint job.

A quick trick for completing that good impression of your home is to paint your front door with a nice accent color. The best way to choose a color for the door is to let your flowers be your guide. Pick a great complimentary contrast color that completes the look of your entranceway.

Epoxy Floor Paint Project in Bethesda MD

Hallco Enterprises, located in Clarksburg MD, just completed this garage floor painting project in Bethesda, Maryland. This garage already had a paint product applied, but it did not hold up very well. Most paint products you can buy from Home Depot or do yourself don't typically last very long. This is typically because of two things: 1) A lack of proper preparation to the raw concrete or 2) the heat of car tires causing the paint to lift up and peel. 

On this garage floor, we had to completely remove the existing floor coating before applying any of the epoxy finishes. If you have any questions about garage floor coatings, please comment below, send us an email or call us. 

Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Hallco Painting is pleased to serve the Maryland area, including the communities of Bethesda, Maryland, Brunswick, Maryland, Clarksburg, Maryland, Frederick, Maryland, Gaithersburg, Maryland, Germantown, Maryland, Howard County, Maryland, Potomac, Maryland, Rockville, Maryland, Silver Spring, Maryland, Takoma Park, Maryland.

Is is better to hire an in-house painting contractor or a subcontractor?

There are pros and cons to both hiring in-house or using a sub-contractor, but overall the advantages point to using just one main contractor.

• When you outsource a job, you won’t be as informed of what is going on.
• Since you’re hiring two contractors, the costs can go up.
• Sometimes it’s cheaper, but you can’t always guarantee great quality.
• They may not be around the next time you need something done to your property.

Usually it works out fine if you trust the main company you’re working with, but when you aren’t as involved with the sub-contracting company, you will more easily lose touch with how the project is going.

• When you just hire one main contractor, you have better management and oversight of the project.
• The more in-touch you are with the painter, the better the paint job will be.
• Working with just one main contractor is typically more stable because you have more control with the quality and scheduling.
• A quality company, with a good reputation, will be around when you need them for future projects whereas sub contractors go in and out of business.

Although there are advantages to both, usually it is simpler, more efficient, and less hassle to work directly with an in-house painting company.

What have your experiences been with using an in-house contractor? Or a subcontractor? Tell us which you have had better experiences with in the comments below.

Barn & Fence Painting in Maryland by Hallco

Hallco Enterprises was recently ask to sand and repaint a long white horse fence. The paint was peeling badly and needed a fair amount of work. It is true that Hallco specializes in the painting of fine homes and commercial properities, but we love painting too! Therefore, we were up for fence painting project. We carefully sanded, primed and finished the fences with a high quality paint that will give the owners of this farm a longer time between having to repaint. 

If you have barn, fencing or even a horse stables that need painting, give us a call. We'll use the right paint for the right surface. We also have eco-friendly paints that will not harm your horses. 

Hallco Painting is pleased to serve the Maryland area, including the communities of Bethesda, Maryland, Brunswick, Maryland, Clarksburg, Maryland, Frederick, Maryland, Gaithersburg, Maryland, Germantown, Maryland, Howard County, Maryland, Potomac, Maryland, Rockville, Maryland, Silver Spring, Maryland, Takoma Park, Maryland.

Should I Paint or Replace My Siding?

Should I replace my aluminum siding or paint it?
Many homeowners think that they have to replace aluminum siding when the appearance begins to degrade. Since painting is only a fraction the cost of full replacement, fortunately it isn’t necessary to replace your siding when it begins looking dingy. After a thorough power washing and a good paint-job, your siding should look as good as new.

Aluminum siding has an enamel finish that does not require much maintenance and can usually last for 30 to 40 years, depending on the surroundings and varying environmental factors. For example, in areas with more sunlight, the Ultra-Violet rays can break down the enamel finish over time, causing a chalky film to form. This film can be cleaned with a power-washing, but eventually the enamel will break down completely making the siding aesthetically unsightly. At this point, most people think that replacing the siding is critical, but in fact, since metal does not expand or contract as wood or vinyl does, painting the aluminum will often last longer than normal. With some good 100% acrylic paint, you can pick a fresh color and transform the exterior appearance of your house.

Of course, if your siding is severely dented or damaged from heavy storms or wind, it would be wise to replace the siding, but other in most cases it is usually more efficient to repaint.

How do I paint siding?
After you thoroughly clean the siding and get rid of dirt, debris and pollen, paint will adhere nicely to it. It is wise to hire a contractor who can do a thorough power-washing to the home exterior, since it is of utmost importance to completely remove mold and mildew as well as any chalk film (broken-down enamel caused by UV rays).

Once the siding is clean and dry, paint can be most easily by applied by spraying. You can also paint siding with a brush or roller, but spraying produces the smoothest finish.

Which type of paint should I use?
You should use a water-based latex or acrylic paint, but the top coat should be an 100% acrylic exterior paint. Most of these types of paint are self-priming on aluminum, which makes the project a bit simpler. If you still wish to apply a full primer coat, the primer should be tinted to a ½ shade of the finish color to minimize the number of top coats. However, using a full primer coat prior to the two finish coats (rather than just using the self-priming paint) will not necessarily extend the lifespan of the paint-job.

When painting vinyl siding, you should usually apply a color lighter than the original vinyl color. However, modern paints are available in “vinyl safe colors” that allow darker colors to be applied over lighter colored siding; so just be sure to research the paint you choose.

If your siding is showing wear, or if you are interested in changing the color of your siding, consult a painting company to learn more. For those around the mid-Maryland, or DC metro areas, Hallco Enterprises would be delighted to discuss your needs and the best solutions with you.  

Cheap Paint Vs. Good Quality Paint

Everybody looks for good ways to be financially efficient. There are many alternatives to the typical methods of painting that help cut back on expenses. When it comes to choosing paint, it is especially important to think about these alternative economical tips. For one, although it seems practical to buy a cheaper paint, careful analysis has shown otherwise. Despite the higher initial cost, it definitely pays off in the long run to use the best quality paint.

According to field tests done at the Paint Quality Institute:
“... while ordinary exterior paint lasts about four years, top quality 100% acrylic latex paint can last 10 years or more when applied to a properly prepared surface, resulting in a lower cost per year of service.”

When you add the cost of labor and supplies to a paint project, the actual paint doesn’t greatly affect the overall cost, but paying a little more for a top quality paint significantly extends the life of the new exterior paint job.

If you think about it this way: Let’s assume the closest paint stores are 500 miles away from your home. One sells cheap paint, but the one next to it sells good quality paint that costs twice as much as the ordinary paint. The cheap paint will only last you 4 years, but the good quality paint will last for at least 10 years. You can choose to buy the cheaper paint, but if you choose the good quality paint, you save yourself a 500-mile trip 4 years later.

The trip represents the labor for the job. Either way you will have to pay for the labor, but by choosing the better quality paint over the cheap paint, you save yourself the cost of paying for the labor twice rather than just one time in ten years. Essentially, the higher-quality paint you use, the longer the life of your paint job, and the more money you save in the long run.

One note about all paints: the longevity of any paints is determined also by the area of the country and the weather conditions. So in Maryland, even with the best paints, certain sides of your home may need to be painted every 5-6 years. 

Hallco Enterprises is based in Maryland and serves the Montgomery, Howard and Frederick Counties. Do you want help determining the best paint for your home? Give us a call at (301) 831-3679, we are here to help you.  

Cleaning Painted Walls

Painting a room typically only takes about an hour or so to dry these days. After a couple hours you can move your items back into their proper places and even hang pictures on the walls. We do have one word of caution about wall paints: They might be dry but not cured. Depending on the type of paint you selected, the paint cure process could be anywhere from 2 weeks to 28 days. For example, a very high end paint product such as Duration Home has a curing date of 28 days. It is safe to clean the walls in as little as 14 days but not deep clean. Hopefully you don't have to deep clean walls the first two weeks. The only reason you might have to clean your walls is if you your kids or pet damaged the walls or if you had construction dust! When you clean freshly painted walls that are not fully cured it could leave little "halo" marks on the walls, so be extra careful. I'd recommend trying warm water and a rag first. If you have to use a cleaner, make sure it is mild and not Heavy Duty 409 or full strength Simple Green. 

If you have a paint questions, let us know. Hallco Enterprises is located in Clarksburg Maryland and services mid-Maryland, Columbia, D.C. and Northern Virginia. 

Time for a Home Office Make-Over

It is now that time of year when the warmth and sunshine outside make it difficult to spend hours in an office. We don’t often have much of a choice of what our office environment is at work, but when it comes to decorating our home office - the sky is the limit.
If you have a home office, why not give it a make-over to be able to better enjoy your time inevitably spent in it?

The most popular office colors right now are neutral colors such as cream, tan and beige, as well as colors like Chesterton Buff, Sage Green, and Palladian Blue. These are great, cheerful office colors that encourage productivity. Light hues of green, yellow and blue are associated with calmness and can stimulate intellectual thinking, discernment and clarity of thought. 

Pick a week to spend some time creating a more modern, organized and inviting office space. Make it more of a sanctuary than a den. Think about how much more you could get done if you actually enjoy being in your “work” room.

Hallco Enterprises serves the Montgomery, Frederick and Howard Counties; give us a call if you need help with color consultation. Or call us for a free estimate for your home office.

Have you recently given your home office a make-over? Has it helped with productivity? What colors or decorating style do you think is best for a home office? 

Removing Crayon from My Walls

If you have little children, then chances are you have or will have painted walls that have kid art on them too. When I say "kid art" I'm referring to pens, markers, dry eraser pens, pencils and even crayons. It happens no matter how carefuly you are in hiding the objects. Crayons are perhaps the hardest to remove from your nicely painted walls. A couple tips you can try before you need to repaint are:

• Use a blow dryer on a low setting. This will heat up the wax and sometimes allow you to wipe off the wax, making your walls look a lot better.
• Use an eraser pad such as 3M or Mr. Clean.
• Warm water, elbow grease and sometimes Simple Green can do the trick too

If your child happened to use a purple or dark crayon on the walls (like the photo we chose) chances are you might have to repaint the wall after cleaning it. These dark colors don't always come clean. Sometimes if you use a very high quality paint to begin with such as Duration Home or Benjamin Moore Aura, crayon and other marks will not only come off but will not leave stains in the painted finish. The lower the paint quality the more likely there will always be a remnant left on the walls. 

If you've tried the tips above and nothing is working, repaint the walls with one of the paint brand we mentioned. We'd love to help with repainting if you live in the mid-Maryland or D.C. Metro areas.

Do you have a tip to remove crayons? If so, let us know by commenting on this post.