FINAL TOUCHES ON A WINE & SPIRITS STORE

In my old hometown of Limerick will be Pennsylvania newest state wine and spirits(whew scary) store: http://www.lcb.state.pa.us/. While working there the spirits didn't bother much with me. I believe there was a poltergeist and maybe a few banshees. They were relatively friendly, but they haunted the electricians a little bit and knocked over some saw horses, but if you met the electricians you'd understand. Unsavory types.

We were the second painters on this job. Months ago we bid on the job and were not the low bidder (I can only assume that), and consequently were not awarded the contract. Well sometimes you get what you pay for, and the first "so-called" painters were excused from the job and we were then brought in to the "clean up" the mess. I will not go into detail about their shortcomings as painters, because I'll run the risk of sounding cocky. Most tradesman always believe they are the most skilled at what they do anyway. After removing the rust spots on the aluminum decking ceiling ( from using the wrong paint) and spackling the walls which should have been sanded properly before painting, we will be adding an accent border. The application is similar to the red wall I discussed in earlier blogs. The border is to be 8' off the floor and 1' wide. The walls and floors were not perfectly level surfaces, but to make a long day shorter for you the reader, we measured up in the corners 8' for the bottom of the border and made a pencil mark, then measured up another foot for the top of the border. We would then go to the next corner and repeat the process. When two corners were marked a chalk line was used to snap a straight lines. After all the chalk lines were completed I used the painters tape to mask out the lines. After completing the taping, I applied a small bead of chaulk between the edge of the tape and wall where border will be. The chaulk and tape combination will produce a perfectly straight line, the paint cannot drip down under the tape because the chaulk barrier will block it . And in similar manner to my other blog, you would be wise to apply a gray primer to serve as an undercoater to the finish, in this case, a wine colored burgundy. Here are some photos showing the process:

And here my friends is the finished product of two coats of red over the top of the gray first coat. I have always been told that red invokes anger, you know the bull and the matador's cape thingy. The wall looks great, but lets all hope it is not the spark for some office melee.

This photo was supposed to show up in the last blog. No harm, no foul. Rookie blogger is scared to attept the whole editing process.  

When I paint commercially I prefer not to use the blue 3M painters tape. For starters it is very expensive, nearly $7 per roll, and frankly I feel more "old school" when I paint without it. In my crazy head I like to think clients notice when I do not use tape and it comes out looking great, causing praise and admiration to flow like the mighty Monongahela. Seriously though, for jobs like this accent wall with a red next to a white wall and ceiling you'd be a fool not to use blue tape to ensure a perfect and clean edge when the two colors meet. Sure it would be sweet to puff my chest out and paint it freehand, but it would also be annoying to keep touch up the colors when one just crosses over to the other. On a tall wall such as this any veering off the straight line will show. Typically when you are painting a wall a dark color, it is recommended that you prime the wall in grey. Red and other dark colors can be difficult to cover in two coats over top of white or new drywall. However, if you use a grey primer it's a good bet that you'll have success with two coats of the dark over top. If you are simply painting drywall, the primer coat does not have to be actual primer. In cases like the grey on this wall, I took white (or any light colored paint) finish paint and added black paint until I reached my desired tone of grey. This may be the "Shades of Gray" that Jerry sang about, no, I doubt it. But it is always handy to keep a quart of black paint around to darken colors up.

Last week I started a job at the Paoli Corporate Center. Paoli is a town located along the Main Line on Route 30, and located close to Valley Forge and Villanova University. PCC is a 4 story office building that was formerly a candy manufacturing plant. For the sweet tooth of god, I cannot recall the name of the candy company. Not important. Last year a large occupancy tenant moved out, leaving the building relatively empty for a considerable time. Slowly it is filling back up, and each time a new tenant moves in my business get a call for painting work. The offices are leased, and the new tenants can choose paint colors. The office area you looking at was leased to an advertising firm. The office space features two floors, with two sets of staircases including a spiral staircase, hardwood floors, oak trim, and large two story windows in foyer. The scope of our work includes resurfacing the hardwood floors with polyurethane, fresh coat of shellac on the trim, painting all wall space, and painting the metal on the underside of the spiral staircase. The wall in the picture will be an accent wall painted with MAB's Red Alert, a bright and vibrant color to inject some life into the space. I will show in future blogs the progress being made.

After not snowing for the entire month of January, winter is finally starting to act like winter. God probably smacked Mother Nature and told her to snap out it already. The weather is getting wackier as each year passes. I kid you not, two weeks ago I was golfing in 60* weather and if I rememeber correctly, I was sweating. Now instead of toting around my Ping golf bag, I am pushing my snowblower.

Speaking of snowblowers, I have a question that needs addressing. If a neighbor owns a snowblower(me), does this neighbor have a moral obligation to clear the driveways and sidewalks of his fellow neighbors? Mind you, in general I would say yes, if the person has the time and energy he or she should help their neighbors out. However, if the fellow neighbors have never been neighborly in the past and are too cheap to buy a snowblower for themselves, why do their driveways deserved to be cleared? I would have no problem helping out a elderly couple, but I just can't get the desire to do my neighbor a favor when they still leaves their barking dog out too long. It's funny though I still feel uncomfortable snowblowing when my neighbors are outside shoveling and they can clearly see me. Thanks for any advice.

Please allow me to present my daughter before I delve into the glamorous world of painting. Her name is Lilly and she just turned 3. We somehow survived the first round of the "terrible 2's." Most of my friends who have kids claim that the 3's are worse than the 2's, I know, that sucks for me. Joe pulls her hair for kicks, and Lilly won't hesitate to knock him down and laugh. However, they really enjoy each other's company and will be allies in life. One of Lilly's strong points is she has an eye for fashion. I call her a girly-girl, because she loves the color pink and dressing up like a princess or a ballerina. She will always be my little angel, well maybe at least until middle school.  

I've been racking my feeble mind to come up with decent blog ideas. While pondering my life and the events that make up "a day", I determined that I didn't want to bore the readers with the endless saga that is parenthood. Do you really want to hear me complain about ear infections, or praise my son for walking early( the boy is advanced I tell you), I think not.

The majority of my existence is spent working and sleeping. News about my sleeping would obviously be redundant, and predictable. However I believe my work in the commercial painting industry would gather some interest from bloggers. I could offer insights and maybe answer questions that readers may have or steer them in the right direction.

I must also admit that I am a TV junkie. A popular gimmick in programs is the "before and after" photos. It could involve the rebuilding of a home, a makeover of ones appearance through surgery/ weight loss, or even the overhaul of a classic automobile to name a few. If you're like me then you may find the images intriquing, thus prompting a return visit to the blog.