Charlie:
Doug in Woodlake has a couple of questions about painting. He says what kind of wall preparations do I need to do to paint where he’s going to paint over some dusty old paint. He wants to avoid peeling and bubbles and whatnot.
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Tom:
If it’s dusty … Old is old. I mean paint’s paint, but if it’s dusty, wipe it down with a, you wash the wall. Laundry detergent would be fine and water and a rag. You ever see Rudy’s quality painting guys come in?
Charlie:
I try to avoid the sight of hard work at any cost.
Tom:
You’ll see them, and they do very little painting.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Tom:
Everything’s done in like four hours.
Charlie:
Oh, it’s true.
Tom:
The prep work takes three and a half days.
Charlie:
Hand to God.
Tom:
They were washing every square inch of the wall.
Charlie:
Hand to God, when we left our last house …
Tom:
Yes.
Charlie:
… we had Rudy come in and take, we had all these different colors in different spaces, and the realtor wanted us to make everything a neutral tone to sell the house, and darn if she wasn’t right, but anyway, when Rudy, and bless her heart for unburdening me of that house, but Rudy’s crew came in and they spent, Tom, they were there three days before they cracked a can of paint.
Tom:
Absolutely. They painted the outside of my house. It was a four day job. They only painted for half a day. The house looks great, and they were prepping and wiping and prepping and wiping.
Charlie:
You wonder, how many complaints does he get? How come you’re not painting?
Tom:
I know. Just let the man do his stuff. That’s called professional painters. It’s all in the prep.
Charlie:
Wash it down.
Tom:
Wash it just with a rag, you know, Charlie, wash it.
Charlie:
He’s also thinking about painting, and a double dip here for Doug, but he also is thinking about painting tile for a temporary fix in the shower and bathtub. Thoughts?
Tom:
Not a good idea unless you have a professionally, have one of those new finishes put on there. That will last a little while, like refinishing a bathtub.
Charlie:
Right.
Tom:
Those companies will do that too, but I don’t think painting just paint. Someone is going to have a surprise about three months down the road after they finally …
Charlie:
They’re going to put their hand …
Tom:
Did you know the tile was green?
Charlie:
No, what’s going to happen I think is he’s going to reach back in the shower and put his hand on the wall, and he’s going to come down with a big piece of paint on it, right? It’s going to peel right off.
Tom:
It’s great if you just look at it. Once you start showering in there and stuff, you’re in trouble.
Charlie:
Well, let’s just assume that they bathe regularly. Doug, if he’s being careful about painting …
Tom:
Well, he’s selling the house, right?
Charlie:
… he practices good hygiene.
Tom:
Is he selling his house?
Charlie:
No. He just wants to paint it.
Tom:
Oh, well if he doesn’t use it, he can paint it, but if he’s going to use it …
Charlie:
Okay, so Doug, your …
Tom:
You might hose off in the back yard.
Charlie:
To summarize, Doug, Tom’s advice …
Tom:
Does he want to wash the walls? I don’t know.
Charlie:
Tom’s advice to you, Doug, is to go ahead and paint the shower …
Tom:
Don’t use it.
Charlie:
… and then use a garden hose in the back yard to bathe with. All right.