Crown moulding remains one of the most popular and relatively inexpensive methods of upgrading the look of your home, and it is still one of the best ways to add resale value to your property if you’re planning on putting it up on the market. If you’d rather not spend five figures remodeling your rooms, but still need a way of improving the aesthetics of your house, consider this smaller but still big-impact fix. (Image Source)

Why Visual Details Matter

When you walk into a house that’s for sale, what is the first thing you notice? It could be a variety of things. The color of the walls, the size of the living room, its shape, etc. But whatever it is, it will likely have something to do with the home’s visual aesthetics. Most potential home buyers might not notice every little detail that’s been put into its design right away, but you can rest assured that all such design decisions will come together and produce a lasting effect on the buyer the moment he or she walks through the door. That first impression will determine the perceived value of the house in the eyes of the buyer, and thus the home’s final resale value as well. This is why, when it comes to remodeling your house for resale, it is the small details in design that really have the biggest payoffs.  Buyers won’t mind paying extra for a house they perceive to be unique and well maintained. This is where decorative crown moulding comes in.

The Value of Decorative Crown Moulding

Some new homes will include some kind of interior trimming, but the vast majority of them are still left mostly bare when they’re on the market. Adding some decorative crown moulding to yours will make it stand out from the rest, adding to its resale value by giving depth and sophistication of your property’s interior design. The investment for a typical crown moulding job comes out to around $300 to $500 per room, depending on the type of moulding and the contractor you chose. The interest added by the crown moulding will translate, in the end, into money that goes back to your pocket at the time of resale.

Crown moulding helps set the tone of a room and gives it a more original and finished feel. According to real estate expert Steve Berges, author of 101 Cost-Effective Ways to Increase the Value of Your Home, “When you’re comparing two houses, the one with the crown moulding is going to show better.” Crown moulding is also a good way to finish off walls when the acoustic texture has been removed from the ceilings. (Image Source)

Installing Your New Crown Moulding

Even though installing crown moulding might be classified as a minor upgrade, it is definitely not a do-it-yourself home improvement project (unless you are an expert with the compound miter saw and have some experience dealing in precise measurements). Part of the reason why most experts warn against doing a crown moulding job yourself is because of the way they fit into the corners of the room; the pieces must be cut upside down and backwards at a 38 to 45 degree angle. Things can get especially complicated when you stop to consider the fact that many rooms do not have walls that meet at precisely 90 degree angles.

Your best bet is to choose an installer that is well qualified. Take your time shopping around and doing your research. Look at reviews of local installers online and see what previous customers say about them. Installing crown moulding is not the place to cut corners, as a shoddy job will decrease the value of your house, not raise it. A good place to ask for recommended contractors is your local lumberyard.

Picking the Right Style of Crown Moulding

When shopping around, you’ll want to consider all the little details involved in the design of your new crown moulding. Pay special attention to the corners and cornices, as these are the decorative accents of crown mouldings and are the thing that will give your moulding its feel and flavor. Cornices are also where good workmanship will show through.

Pick a design that matches the overall aesthetic you’re going for with your property. It should be one that matches the architectural style of your house. If you have a Victorian revival house and you install crown mouldings that have modernist designs you’ll end up creating a discord between the two visual styles, which in turn will result in a lowering of the value of your house. Conversely, if you have a modernist house, leave the frilly crown mouldings alone and go for cleaner lines and plainer designs.

If done correctly, a decorative crown moulding job can increase the depth and uniqueness of your interior design and provide you with a worthwhile payoff come resale time.

Many people love the scent of fresh paint, but few stop to think about where that scent comes from.  As it turns out, that new paint smell is largely caused by what’s called, “volatile organic compounds,” or VOCs. VOCs are chemicals that evaporate quickly when left at room temperature. You’ll find VOCs in alkyd oil and latex paints. They help make the paint easier to spread and more durable. But while VOCs can have positive effects on the quality of the paint, they can have very negative effects on people’s health. Low-level exposure to these chemicals can cause headaches, nausea and dizziness, and high-level exposure can have much more dire consequences like permanent kidney and liver damage, as well as problems in one’s respiratory and nervous systems. (Image Source)

Luckily, you can reduce the danger of VOCs by opting to use low-VOC or no-VOC paints instead of regular paint. It’s an easy fix and it costs about the same as buying regular paint. Below are some facts about low-VOC paint and the many benefits that it can offer.

Why Use Low-VOC Paint?

According to recent EPA studies, indoor air tends to be on average about 3 to 5 times more toxic than outdoor air. This is largely caused by the toxic emissions that come from paint and finishes. The most immediately perceivable reason to use low-VOC paint is that it has much less of an impact on the room’s air quality than paints with higher VOC content. You can tell because there’s less of an odor. For buildings that need to maintain good air quality (i.e. hospitals, schools, workplaces, etc.) low-VOC paints are a must.

Using low-VOC paint also helps to reduce allergy-causing toxins, so that people in your family or workplace with susceptible allergies will have a much easier time. Low-VOC paints help to reduce the concentration of contaminants in the ozone layer as well as in groundwater and landfills. Low-VOC paints can also be more easily cleaned up using soap and water. (Image Source)

While the move towards less toxic paint products is not complete, it’s come a long way in recent years. As advances in paint technology have improved, there has been more development of environmentally friendly products with higher performance levels and competitive costs.

What are the Costs? What are the Savings?

Low-VOC paints tend to be about as expensive as a manufacturer’s premium line of regular paints, which is typically somewhere around $30 per gallon. Low-VOC paint is usually high-performance, though, and in many ways it is worth the price tag. Consider, for one, that when purchasing cheaper paint, you might have to repaint after a few years. High-performance paint, on the other hand, might mean painting only once every 10 or even 20 years, which ends up costing you a lot less in the end. You can consider the extra expense of purchasing high-performance, low-VOC paint as an investment that will pay off in time and money saved.

A Few More Things to Consider

Check Labels when Buying

It can be a little difficult to determine the right kind of paint to buy due to the way low-VOC paints are labeled and marketed. Do not be confused by paint cans labeled “Low-Odor.” Fumes from VOCs can be masked to create low-odor paint, but it doesn’t mean they can’t still be harmful to you and the environment simply because you can’t smell them.

Also, there are certain low-VOC paints that are labeled as “Green Seal” certified. This does not, however, necessarily make them better than other low-VOC paints, as there are low-VOC paints that meet certain LEED standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council, which means they don’t need to obtain Green Seal certification, so either kind works.

All Low-VOC Paints are NOT Equal

A paint can that has a low-VOC label contains paint that has met the EPA’s maximum VOC emissions standards. These, however, differ depending on the paint. Latex paint has to have less than 250 grams of VOCs per liter, while alkyds are allowed to contain 380 grams of VOCs per liter. Preferably, look for paints that contain 150 grams of VOCs per liter or less. Also, know that pigments and additives like conditioners and mildewcides can also contribute to the toxicity of paint, and these are not counted as VOCs.

What’s Behind EPA Regulations

And finally, it’s important to note that EPA regulations are largely concerned with the reduction of air pollution. There are chemicals, like certain heavy metals, that are not counted as VOCs because they do not increase air pollution, yet they are still toxic.

To Sum it Up

So there is a brief rundown of what VOCs are and the reasons using low-VOC paint is a good way to go. To recap:

- No strong odors during painting, and areas painted can be occupied more quickly.

- The use of low-VOC paint reduces air pollution, ozone depleting chemicals, landfills and groundwater pollution.

- Low-VOC paint performs at high levels in terms of wall coverage and durability, so the slightly higher price tag is generally worth it.

Choosing the right paint color can seem like an overwhelming and never-ending process of mixing and matching. Aside from using the tips below, find yourself a reputable San Diego interior painter that will be able to give you some advice and make the process seem more manageable. Do not get discouraged during the process, once you are done you will have an interior to be proud of and call your own. Here is a breakdown of some important factors to take into consideration when going it alone. (Image Source)

Room Location

Location is probably the most important factor when trying to choose the right paint color. Is it a guest bedroom facing south? South facing rooms are likely to receive more natural light than the rest of the house and will look better with mid or dark-toned colors. According to Lee Snijders, host of HGTV’s Design on a Dime, you should, “Prime the wall with KILZ® Premium (a general purpose, water-based primer) and then use a flat or satin paint so that the walls absorb color to give the room more depth.” If your room is on the north side of the house it will inherently seem darker and duller. To counteract this, you should use light to mid tones and a glossy finish to help better reflect the light around the room.

Furniture First!

Shopping for the right paint color is second in the order of operations. Paint colors are infinite and it is the cheapest step in developing your room. Make sure you have all of the furniture, rugs, wallpaper and other fabrics picked out before you try and fit a paint color to the look and feel of the room. Then you can take your fabric color samples with you when trying to match them with a paint color. One common way of choosing a color is by matching it to the background color of the print fabric you are using. Being patient will pay off in the end when you have a well-presented room. (Image Source)

Ask an Expert

Do not be afraid to approach the paint professionals in the store and ask for their recommendations. Once you describe to them what your goals are and what the room is being used for, they will be able to steer you in the right direction in terms of what types of paint you should use. They may not know the exact color you are looking for, but they can tell you all about washable paint, stain-killing primers, chalkboard paint, low-odor paint, and much more.

Carry your samples

Once you have color samples of what is already in your room, such as rugs and fabrics, make sure you take them with you everywhere you go. It can take you a while to decide on a color and you are much more likely to find that perfect match if you have your color tiles to reference. It might seem like a nuisance, but when you are out shopping, you will wish you could hold up your rug color to that random painting that looks like a great match.

Contrast

If all of the fabrics and furniture in the room are overloaded with one color, you will want to go with a contrasting color for the walls. Simply pick up a color wheel and look to the opposite side of the colors already in the room. This contrast color will have a balancing effect on the room and make it look much more pleasing to the eye than if you just tried a different shade of the same colors in the room. You can use the deeper and brighter tones in the print fabric in your overall color scheme, but not as the base.

Lighting

Once you have decided on a color, stop! Whatever you do, do not get over-excited and paint the entire house interior without first testing out the different effects light will have on the paint. In the beginning stages of selecting a color, you can simply leave the color tiles you are considering in the room and take a look at them at different times during the day when the lighting has changed. Once you have narrowed it down to a few colors, try painting a couple test areas on your wall or a board and double check that the lighting doesn’t have any adverse effects. (Image Source)

Ceiling Color

If you are planning on painting the ceiling the same color as the walls, it is a good idea to use a lighter shade to prevent the room from appearing darker and smaller. A good rule of thumb is to dilute your color to a ratio of 75% white paint and 25% color.

Custom Color Matching

Chances are that when you finally find a color you love, it won’t be a standard color on a paint chip you picked up at the store. Thankfully, any good San Diego interior painter will be able to do a custom color match to any item you give them. Whether you have a painting or a piece of fabric you stole from your friend’s house, you can create your own paint that will exactly match that color. Once you create the color, you may want to try out different shades to be sure it doesn’t turn out too dark, bright, or dull.

Your house may be hiding a terrible health risk that you do not even know about.  “Popcorn ceilings,” so-called because of their bumpy texture, were cutting edge in the 1950s, and they fell out of favor in the 1970s.  Now, however, they look extremely dated and, even worse, they often contain asbestos.  Fortunately, there are many San Diego acoustic ceiling removal companies to rid your house of this unnecessary risk.

Popcorn Ceilings: What and Why

Popcorn ceilings were a cheap way of quickly finishing a construction job from the 1950s through the late 1970s.  It is a spray-on ceiling treatment that creates a rough, bumpy texture that masks any defects in the ceiling, such as stains and shoddy workmanship.  Besides being quick and easy to slap on, popcorn ceilings supposedly had soundproofing qualities (hence its other name, “acoustic ceiling”), although this has been disputed.  Popcorn ceilings are a mixture of drywall joint compound and bits of paper and Styrofoam, although most from the 1950s to the early 1970s also contain asbestos.  If you have a popcorn ceiling that you know was constructed before asbestos ceilings were banned in the late 70s, get that ceiling removed immediately.  Asbestos is known to cause lung cancer, as well as mesothelioma, and asbestosis, so you should waste no time in getting rid of it.

Popcorn Ceiling Removal

To get rid of a popcorn ceiling, you can either work with San Diego interior painters or do it yourself.  A word of warning: because of the likelihood that the ceiling will contain asbestos, you should definitely hire a professional to handle the removal.  You can always do it yourself to save money, but the risks just aren’t worth it.  The removal process will be messy; removal consists of two main steps.  First step, spray the ceiling with water to soften up the popcorn coating. Next, once it is soft and wet, you scrape the coating off with a large trowel or putty knife.  That is it.  It sounds simple, but it is very messy, and you may be exposing yourself to asbestos, which carries a severe health risk.

Another process is to spray the ceiling with latex paint.  This does not actually remove the acoustic ceiling coating, but simply covers it up to prevent it from releasing dust and such.  This could cause major problems over the long run, though.  The latex could prevent the ceiling from expanding and contracting with the house, causing chunks of the paint to peel off.  For this reason, it is best to contract a San Diego painter, who will get the job done right and make sure you are not exposed to any health risks.

You couldn’t tell by the recent weather!

If you’ve been following us on Facebook, you’ll know we’ve been very busy this past summer.  With the mild temperatures over the summer, it’s been GREAT painting weather!  You already know “We Love to Paint.”  As we move into fall and the holiday season is approaching, you might want to start thinking about some interior painting to prepare your home for your guests and visitors.

We have some great promotions going on right now at Mr. D’s.  Our most popular “Free Crown Moulding” offer is back!  What a great way to change the interior look of your home by adding beautiful crown moulding and changing the color of some of your rooms.

At Mr. D’s all of our jobs are completed “in house” meaning we don’t need subcontractors.  We can control the schedule, so we’re not waiting on one trade to finish their work in order for us to start ours.  And, of course, Mr. D’s is a contractor you can trust.  We’ve been serving the San Diego County for over 25 years!  We have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, and we have many satisfied customers who would love the share their experiences with you.

If you are thinking about painting for the holidays, give us a call — you’ll be glad you did!

Don Martin

With summer right around the corner, things are starting to heat up here at Mr. D’s.  We have had the pleasure of working with many first time homeowners this past year, and it has been a wonderful experience for us — and for our customers as well!  Lately we’ve completed quite a few interior renovation projects — including updating lighting, removing acoustic texture from ceilings, adding new doors, crown moulding and, of course, our favorite — PAINTING!

Just these few things can make a huge difference inside your home.  And the best part is — these renovations can be performed without breaking the bank.  Not only will you be placing your own stamp on your home, you’ll be adding instant value to it as well.  At Mr. D’s we do this on a daily basis.  I love this part of my job — meeting with you, the homeowner, to discover your wants and expectations, then going forward to create the home you’ll be comfortable living in.

At Mr. D’s not only do “We Love to Paint,” but we provide so much more!  Call us at (619) 562-5848, and I will personally meet with you, review your project with you, and provide you with a free estimate.

Mr. D’s Tip of the Day:  Make sure you do business with licensed contractors only.  Mr. D’s is licensed, bonded, and insured for your protection.  To find out if your contractor holds a valid license with the State of California, go to www.cslb.com.

We look forward to working with you!

Have you ever tried to remove wallpaper? It is one of the most difficult procedures to provide an estimate for. There are several reasons for this, none of which you have answers to until you begin to remove the paper from the wall.

Sometimes the wallpaper will come right off! Just when you think you’ve mastered the skill of wallpaper removal, you get a project where you swear the wallpaper was applied with super glue. These jobs can be very messy and cause damage to the wall. One way to minimize the wall damage and avoid hours of frustration is to simply apply a good primer over the reluctant paper to seal it permanently to the wall. Then skim coat the wall and texture right over the paper — this saves a lot of time and money!

Vinyl wallpaper is usually the most diffcult paper to remove, and fabric is usually the easiest. Make sure to score the top layer of paper, and soak with warm soapy water if you want the paper off. Always wash walls with a mild TSP (tri-sodium phosphate) solution to remove any remaining wall paper glue.

Tip of the Day: Try mixing liquid fabric softener with warm water for stubborn wallpaper.

The past five to ten years have brought a lot of movement — people moving from smaller homes to larger homes, and now with home prices dropping, many have decided that moving doesn’t make financial sense. In those cases — it’s time to update the house. There are several ways to begin:

Very important is the kitchen. New appliances, updated lighting, and possibly new cabinets and counter tops is a very cost effective way to update your home and maximize your investment.

Next would be the bathroom. Once again, new cabinets and counter tops instantly add life and value to the out-of-date bathroom.

The number one way to change the look of your home is by painting. Adding color to the walls and putting on a fresh coat of paint will make your home look and feel different and refreshed. Adding crown or new base moulding will also dramatically change the look of your home.

To find out more about these suggestions and more, call us today for a free in-home evaluation. A home makeover from Mr. D’s can eliminate all the headaches that come with moving!

Mr. D’s Tip of the Day: Get quart samples of the paint colors your are considering and apply them to the walls prior to the start of painting. This will help you decide on your colors before you paint. You will be able to view the paint after it dries and in the lighting of the rooms.

It has been a pleasure sharing my thoughts with you.

Don Martin
Owner, Mr. D’s Painting

Greetings everyone! Today I’d like to talk about acoustic ceilings, or as some of our customers like to call them, “Popcorn Ceilings.” What they are is outdated. The first thing most people ask when they purchase a home with acoustic ceilings is, “How much will it cost to get rid of this stuff?” The answer is… it depends!

Acoustic ceilings in houses built prior to 1976 should be tested for asbestos. Some acoustic texture used before that date does contain asbestos. Make sure you have your ceilings tested before moving forward.

If your acoustic texture does contain asbestos, it is best to call a licensed asbestos removal contractor. If it does not, then call Mr. D’s. We will scrape that old, tired texture off and retexture your ceilings with a new texture that will instantly add value and beauty to your home.

At Mr. D’s we can provide you with quick and professional service. A typical home usually takes three (3) days to complete. Day one we will scrape and texture your ceilings. Day two we let the new texture dry, and day three we prime and paint the ceilings, leaving you with beautiful new ceilings. For an added touch of elegance, we can install crown moulding.

So if you’re thinking of removing that old acoustic texture, then call Mr. D’s Painting today for a free in-home evaluation and estimate.

Thanks for reading my blog!

Mr. D’s Tip of the Day: If you decide to remove the texture yourself, wet the acoustic texture prior to scraping. This makes it easier to remove.