Paint Quality Institute: One Home Remodeling Project You Can Afford to Do Now

(HIT) - If you’re like most of us, the "Great Recession" has probably had a major impact on both your spending habits and your lifestyle. You might be doing more of your shopping at discount stores, vacationing nearby (if you’re vacationing at all), and postponing plans to improve your home.

When it comes to home remodeling, however, you may not want to throw in the towel entirely. According to Debbie Zimmer at the Paint Quality Institute, there’s one project that’s still affordable for nearly everyone: interior painting. What’s more, it is one of the very few home improvements that can be done successfully even by those with little or no experience.

Zimmer shares, "When you consider the low cost coupled with the simplicity of repainting, and the dramatic difference that a fresh coat of paint can make in the appearance - and enjoyment - of any room, rather than postpone remodeling, you just may want to put this project at the top of your to-do list!"

Dollars and Sense

	Photo courtesy of The Paint Quality Institute

Sweat Equity

Of course, this type of rock bottom remodeling does assume that you’ll spend a little sweat equity on the project. The good news is that successful interior painting is a skill quickly learned and long remembered.

If you choose to move forward with repainting, take time to properly prepare the walls and other surfaces before picking up a brush or roller. This will help ensure that the new paint adheres well and that the finished job will be smooth, uniform, and long-lasting.

Photo courtesy of The Paint Quality Institute

	Photo courtesy of The Paint Quality Institute

Prime Investment

If you purchase a top quality 100% acrylic latex interior paint, you probably won’t need to spend time applying a primer to your walls. That’s because many of these paints act as both primer and paint.

However, in some circumstances, it may still be advisable to invest in a specialty primer as a first coat.

Specially formulated stain-blocking primers are made to protect the new coat of paint from "bleed through" of staining matter such as embedded dirt, grease, ink or crayon marks, rust, or smoke residue. If your walls are messy or marred even after cleaning them, you might want to consider applying this type of primer as a fail-safe before you paint.

Another specialty primer that is useful in special circumstances is a "vapor barrier" primer. These undercoats are often applied in kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, and other areas that tend to be damp and humid. Their purpose is to minimize the passage of moisture through the walls to help prevent the failure of your exterior paint. Vapor barrier primers also help maintain a comfortable level of indoor humidity in colder months.

Remember that all latex coatings - primers or paints - are much lower in odor than oil-based finishes, making them far more pleasant to work with and to live with indoors. Plus, they are much kinder to the environment.

Blue-chip Paint

While interior painting allows you to scrimp on your remodeling budget, one place you don’t want to scrimp is on the quality of paint you use, according to the Paint Quality Institute. True, the best quality paints will cost a few dollars more per gallon, but they’ll typically provide many more years of superior performance.

Photo courtesy of The Paint Quality Institute

(Paint) Investment Advisors

If you’re ready to take the affordable remodeling plunge by doing your own interior painting, you’re not alone. More and more people are doing it. And if you’ve never picked up a paintbrush or roller before, take heart: Help is close at hand.

For expert advice, start by visiting www.paintquality.com, the official website of the Paint Quality Institute. Spending a short time on the website will help to educate and inspire you to undertake the one remodeling project almost everyone can afford: beautifying your home with interior painting.

For detailed information on exterior paints and painting, visit www.paintquality.com, where a great paint job begins.

About the Paint Quality Institute ^(SM)

The Paint Quality Institute ^(SM) was formed by Rohm and Haas Company (now a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company ("Dow")) in 1989 to educate people on the advantages of using quality interior and exterior paints and coatings. The Paint Quality Institute's goal is to provide information on the virtues of quality paint as well as color trends and decorating with paint through a variety of vehicles, including television appearances, newspaper and magazine articles, and instructional literature. Please be sure to visit the Paint Quality Institute at www.paintquality.com

About Dow

Dow combines the power of science and technology with the "Human Element" to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2009, Dow had annual sales of $45 billion and employed approximately 52,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 214 sites in 37 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

Courtesy: Home Improvement News and Information Center

Editors & Online Publications, click here to log onto our editor's site to download your favorite Articles ...