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Painter Sandy Springs Exterior House

How to Make Cedar Shake Look New Again

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Anyone who has stained cedar on their home knows exactly what I’m talking about; those nasty black or gray stains that “magically” appear all over the place.  If you are a do it yourselfer or asked an uninformed contractor, you may have heard this was mold, mildew, or dirt.  Then the next rational step is to clean these stain with bleach or trisodium phosphate (TSP). That won’t work.  All that you are going to do is hurt the cedar by hitting it too hard with a pressure washer.  So, does this mean that you are sentenced to living with black stains on your once beautiful cedar shake?

Nope.

These stains are not mold, mildew, or dirt.  They are tannin stain.  Cedar is a very resinous and tannic wood.  That is why it smells so nice and repels insects.  Tannin stains are not destructive or damaging to the wood; they are just ugly.  But ugly is nearly just as bad as destructive when it affects where you live.

How do you remove these ugly tannin stains so that you can restain your cedar to restore its natural beauty?

Oxalic Acid.  Our painters in Sandy Springs use Sherwin Williams’ DeckScapes Revive.  While this product is easy to use, it must done correctly to avoid damaging the wood or causing problems with the staining process.  Here’s how to do it:

  1. Apply the DeckScapes Revive directly to the stained areas of the wood.  Do not thin it or cut it.  You can apply it with a pump sprayer, brush or roller.  Only apply it to an area that you can manage.
  2. After applying the Revive.  What 10-15 minutes.  DO NOT LET IT DRY!  I don’t know what happens because I’ve never let it dry, but the manufacturer is adamant about it.
  3. Pressure wash the wood as you normally wood.
  4. Let the cedar dry for 24 hours before applying your stain.  The picture above was stained using DeckScapes Alkyd Cedar Toner.

The results will be nothing short of amazing.  The black stains will be gone and the cedar will be wood color again.  After you let everything dry for 24 hours, you can stain your cedar.  I like using oil-based toners for this application.  Sherwin Williams and TWP make my favorite toners.

If your home has stained cedar shake and you want it to look new again, call GreenWave Solutions to get an estimate.

404-549-7776

 

GreenWave Solutions is the best painter Sandy Springs has to offer.  GreenWave Solutions offers painting in Alpharetta, Atlanta, Decatur, Sandy Springs, Roswell, Brookhaven, Duluth, Grant Park, Inman Park, Buckhead,Milton, Midtown, and more!

We also offer residential and commercial drywall contracting, wood flooring, and many other home improvement and remodeling services.

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Painter Sandy Springs Exterior House

This cedar shake was nearly black when we started. This is the result after cleaning it with Revive and staining it with DeckScapes Toner.

Interior & Exterior Painting Services Atlanta, Alpharetta, Dunwoody, Chamblee, Roswell, Buckhead, Sandy Springs

How To Paint a Bath

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Bathrooms are some of the more fun places to paint.  They are small and you can usually get creative with colors because of this.  However, the one factor that you must account for when painting your bathroom is water.

Bathrooms are exposed to lots of water, steam, and traffic.  For this, you must take care when selecting bathroom paint.  Since GreenWave Solutions has the best Atlanta painters, we use the best paint.  Our professional choice is Sherwin-Williams’ Duration Home Matte Finish.  This product is washable, scrubable, and water and mildew resistant.  The resins in Duration are very resistant to peeling when exposed to shower steam or water splashing from the sinks.  After you have selected your paint and color, here is what you need to paint your bathroom like our Atlanta Painting pros:

–          Brushes and rollers

–          Roller trays

–          Drop cloths

–          Drywall repair product and knife

–          Tape

–          Tools to remove the back of the toilet

–          Alkyd based aerosol primer (maybe)

–          Caulk (maybe)

Here we go:

1)      Repair any drywall damage (gouges, scratches, etc) and caulk everything (if necessary).

2)      After drywall compound has dried, sand repairs smooth and prime with oil primer.  During this step, prime and water stains that are around using the same primer.

3)      Remove switch plates and outlet covers, tape around towel racks, light fixtures, ceilings and anything else you don’t want to get paint on (unless you are good enough to cut a line without tape).

4)      Start painting.  I like to do the trim first (see #5) and then the walls.  Use your brush to cut and roll the big areas.  If you want to, you can remove the back of the toilet so that you can paint the whole area.  However, using a brush, you can paint behind it enough so that it looks completely painted.  I don’t like removing the back of the commode because it sucks and isn’t really necessary.

5)      Atlanta painting pro tip:  If you are not using tape, paint the trim first.  This way, it doesn’t matter if you get paint on the wall because it is easier to cut a straight line on the wall than on the trim.

6)      Let the paint dry for 30 minutes or so, remove the tape, and do a walkthrough.  Walkthrough refers to checking for missed spots, holidays, etc.

7)      Clean up and get some beer to reward yourself!

This Roswell painting How-to is brought to you by GreenWave Solutions.

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President of GreenWave Solutions, the best Atlanta painter and Dunwoody house painters.  GreenWave Solutions offers painter services in Alpharetta, Atlanta, Decatur, Sandy Springs, Roswell, Brookhaven, Duluth, Grant Park, Inman Park, Buckhead,Milton, Midtown, and more!