Many people look forward to the spring. It means the end of winter and to some, it also means it’s time to clean in and around the house. Around this time, many homeowners realize their home would benefit from a new exterior paint job.
There are many reasons for painting the exterior of a home. It may be unpleasant to look at as it needs maintenance or upkeep. A new paint job  would breathe new life into it. A colour change might be fun, especially if the homeowner is not a fan of the current colour or the colour has faded over the years. As well as the aesthetic reasons, a new painting job could help renew the protection of the existing surface from the elements. For example, garage doors and front doors need protection from the elements, especially if they’re made of wood, and a new paint job could possibly extend their  life. After years of rain, snow, sun, wind, dirt and other elements abusing the exterior of your home, it may be a great time to consider exterior painting.

 

 

Markham is one of the fastest growing municipalities in Canada. In fact it has doubled its population since 1990. Within Markham exist a few very distinct communities, some small like Locust Hill and Almira, some larger communities like Thornhill and Unionville.
Unionville is a historic community of over 210 years and that history is visible on Main Street  Unionville, with its historic buildings, mills, churches and century homes.
When our Markham Painters are asked to paint any historic building or home in Unionville and  Markham, this is not just another paint job. It is a priviledge that is not taken lightly.

The Unionville century home pictured here is one of the homes  that our Markham Painters painted.
 In addition to the residential work, our Commercial Markham Painters had a chance to paint some of the commercial buildings in Unionville.  From painting office space to re-decorating furniture and retail stores, servicing and painting in the Markham area is what our painters do, year after year.

For any painting in Markham, call us at 416 733-7767 or request a painting estimate for your home or business.

 

Painting institutions such as large Health Centres is a challenge more times than not. The everyday activities of health professionals and busy staff cannot be compromised.  As a result, a lot of this work is done after hours or during weekends. The needs of the patients or clients of the facility always take priority and contractors have an obligation to work with staff to ensure that happens.
During  the painting project of the Parkdale Community Health Centre this is definitely the case.

PCHC is a non-profit community-based health centre offering a variety of health services including primary health care services, counselling, health promotion, and outreach. Their priority is with individuals and groups who encounter barriers to accessing high quality health care. All their services are free and nobody needs a health card for access.

When Commercial Toronto Painters were required, the painting company chosen was Ecopainting Inc.
Their proven and extensive experience in Institutional Painting and green painting, made them the perfect painters for the project. By using Benjamin Moore’s new zero VOC paints, the painters were almost invisible during this process and you couldn’t even smell the presence of paint. Their new waterbourne colourant system made it possible to have a focus dark coloured wall in almost every room with almost no smell.
With the mandate of the clinic and the great work that they do, this is one community the painters were proud to be part of. And yes, blending in and being almost invisible in this case was not difficult.

 

Lead was widely used  to improve the performance of paint. It was used as a pigment, and also was known to improve the durability and appearance of painted surfaces. It is still used around the world for the same reasons.
The performance benefits of lead pale by comparison to the harmful effects it has on humans.
Growing children under the age of six can experience the most severe of side effects. Lead can hinder growth and development and is harmful to the nervous system and every organ of the body. While it is documented to be harmful to young children, adults can experience effects like reproductive problems.
Eating paint chips is not the only way it can hurt children. Dust from old paint during repainting and other renovations, if ingested can also be harmful.
Paint manufacturers for years now have improved paint performance without using lead.
While the debate south of the border is mostly based on the regulatory part of the lead issue, talk goes further than compliance and what someone can get away with.
Responsible Painting Contractors need to look at the well being of their customers and their own safety during renovations and painting of older homes.
The Paul, a remodeler in Minnesota, brings up some real points in an article in the Construction Remodel Forum.

 

By Karon

We do a lot of Office Painting in Toronto. In quite a few of our Commercial Painting Toronto projects, we paint at night, after the offices are closed. Sometimes we have the opportunity to paint during the day, when the office staff are at work. One of those projects was with Grasshopper Energy Corporation.
They had just moved in to their new office space in January. Most would agree that it looked rather dull. All the walls, doors, door frames and side-lites were the same colour. Benjamin Moore’s Snowfall White was the choice for the main colour, which was quite the job, as it took three coats to cover, so 18 sidelites became 54. Fun it was, I know, I did them.  Sweet Pea was the accent colour, which we colour matched from their Logo. In the end, the painting created the illusion of a larger office space and it was so much brighter. What a pleasure it was to Paint the Offices at Grasshopper Energy Corporation.  A lot of times, in the hustle and bustle of today’s business world, you can find noise, chaos, tension, and other discomforts within a busy office environment.  Not at Grasshopper you wouldn’t! The staff here were a team, they were like one big happy family. These guys loved going to work…and it seemed like they never wanted to go home….if we were painting late into the evening, they were still there! What a nice Office Painting Project that was. Change your colours, we want to come back!

 

 

Toronto Exterior Painters have to work within the limitations of a relatively short painting season. Paint exterior surfaces too early in the spring or too late in the fall and paint failure is imminent.  
When painting the exterior of a home, the temperature of the air is something that must be considered. Oftentimes fall comes and people start to think about painting the outside of their homes because they start to recognize chipping paint or a dull deck. However, finding the right time and the right paint to use in cooler temperatures is imperative to a successful paint/stain job. If it is too cold, booking a job for the spring would be the best idea to ensure proper adhesion and curing of the paint.
Some manufacturers offer low temperature paint. Some of Benjamin Moore’s exterior paint can be used when the air temperature is above or at approximately 4.4 degrees Celsius. Aura exterior paint is rated as safe to use in that temperature.
However, not every type of paint will work well in these temperatures. Some paints are not suitable for these low temperatures and need to be applied when there are higher surrounding air temperatures. For more information regarding the specific temperature levels for each type of Benjamin Moore exterior paints please visit www.benjaminmoore.com.
Other manufacturers have similar offerings of low temperature paint. It is a good idea to check every manufacturers recommendations, or ask a technical representative before  using any low temperature exterior paints.
One thing to consider in low temperatures is dew.  Beware of dew developing on paint before it dries as it will cause the paint to appear uneven and not settle properly. Another thing to be careful with is to ensure that the surface is dry before you paint. It may appear to be a dry and sunny day, but again dew can cause problems. Cool fall or spring mornings may create dew on your paint surface before you get started. Be sure to sure that this moisture has not penetrated your paint surface as this will cause problems.

 For Exterior Painting Services in Toronto, please call 416 733-7767 or request a painting estimate

Written By Joanne

 

 

Commercial Painting Services was asked to paint the office space of a growing company located in North York. This space had to be painted during the weekend and some evenings.
A crew from Ecopainting was assigned to complete the project. The customer was happy with the results and they were very accommodating to the painters and their schedule.
The only initial difficulty was getting a colour to compliment the company colours. Simply picking a colour off company literature or business cards does not translate well to architectural paint. The painters tested different blue colours before proceeding and at the end a visit by the customer to Boyd’s decorating (local dealer) ended up being very helpful. The end result was a very pleasant and cool colour from Benjamin Moore to compliment the main light grey colour.

Commercial Toronto Painters are available to paint your office space as well in the Greater Toronto Area.
Call them at 416 479 0131, or request a painting estimate online.

 

 As usual, interesting discussion has been taking place in Painttalk.com about green painting and green paints. The thread started with an opinion that marketing green products is sometimes influenced by unrealistic expectations of how they should perform. Are the new paints performing like the paints of yesterday? What about their cost? Are professional painters stepping out of their comfort zone by using new green paints? Professional painters rely on products that have performed perform well in the past. There is scepticism about the new “green paints”and mostly deserved.

On the question of what is green, the question was asked about having a unified standard of what is green.
The following answer from the Original poster (from http://www.degreeofgreen.com/) addresses that question.
 “The problem with a unified standard is that there is no unified definition of what “green” means. The three most-used independent certifiers, Greenguard, Greenseal and SCS, all have their own set of criteria. Plus, none of them address toxicity of ingredients that make up less than 1% of the volume. For folks with allergies, asthma and chem sensitivity, this wont help them. All in all, the independent third party certifiers are simply providing a rubber stamp for using the approved paints on a LEED project. In a home, who cares about LEED? In my years of being in this business, never has any home owner ever asked me “does this paint meet GS-11?” They don’t care about that. They ask questions like “will this paint be safe for my autistic child?” or “can I use this even though I’m pregnant?” Currently there is NO standard that addresses these questions. Therefore, you have to rely on what the mfg’s say and the track record their products have.”