Connect with us in the social media world

There is now another way you can spread the word about our website and blog, we have recently added Google+ to both our website and the posts within our blog. You can +1 each post, this will show in your +1 section within your Google+ profile so you can publicly recommend that post.

We have a google+ account and you can join our circles. We have also included an easy way to ‘Add to circles’ by a widget on the left side border on the website and the right side border on the blog.

You can also find all our other social media links on the ‘About this blog‘ page, we have added the Google+, Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin so its easy for you to connect with us.

So, if your interested in decorating, DIY and industry news please ‘Add to circle‘ on Google+, ‘Like‘ us on Facebook, ‘Tweet‘ us on Twitter, and ‘Connect‘ with us on Linkedin.

Water-based or Oil-based paint? Always read the label

When you buy paint you should always read the label printed on the tin, not only to see what the manufactures say you should do, but also to find out the type of paint you are using.

Sounds like a silly question, but if you are using a gloss or satinwood finish, is it water-based (or acrylic) or is it an oil-based product?

By knowing weather it is water-based or oil-based it will determine a few things, such as drying times, the application method you may want to use, and what you need to use to clean your brushes with, either water or brush cleaner/white spirit.

Things to look out for;
The symbols on the tin. It should have a symbol saying “clean brushes with water” or “clean brushes with brush cleaner” for oil based paints.
The VOC level will be low to medium on water-based paint and high on oil based.

Why do you need to know this information?

Knowing if the paint your using is oil or water based could help you make a decision about what type of paint to buy, if you prefer oil-based paints as you find them easier to work with than water-based paint, or do you prefer water-based as it dries quicker? As you need to get a job done before it rains, or the kids come home!

It also good to know if you can simply wash your brushes in water or if you have to wash then in brush cleaner such as white spirit. You don’t want to be washing them out in the wrong thing, or storing them incorrectly as this will ruin your brush.

Climbers and Ivy can damage your house

Climbers and ivy growing up a wall or your house can look very idyllic but you could be heading for costly repair bills if left to grow.

This post comes after decorating an exterior of a property recently. The walls were rendered and needed re-painting with masonry paint. One wall had in the past had ivy growing up the wall but had been removed.

The main issues was that when the ivy was pulled off the wall it took some of the old masonry paint with it, and left lots of the ‘suckers’ from the ivy. The wall looked ‘hairy’ and after my best efforts scrapping and pulling all the bits off, I couldn’t remove all of the old ivy from the wall, luckily it was in an area which could not be seen, which is, I guess why the ivy got a hold in the first place. After painting, the wall looked OK although you could see where the ivy had been.

If you have ivy or any climbers climbing up your walls be aware they could potentially damage your house, many climbers will pull the mortar out of the brickwork exposing gaps between the bricks where water can get in, also any evergreen climber that has leaves on all year round can trap water against the wall and create damp indoors.

Climbers can also, if allowed to, will get behind fascia board and under soffits and even lift roof tiles.

So it maybe a good idea, to consider how these plants can affect your house before planting climbers against your house walls.