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Can I faux finish over my
wallpaper, paneling or heavily damaged and patched walls?
Wallpaper must be primed using a flat alkyd primer and
basecoated twice but the seams will always show. Faux
finishing will distract the eye enough to erase most of it
visually. Paneling can be sanded lightly and painted with
alkyd primer and then with either alkyd or latex paint.
Heavily damaged and roughly repaired walls must have the
repairs sealed and crack free. The heavier plaster texture
will hide everything but not the Italian Plastering which
is put on very thin and then polished.
Can any of your "Great Wall Finishes" be used on exterior
surfaces?
No. All of faux techniques are meant for interior surfaces
only.
Are glazes safe to use in my child's room?
Most water-based glazes are safe. Oil-based or alkyd-based
glazes are not and should be clear coated after drying
with a waterbased urethane.
Can a faux finish be used on cabinets & furniture?
Yes. Care must be given to preparing the surface with the
proper primer and covered with a good quality water-based
urethane. Never put a water-based paint or glaze on an
alkyd surface. if you are not sure swab the surface with
rubbing alcohol, if it rubs off it is a water-based
finish. Semi-gloss or gloss surfaces either alkyd or
water-based latex paint must have a light sanding before
the faux finish begins.
How can I make sure my faux finish is washable?
On walls of bathrooms, kid's rooms, kitchens and
stairwells use one coat of water-based urethane in the
lowest sheen as a protective coating. Use two coats of
semi-gloss on floors. Wait 24 hours after faux finishing
before applying.
What happens when the glaze starts to dry before I am
finished?
Some glazes that dry in 15 minutes are not suggested for
colourwashing, denim or suede finishes. Read the label for
opentime, use glazes that stay open at least 45 minutes.
Turn off the air conditioning and work steadily with all
your supplies within easy reach. Make sure you have enough
mixed to reach the end of the project and do not stop
until you reach a corner. Never go back over an area while
it is wet. It will remove the glaze and make a hole. Use
two people if you are unsure, one to apply a wide strip
and one to remove it.
How do I soften the effects if it is too vivid?
Wait until it is dry and go over it again with a very thin
lighter coloured version.
How long before a newly painted basecoat can be faux
finished?
Overnight. If taping is required we recommend that you
wait at least 4 days. Beware! Even low tack tape can tear
the base coat surface. Do not leave on for long periods of
time.
Can a faux finish be painted over?
Most faux finishes can be painted over with 2 coats of a
good quality paint but techniques with texture such as
leather, Italian Plaster, heavily textured drywall and
even the denim finish which has heavy brush strokes must
be skim coated with a drywall compound. It then must be
sanded, primed and painted as usual.
How do I achieve a fresco finish?
Texture the wall with a drywall compound, sand and prime
with a masonry primer. Or, if the actual texture is not
wanted, proceed as below. Use a top quality 4" soft
bristle brush and apply one or more colours by dipping in
each colour and using wide overlapping rainbow strokes.
Pat off the excess using cheesecloth and blend out the
edges in 3' x 3' areas at one time. Use a small narrow
brush after a full wall length is done to remove the
excess from the corners, ceiling and baseboard cracks.
What is the difference between rag rolling and ragging ?
Rag rolling uses a square of cotton dipped in diluted
paint or a glaze mixture. Squeezed and then twisted into a
cylinder shape and rolled softly down the wall,
replenishing the paint when the pattern starts to fade.
Ragging-on uses a rag bunched into a carnation shape and
patted over the surface.
How do I choose good colour combinations?
Selecting colour for your home is a personal matter. There
are no strict rules governing the selection of a colour
scheme. The first step in selecting a colour scheme
usually is to decide on the main colour to be used in the
room. if you don't know which colours you will be happiest
living with, glance through your wardrobe. If you do not
see any red, you probably would not like living in a room
decorated in a red colour scheme.
Proportion and balance are important. After you decide
which colour will be dominant, add other colours in
unequal amounts. A guideline is to select the dominant
colour for use in about two-thirds of the room and use the
other colour in lessening amounts. The floor covering in a
room is often the part of the decor that home owners do
not want to change. If this is your case, the floor
covering colour must be a consideration when selecting a
colour scheme.
Start with the paint colour chips. Keep in mind that the
colour will be much more intense on a large wall than on a
small paint chip. Take the paint chips home and examine
them in the room you will be painting, under both natural
daylight and artificial night lighting. If you are still
unsure about your colour choice, buy the colour that seems
best in the smallest quantity. Brush out several 2 ft. x
2ft. samples on the wall. When it is dry look at the
sample in the morning and evening. Usually for a more
dramatic effect, use a darker coloured glaze over a light
colour. For a softer look, use a similar coloured glaze
over a basecoat than is slightly darker than the glaze.
Oil paint uses a binder or resin that is derived from a
vegetable oil such as linseed or soya bean. This resin is
usually dissolved in a solvent such as mineral spirits.
What is alkyd paint?
Alkyd paint is the most common kind of oil paint, and many
oil paints are therefore normally referred to as alkyd
paints. Alkyd is simply the name of the synthetic resin,
usually containing a vegetable oil, that is used as the
binder.
What are the benefits of alkyd paint?
Alkyd paint provides resistance to mechanical damage from
abuse and abrasion. Alkyd paint is therefore well suited
to areas of high wear. It has traditionally been used for
such frequently cleaned areas as:
Doors and trim, both inside and outside
Kitchens
Bathrooms
Cabinets
When would I use alkyd paint?
It depends on a number of factors. See Selecting Interior
Paints and Selecting Exterior Paints for more information.
Can I use alkyd paint over latex paint?
Yes, but it is a good idea to do some sanding to provide
adhesion.
Note: As a result of ongoing improvements in latex paint
technology, latex paints can often be suitable for uses
that traditionally required alkyd paints. |
