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The Best Fall Deck Maintenance

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Whether you talk to someone deck staining in Overland Park or even the best exterior home painters in Overland Park, they will all tell you to take advantage of the fall season.  The fall is an excellent time of year for painters in Overland Park to work on not only your house but also your deck!  Fall is also a great time of year to do your routine deck maintenance chores.  Here are some of the best fall deck maintenance tips!

Look For Signs Of Rot

 

Wood rot and wood repair in Overland Park can be an unfortunate repair job to need.  Inspect your deck annually for wood rot repair in Overland Park.  Begin by checking the stairs, especially where the stringers meet the ground.  Another great place to check is the perimeter post.  If you can push a screwdriver a quarter of an inch into the suspected area, you probably have wood rot, and will need wood repair in Overland Park.

 

Inspect The Ledger

 

You will need to use a flashlight to inspect the ledger of your deck, but it does need to be paid close attention to.  Inspect to make sure that all of the important framings is attached correctly, correctly linking your deck and home.  A damaged ledger is the cause of over 90% of all deck collapses.

 

Check The Railing

 

Don’t just leave it up to your house painters in Overland Park and other workers, but check it yourself to ensure your deck is healthy and safe.   Give your railing a good shake!  This will let you know if there is anything loose or damaged.  Drilling pilot holes can repair loose connections, and adding galvanized lag screws to these specific areas.

 

Preventive Measures

 

Fall is a great time to wash and seal your deck if you hadn’t done it early in the year.  Make sure to work while the temperature is mild, and not too hot or too cold.  Make sure you trim nearby bushes and trees, and not to let leaves and debris collect in the corners of your deck.  This can cause wood rot and mold.  It’s also wise to clean and inspect your deck where furniture usually sits.  It’s easy to forget about an area if it can’t be easily seen.

How Often Should You Paint The Inside of Your Home?

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Best Interior Painters in Overland Park

The best interior home painters in Overland Park understand the value a fresh coat of paint can have a home.  Not only for its visual appeal but also the quality and upkeep of the interior itself.  House painters in Overland Park are hired for many painting reasons, but not always at the right time.  Along with painters in Overland Park, cabinet refinishing companies in Overland Park know the proper amount of time to wait before re-painting or refinishing your home.  So, how often should you paint your home’s interior?

Best Interior Painters in Overland Park

How Often Should You Paint Your Walls?

Some walls in your home need to be repainted more frequently than others due to daily wear and tear, especially walls near and around doorways, or the garage.  Walls in a formal dining room that are only used once or twice a year won’t need to be repainted as frequently.  Kitchen walls, hallways, and bathroom walls will need to be repainted more regularly than most, however.

  • Living & Dining Rooms – every 5 to 7 years
  • Kitchen & Bathrooms – every 3 to 4 years
  • Bedrooms – every 2 to 3 years
  • Hallways – every 2 to 3 years

Painting Tip: Drywall repair before painting.  The best interior and best exterior painters in Overland Park can help guide you through the process before the painting formally beginning.  

How Often Should You Paint The Ceiling?

Painting your house interior also includes the ceiling, which many people forget about.  Repainting your ceiling an be a great way to brighten up your entire home.  Over time, white ceilings will show up yellow in spots that are affected by much natural sunlight.  Deck staining in Overland Park should be treated the same way in regards to damage from sunlight.

Before letting the yellow ceilings get too bad, keep in mind that your ceiling paint will last twice as long as your wall paint, according to painters in Overland Park.

Repaint your ceilings every 10 years.

Painting Fact:  Flat white is the most popular color for ceilings.  You can expect to see an immediate brightening of the room by 20% according to the best interior painter in Overland Park. 

Care & Maintenance For Your Deck

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Care & Maintenance For Your Deck

Annual deck maintenance is essential.  Deck stainers in Overland Park understand the dangers of not attending to your deck routinely.  Take action today by taking care of your deck with these tips, and don’t be calling wood rot repair in Overland Park.  Here are some tips for care & maintenance for your deck.

Care & Maintenance For Your Deck

Look for Signs of Wood Rot

You can do this by probing structural members of your deck with a flat-head screwdriver.  Check the stairs, especially where the stringers meet the ground.  Wood repair in Overland Park is common and can be costly, but if caught early enough it can be resolved rather simply.  If you can push the screwdriver a quarter of an inch or more into an area of wood, you most likely need wood rot repair in Overland Park.

Inspect The Ledger

You will need to use a flashlight to inspect the ledger properly.  Get underneath your deck and inspect that all critical pieces of framing are attached correctly and intact.

Did you know that 90% of all deck collapses happen due to damaged ledger?

Check Remaining Joists, Posts, & Beams

This not only is required for decks but the rest of the house as well in many cases.  House painters in Overland Park inspect these areas regularly, and It’s a great way to avoid wood repair in Overland Park.  If a framing member can’t be easily removed and replaced, go ahead and reinforce it.  This is a better outcome than replacing members directly.

Check For Cracks Or Rotten Deck Boards

Not all cracks are a fundamental threat obviously, but they can be ugly and irritating.  The best exterior house painters in Overland Park run into this issue all the time, and these small cracks can be fixed if wanted.

Check The Railing

Checking the railing is essential not only for the visual appeal of the deck but also for you and your visitor’s safety.  Drilling pilot holes may remedy loose connections in the railing into the wood and then adding galvanized lag screws into them.  Remove the fastener and seal the crack with an exterior grade adhesive, then drill a new pilot hole and insert a new galvanized deck screw.

How To Perform Wood Rot Repair in Overland Park

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How To Perform Wood Rot Repair in Overland Park

Wood repair in Overland Park is a home improvement task that everyone should be aware of and learn about.  Wood rot is a form of decay that directly impacts wood that is exposed to any form of moisture or heat.  It is prevalent in hotter, more humid, environments, but other temperate climates can also suffer from wood rot.  This is how to perform wood rot repair in Overland Park.

How To Perform Wood Rot Repair in Overland Park

Evaluate the Damage

If you are unsure of what you are looking for, call a professional, but always inspect and evaluate your home for any wood rot damage.  You will usually be able to spot specific visual signs of wood rot.  These visual signs could include discoloration, flaking, splitting, or even splintering.  Always make sure you repair any wood rot before hiring the best exterior home painters in Overland Park.  Wood rot is an issue that needs to be corrected before anything.

Remove All Damage

The best way to repair wood rot is to remove all damaged or infected wood.  If you notice a contaminated timber piece early on, you may only need to replace a small portion of that wood.  If wood rot is not caught early on, you might be forced to replace large amounts of wood.  Cabinet refinishing companies in Overland Park run into this problem routinely.  Always check your home for wood rot!

Maintain Your Wood

Routine home and wood maintenance are essential when preventing wood rot from infecting your home.  Painters in Overland Park always run into cases of wood rot that have not been adequately maintained, which can often lead to costly repairs.  Proper maintenance includes annual inspections for wood rot, inspections for moisture damage, and yearly applications of sealant or stain.  House painters in Overland Park will always tell you to include frequent visual inspections into your standard home maintenance practices.

5 Ways to Prepare Your Home for the Best Exterior Painters in Overland Park

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5 Ways to Prepare Your Home for the Best Exterior Painters in Overland Park

House painting can be challenging work, especially if the house if not prepared to be painted.  By adequately preparing your home for new exterior painting, ensures that your new paint job will last.  Painters in Overland Park will tell you, there is more to painting than just choosing a color scheme.  Before opening up your paint can or hiring the best interior home painters in Overland Park or best exterior home painters in Overland Park, make sure you complete these preparation steps.  Here are 5 ways to prepare your home for the best exterior painters in Overland Park.

5 Ways to Prepare Your Home for the Best Exterior Painters in Overland Park

Wash The Exterior Of Your Home

Ensuring dirt is off your canvas should always be the first preparation step before painting.  House painters in Overland Park will be able to perform quicker and more effectively if the house they are painting has already been cleaned and prepared for them.  Renting a power-washer is affordable, and can save hours of time and effort during the cleaning process.  Pressure washers are quicker and more effective than hand washing.  Washing your house maximizes the adhesion of the new paint.  Wash your home today!

Scrape & Let Dry

Let the water your washed your house with dry before attempting this second step.  By scraping away any flaked or peeling paint is essential to a great paint job.  With a standard paint scraper and a little elbow grease will ensure that your paint job outcome is as beautiful as possible.  Even cabinet refinishing companies in Overland Park perform this task on their cabinets before finishing, painting, or surfacing.

Apply Caulk

Remember to always caulk any cracked seams between clapboards or even along your vertical junctions.  Filling these voids and cracks with caulk until it begins to overflow, and then wiping any excess caulk away, ensures that your painting surface is sealed correctly.  Be careful not to caulk any in-between gaps structures that are supposed to be used for ventilation purposes.  Not all gaps need to be caulked.

Make Repairs

Even workers performing deck staining in Overland Park will encourage you to perform any repairs needed before having your surface stained or painted.  It’s a lot easier to repair your home without having to worry about damaging your new coat of paint.

Apply Primer First

Your trusted painting company will take care of this usually, but remember to always apply primer before applying paint.  Prime any bare or exposed areas on your home’s exterior with a quality oil-based primer.  This will ensure that you have sealed the bare wood and created an air/moisture tight barrier between the house and your new coat of paint.  You don’t want any bubbles rising from under your fresh coat of paint.

Ready to Hire The Best Exterior Painters in Overland Park?

Contact your trusted residential painters in Overland Park to start discussing your upcoming project today. We want your living space to be exactly what you want and a place for you to enjoy.  Contact Residential Solutions today at 913-522-9004 and let’s discuss the options you have for your next painting project.

4 Signs That It’s Time to Hire Painters to Paint Your House

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4 Signs That It’s Time to Hire Painters to Paint Your House

Buying a home is a considerable investment. If you want your home to hold its value, or even grow in importance, you need to be taking care of proper maintenance. This includes painting. For many homeowners, painting is a daunting task. However, there are many great house painters in Overland Park ready to help with the job. In this article, we will share four clear indications that it is time to give your home a new coat of paint.  Here are 4 Signs That It’s Time to Hire Painters to Paint Your House!

4 Signs That It’s Time to Hire Painters to Paint Your House

You are Ready to Sell Your Home

Hiring the best exterior painters in Overland Park to paint the outside of your home will significantly improve the curb appeal of your home. When you are trying to sell your home, you only get one first impression on potential buyers. Any real estate agent will tell you that you need to make it count. Having your home look great before they even step inside is a great way to appeal to a buyer. Additionally, hiring the best interior painters in Overland Park will keep the inside of your home looking fresh and new. A fresh coat of paint over the house is a relatively inexpensive, easy way to make sure you are selling your home quickly and getting the full value out of your investment.

Your Paint is Showing Its Age

Over time, your paint loses the bright, vibrant color it had when you painted initially. Dirt, dust, and grime can build up on walls, no matter how often you clean them. Stains and fading can also make your paint look worn and tired. Hiring house painters in Overland Park to give your home a fresh coat of paint can brighten up your whole home, making it look newer and cleaner in one easy step.

Your Paint has Gaps or Cracks

The best exterior home painters in Overland Park will be able to help you identify gaps and shrinkage between boards and cracks in the caulking around the outside of your house. Gaping or shrinking boards can be a sign of wood damage. Some of the top painters are also trained in wood rot repair in Overland Park, which can be a considerable asset when working on a home with dry rot or moisture in the wood. Cracking caulk can also be a sign of aging. With any of these issues, a fresh coat of paint after the repairs have been made can protect the exterior of your home and make it look bright and new again.

Your Paint is Just Too Old

Like anything else, paint has an age and a limit. Knowing the age of your paint can help you repaint before you start to see issues. This can save you from more significant problems and costly repairs. Depending on the material of your home, the exterior should be painted every five to ten years.

Ready to Hire Professionals?

If your home is ready for a paint upgrade, call Residential Solutions at 913-522-9004. We specialize in interior and exterior painting, deck staining, and wood repair in Overland Park.