Painting can dramatically improve your home’s interior and exterior walls and surfaces. It can also increase the overall real estate value of your home.
Paint serves various essential functions, such as protecting your walls from moisture, which can damage them and lead to mould and mildew. This is why interior paints are designed to have low or zero VOC, which releases less or no gases into your home.
Water-Based Paint
Water-based paints are an excellent option for most Residential Painting Denver projects because of their versatility and durability. They can be used on wood, concrete, stucco, aluminium siding, vinyl siding, and drywall. These paints also offer excellent colour retention and resist fading better than oil-based options. They can be scrubbed and cleaned quickly and will resist mildew growth due to additives within the paint itself. Water-based paints dry faster than oil-based paints and don’t emit toxic fumes, making them much safer to use in confined spaces.
Many of these paints come in different varieties, including anti-condensation, mould, and mildew resistance. Always look for low-VOC or VOC-free house paints to ensure they are free from hazardous chemicals that can negatively affect indoor air quality. The two main kinds of water-based paint are acrylic and latex.
Oil-Based Paint
Oil-based paints use natural or synthetic oils as their base and are durable. They are used on exterior walls, cabinetry, furniture, moulding, and trims. They provide a smooth application and better cover stained, chalky, or dirty surfaces. They dry to a hard shell and are more abrasion-resistant than water-based paints.
They are flammable and release a strong odour that can cause some people headaches, nausea, or skin irritation. They also require solvents like turpentine for cleanup and can ruin most brushes and rollers unless they are cleaned right away.
Just rub a damp cotton ball or pad on a small wall area to test whether the paint is oil-based or water-based. If the paint flakes off, it is an oil-based paint. You can also rub a small area of the wall with mineral spirits. If the colour stays on the wall, it is a water-based paint.
Primer
Primer is a term that can mean different things depending on the context. Primers are used before painting surfaces to ensure proper adhesion to the underlying surface. They also prepare the paint for the colour coat. They can be water-based or oil-based.
If you’re painting stucco walls, we recommend using a water-based primer because it will be less likely to crack or peel over time. These types of primers are slow-drying and emit harmful fumes, so it’s essential to have good ventilation in your workspace.
The primer-BLAST web tool allows you to check the specificity of your primers by comparing the sequence they bind to with your template sequence. To optimize your primer design, you can choose from several parameters. A primer with a longer 5’ end and lower G-C content will bind more to its target than a shorter primer with the same GC content and Tm. A stable 3’ lot will also help reduce false priming.
Specialty Paints
Many types of house paint offer specific characteristics or address particular challenges, such as painting ceilings or high-moisture areas. Special paints enhance a room’s appearance or provide a practical benefit, like stain-blocking or chalkboard finishes.
Bituminous paint is a type of wall paint that protects surfaces from corrosion, weather changes, and heavy wear and tear. This paint can also help reduce the risk of insect damage and is especially recommended for old homes.
Primer isn’t technically a type of paint, but it plays a vital role in most home painting projects. It helps create a smooth base and improves paint adhesion. It’s available in both oil and water-based formulas. You can also find anti-condensation, mould, and mildew-resistant options ideal for damp environments. Other additives can also be included, such as spatter-resistant paint and a fire-retardant option that can help protect your home from the danger of spreading flames.