What’s the colour of the year?

ICI paints together with AkzoNobel have been working together and looking and upcoming trends for the coming year, they have come up with a range of colours they think will be in trend throughout 2010.

The colour of the year 2010 is……. 70BG 70/113.

There are five colour trends, but all have the theme of ‘reclaim’.
The colour trends are:

1. Silent space
2. Fluid fantasy
3. Basic beliefs
4. Free spirit
5. Sweet memory

You can see more of this years colour schemes here:
http://www.icipaints.co.uk/colours/trends/2010/colour_of_the_year.jsp or here:
http://www.colourfutures.com

The new VOC legislation

From today (January 1st 2010) there is new legislation regarding the amount of VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compound) in paint. Based on the EU directive 2004/42/EC the amount of VOC’s has to be reduced. From the 1st of January 2010 the production of non-compliant paint is banned and from the 1st of January 2011 the sale of non-compliant products will be forbidden.

So what is the need for this new legislation?

VOC’s are solvents within solvent-based paints such as gloss, undercoat and varnishes. These solvents evaporate into the atmosphere as the paint dries. You can tell how high the VOC’s are in a tin of paint normally by the distinctive smell you get off from them, gloss has a high VOC content where as emulsion has a low VOC content.
If you look at the side of the paint tin it will have a symbol and also some writing about the VOC content in the tin.

The solvents or VOC’s contribute to environmental air pollution and in turn damage the ozone layer.

Many VOC 2010 compliant paints have been on the market for a while now, such as emulsions but for paints such as undercoat and gloss that have higher VOCs these will now be clearly marked as being VOC 2010 compliant.

So does having lower VOC’s affect the paint?

For most DIY painters and decorators there will not be any noticeable changes but for the professional painter and decorator who uses paint all the time, some changes will be noticed. These include:

1. Longer drying times
2. Yellowing quicker
3. Higher sheen level
4. Separation in the paint can

So can I still use non-compliant paint?

If you are an applier rather than a manufacturer or supplier you can still use non-compliant paints.
Manufactures cannot make non-compliant paints from today and suppliers have until next year (01.01.2011) to stop stocking and selling non-compliant paints.

For more information, search for VOC 2010.

What are fascias, soffits and bargeboards

Fascias and soffits boards are the part of the house that you most likely don’t look at very often, if at all. Just to explain, the fascia and soffit is the area of your property that the gutter is attached to. The underside is known as a soffit and the part with the gutter attached to it, is the fascia.
Bargeboards are fixed to the gable end of the roof to protect the roof rafters. They are just as important as the fascias and soffits and need to be painted regularly.

What should I paint them with?

If your fascias and soffits are wood and not Upvc then at some point you will need to have them painted, you can paint them in a woodstain, such as Sadolin, or Gloss such as Dulux Weathershield or an exterior satin, again by Dulux. It really depends on your preference.
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