What’s the colour of the year?

ICI paints together with AkzoNobel have come up with the upcoming trends for the coming year, through their international research they have come up with a range of colours they think will be in trend throughout 2011.

The colour of the year 2011 is……. 89YY 78/269.

“The Colour of the Year is a light, airy, citrus yellow that symbolises a freer spirit, sense of fun and positive energy. This clear, clean and translucent yellow encapsulates a mood of hope and optimism – a carefree, vitamin packed shot of purity and freedom. The slight green edge gives it newness over egg yolk tones of yellow and perfectly reflects our appreciation of nature and man made materials, as it feels both organic and technological.”

Quote from ICI website

You can see more of this years colour schemes here:
http://www.icipaints.co.uk/colours/trends/2011/colour_of_the_year.jsp or here:
http://www.colourfutures.com

If you would like to work out how much of the colour of the year (89YY 78/269) or any other colour you need to buy, use our FREE Paint Calculator.

Adrian’s Horror Story

Extra Extra Read All About It

Adrian’s horror story has been published in the ICI Dulux Trade’s newsletter (issue 10 Winter 2010), TradeXpress.

TradeXpress is the trade newsletter for professional decorators with the latest news from the trade, reviews of latest products and a round up of what is going on within the trade, as well as features and stories from decorators.

I received the TradeXpress newsletter and read it with interest, I twitter as @propertydecor and follow @DuluxTrade which is how this came about, @DuluxTrade asked if I had any horror stories I could submit. I submitted my horror story about a job I did some years ago now, I hadn’t come across it before and haven’t seen anything like it since……..

To find out what I’m on about you can see my story on the TradeXpress website.

Why not to paint lead flashing

I’ve been working on exterior houses over the past few weeks and I thought I would share this tip with you.

Whilst painting the exterior of a house, many jobs include the painting of the lead flashing, because the paint on the lead has started to peel. Many houses have lead flashing either under the windows or maybe along the roof of a conservatory.

One of the reasons why the paint peels off of lead is because the lead oxidises, this means the lead has a chemical reaction with the oxygen in the air, this lifts the paint and leaves a white powder on the surface of the lead. Another reason for paint peeling is the lead expands and contracts with the heat, this can crack the paint allowing moisture or water in and lifting the paint.

If your lead flashing has been painted it can be a long job cleaning it all off which is why most people re-paint the lead.

If you do repaint the lead, remove all the loose flaky paint and any white powder substance, which is the oxidisation. Next use a flexible undercoat and topcoat, such as Dulux Weathershield undercoat and gloss, I have found this lasts OK, although not forever.

What you should do with lead flashing.

If you have new or unpainted lead please don’t start to paint it! The best solution is not to paint it and to use an oil to treat the lead; this will keep it supple and stop it from cracking.

The best oil’s to use are one of the following, Patination Oil, WD40 or 3in1 oil, all are widely available from hardware shops or builders merchants.

Simply take a cloth, tip some oil onto the cloth and then work it into the lead, you will notice the lead becomes darker as the lead absorbs some of the oil. Continue doing this until you’re happy with the result. Your lead will now look good, be able to breath and be supple to stop it from drying out and cracking.

You will need to re-apply the oil when the lead is starting to look a light grey or just a little bit weathered. If you stick with this method your lead will last for years and you don’t have to worry about paint peeling off it ever!