Tipp-Ex?

In a previous "post" (Before and After) I refered to a product called Tipp-Ex. It later occured to me that younger readers of my blog possibly wouldn´t know what this was. So to explain....Tipp-Ex was a product that was used to correct mistakes made when a person was typing (word processing) a letter or document using an old fashioned typewriter. It was supplied as a liquid form in little bottles that came with small brush to applicate included and also in small strips of paper that had been impregnated with the product in powder form.

It was an absolutely essential aid to the production of typewritten material, especialy to non professional typists which of course was nearly everyone!

In the photo on the right we can see a dear old lady of the typewriter generation using Tipp-Ex to correct a mistake on her Word Documet.  Aw bless!

You might be interested to know that the original Tipp-Ex  (Liquid Paper) was invented by the mother of Mike Naismith (true!) who was a member of the very popular sixties pop group "The Monkees" in this photo he is first on the left.


The Monkees of course were the very first "Boy Band" in that they were manufactured by the music biz with the express purpose of being an American rival to the Beatles.

To younger readers who are unfamiliar with the words "Typewriters" "The Monkees" or "The Beatles" I refer you to www.wikipedea.com

Feeling Blue?

Alan and Haulwen Black certainly were feeling blue when they realised how difficult it was going to be to recreate the colour of the walls of the house and gardens of French Artist Jacques Majorelle  that they had seen and admired when they had visited Marrakech.

So when constructing the sunken gardens adjacent to their villa in Javea a few years previously they had employed a regular painter using regular blue paint on top of less than regular wall render the result being that within a short time the render was parting from the walls and the paint had lost most of it´s original colour and was looking very sad indeed.

Our first task was to remove all the bad render and replace with a good quality waterproof product which would have the correct adhesive properties to remain in place and then we contacted the Jotun Paint Company who recommended that we used one of colours from their extensive colour palate applied to Majestic Plasticised paint which they assured us would both retain the strength of colour required and be extremely water repellent to provide the desired long life.

The results can be seen in the photo on the left.Two years on and still no sign of failing render and the colour just as strong as the day it came out of the tin.

So now the Blacks don´t have the blues.
Just the walls of the sunken garden!

Watching Paint Dry

Painting and decorating is an occupation/hobby that for some reason has contributed a great many metaphors to the every day language.

One of the most commonly used of these appeared in the news threads of the printed and online media recently when it was used by none other than Mr. Wayne Rooney when he tweeted in his Twitter account when watching the Superbowl, that it was “Like Watching Paint Dry” this is to say of course that he found the event (sometimes described as “The Greatest Show on Earth) to be extremely boring.

This news prompted two trains of thought with me.

The first which I always think when I hear this particular meta 4(twitter speak!) used is, how can “Watching Paint Dry” possibly be boring? It is after all how I earn my living and I spend a great deal of my working day doing same. In fact if I am not “Watching Paint Dry” I am not earning money.

Secondly I thought, how much experience does young Wayne have of “Watching Paint Dry” he doesn´t after all strike me as the DIY sort? In fact I would imagine that the closest Mr Rooney has ever been to a tin of paint will be the red stuff which he uses to “Paint the Town Red” (another meta 4) which he does on regular basis (allegedly...sources can´t be confirmed at this time etc).

There are quite a surprising few more examples of metaphors,euphemisms and similes connected to painting and decorating, I suppose because everyone has a least tried it at some time in their lives, (with varying degrees of success!) and I will show more examples of these in future blogs.

Wood - A Love Affair

It's hard to beat Mother Nature when it comes to creating beautiful , lasting building materials. Certainly wood, that hard, fibrous tissue harvested from many different trees , is the backbone of shelter construction that has housed humankind for thousands and thousands of years

As a construction material, wood is highly regarded for it´s strength, efficiency, adaptability in use and of course, lasting durability and beauty. Properly cared for wood serves silently and dutifully for several hundred years or more. Yet as tough as it is, once wood leaves the cradle of Mother Nature's care and goes on to its extended life as a building material, someone has to take responsibility. That someone needs to look it over regularly and occasionally apply modern methods of protection to extend wood's productive life span. 

We at The Villa Painters know a thing or two about caring for the timber that is so commonly used in and around the homes on the Costa Blanca.

People living in this part of the Spain love the natural look of wood of ceiling beams,  window frames and pergolas and increasingly now, decking around swim pools. However the typical 300 days of sunshine we get here can play havoc, because the sun's UV rays will, over time and without proper re staining, turn wood surfaces black and cause shedding or deterioration to occur.” Furthermore unchecked moisture issues can lead to wood rot, an equally troublesome enemy for wood surfaces.

The Villa Painters know how to spot wood threats and how to treat them. We work with our customers to find a balance between the appearance and protection they are comfortable with, and explain the various stain/color finishes, as well as their protective properties.” Clear and transparent finishes are usually preferred, but they require more frequent re staining. Semi-transparent and solid color finishes hide some of the wood's natural beauty, but last longer in the strong sunlight.

We always recomend the products of the Jotun Paint Company and in particular Trebitt wood stains and treatments. A range of products developed and perfected by the Jotun to treat and protect the wooden houses of their home nation Norway. In general, two coats give the best protection. The first cost penetrates the wood for good protection. The second coat bonds well to the first coat, and provides a surface covering that better resists UV and moisture

Why Stabilise?

Why Stabilise?

Proper preparation when house painting is,as with most aspects of life, vital.

An example of this is that the surface to which new paint is to be applied must be clean, dry and in good physical condition. A problem that we frequently encounter when painting houses here on the Costa Blanca is that the condition of the existing paint has deteriorated to such an extent that it presents an almost chalk like characteristic that will part from the substrate when rubbed by hand.

The remedy to this that prior to painting a coat of stabiliser (Fijador in Spanish) should be applied. Fijador is a material that is in part a sealant and part an adhesive which provides a suitable surface for the application of new paint.

Normally we will use the standard water based version of this product supplied by the Jotun Paint Company, however an option that we some times choose when we feel that the substrate is in especially bad condition or that the applied paint is going to be subject to difficult conditions (E.G. on swim pool surrounds) is to use the solvent, penetrating version which is much stronger.

Once this has been completed we can apply the paint confident in the knowledge that there will be no problems with the adhesion and that the new paint will provide a first class protection to the house for many years in the future.

Never Mind The Quality Feel The Width!

A saying that used to be attributed to some less than scrupulous tailors when trying to pass off suit material that was less than top quality.

The same can be applied to the purchase of house paint. Some house paint companies advertise that the paint they use is "Thick paint...up to 20 times thicker than normal"  to infer that the thickness adds to the quality when in actual fact quite the reverse is the case.

Paint manufacturing companies will thicken "economy" paint by adding chalk which of course is porous and actually attracts water and damp instead of repelling it.
The addition of chalk of course explains why a bucket of such paint will actually be much heavier than the same quantity of a quality product such as Jotun Jotashield which is manufactured with the appropriate chemistry to ensure it´s effectiveness and long life.

Therefore when  choosing a house paint it´s always better to "Feel The Quality and not the Width"

Conditioning Your House To Sell. (Curb Appeal)

Today´s blog deals with the expression "Curb Appeal" and which is in fact the term used by the Realty (Inmo - Real Estate) industry in the U.S. to describe the impression and impact (or lack of!) that you property will have on any prospective buyer on the first instance of viewing E.G. from the car outside or when they walk through the gate.

It is certainly not reference in any form to those nice young ladies who stand or sit by the carreteras here in Spain while they practice the "Oldest Profession".

People judge books by their cover, we all do, so you have to make sure that in the current oversupplied real estate market the "cover" on your book is sufficiently attractive to induce a positive all important first impression.

A sound investment therefore and one which will surely be much easier on the finances than having to discount the price of the property to achieve a sale, is to commission a proper professional paint job. Not just a lick and a promise with a roller and two tubs of "economy" paint but a professional specification of works which delivers properly repaired and prepared walls, good tight lines round edges and borders and a standard of paint such as Jotun Jotashield which will protect the house and provide a lasting depth of colour to the finish.

Of course if you are to commission The Villa Painters to undertake such a contract then you will also be provided with our "Ten Year Maintenance Guarantee" which can be passed on to any new proprietors of the property. Another aid to making the sale.

You only get one chance to make a good first impression so use it!

Paint It Black

“I see a line of cars and they're all painted black.”

So goes the opening line of a big hit by the Rolling Stones (popular beat combo of the sixties) whereas at The Villa Painters we don't paint cars, the paint it black idea is an increasingly popular solution to the what to do with the top of the chimney problem. Many residents of the not always warm Costa Blanca burn wood in the stoves of their houses during the winter months and of course the smoke on exiting the chimney will leave black soot stains and this can lead to the dilemma of whether to paint over in the same colour as the rest of the house, secure in the knowledge that the stains will return as soon as the fire is re lit, or to leave as is. A mixture of ugly black stains and original paint.

So we now offer our clients the option of having the top affected part of the chimney painted black neatly and a chosen uniform area thus turning a former

problem area into a feature.

It's important of course to undertake the work correctly by scraping as much of the carbon soot off the area as possible and then to apply a coat of a good quality solvent based penetrating primer. Then to paint two coats of Jotun Rehabilit Revestimiento.

Problem solved.

Like Painting the Forth Rail Bridge

A popular metaphor based on painting and decorating
and one which will soon be redundant as thanks to the
continual development of paints and coatings with a much greater life cycle than previously and with which Rab the Painter (pictured right) and his fellow painters have recently used to completely renovate all of the metal work on the now 122 year old bridge there will be no need to paint the bridge on a continuous never ending loop. So in future tasks such as, washing the dishes, weeding the garden, tidying a child's bedroom and of course organising all the files and photos on your computer will no longer be comparable to "Painting the Forth Rail Bridge" and another time served expression will vanish from our language.