NO PAINT, NO GAIN
June 12, 2004 | 12:00am
Dear Home 911,
The paint on my walls has begun to show signs of wear and tear, and a lot of dirt. We’re thinking of repainting the whole house. The last time we had the house painted, the guy who did it underestimated the amount of paint needed for the walls, so the second batch of paint was a little darker than the first one. It wasn’t very noticeable but it did bug me because I knew about it. What paint do you suggest we use? On some parts of our walls, the paint bubbled right away. Any tips on how to do it and how to clean painted walls?
Marissa
For four years, we were the only one in this row of bungalows that had an unpainted roof. We were the first to move into one of these townhouses seven years ago and the realty house told us: Wait a year before you paint your roof. I don’t remember whether it was because the roof needed to "bake" in the sun or to be souffléd. So we waited a year, then we kept putting it off for the next three years. We got around to having the roof and the entire house painted in the fourth year and we haven’t stopped since. We’ve changed colors so often that friends don’t recognize the house when they come around. At one point, the house had eight different shades of color inside and outside.
"Did you have your house extended?" a friend would ask, standing in the same space she was in when she visited five months before because the room now looked bigger with a lighter color.
"Why haven’t I noticed this room before?" somebody else would ask.
The funny thing is it’s a small, two-bedroom house that has never been altered except for the paint and the furnishings. It’s not like they would get lost inside!
My husband R. groans whenever I get that look in my eyes: The-let’s-clear-the-room-and-have-it-painted look because he knows I’d be throwing away his stupid action figures and old T-shirts (why do men like to wear rags to sleep?).
At one point, he told me he wanted "North Carolina blue" for the spare bedroom, which is our small home office/library; a color, he says, named after the basketball team. Yeah, like it matters.
So we went to Ace Hardware and chose from the thousand-color booklet of Ace paints. For the outside, we chose a color called "spun gold." When it was painted, the garage and garden looked like they were screaming for attention (sort of like me when my husband is playing his computer games). Then I gave him his blue to shut him up, but it became too dark the office looked Lilliputian. The same with our bedroom, from its original white, then peach, we chose a bright orange but when it was painted on the wall, it became too dark that the room looked so hot (hot as in warm, not hot as in cool). For the living and dining rooms, we chose olive and yellow. No problem there, we loved it.
The following year, we tried a different store. This time, we went to Federal Hardware for its Valspar paints. We turned the blue study into eggshell, the "granary green" cabinets into ecru, and the orange bedroom into yellow. When the paints were applied, they looked two notches lighter than the swatches.
So it’s still a toss for me on which brand is better: Ace paint from Ace Hardware or Valspar paint from Federal Hardware. Both brands are computer-mixed, not manually, which is why I prefer them – there’s nothing worse than running out of paint and your handyman can’t match the exact colors. If this happens, you can just give the name of the color and they will mix it for you. Both brands have no foul smell (in fact, Valspar has a minty, pleasant smell; Ace is neutral) compared with other brands, so you can use the room after a day.
As far as how the colors themselves are transferred from swatch to wall, here’s the deal: Ace gets a little darker, Valspar gets a little lighter. What’s nice about Ace is that they keep a record of your colors, but it’s per branch so if you buy from SM Workshop in North Edsa, Ace Hardware at SM Megamall wouldn’t have your record. At Federal, they didn’t punch in any info in their computers when I got my paint. They’re priced almost the same — P1,100 or so for interior flat latex, which is about double the price of locally manufactured paints.
So I asked our handyman which brand he liked better. He said Valspar, because it’s "smoother" to apply but you do need more coatings than Ace.
As far as aesthetics go I urge you to use matte or flat paint. Glossy paint looks cheap on the walls, sort of like those barangay structures you see on sidewalks. Be warned, though that flat paint attracts more dirt than glossy. To clean both, just wipe lightly with sponge and water or with a drop of liquid soap. One more thing: Choose your colors prudently. There’s nothing worse than having to sleep in a room you hate. If you’re going for the computer-mixed paint, don’t waste your money by choosing ordinary primaries (otherwise, go for the less inexpensive brand that any handyman can mix), instead choose an interesting shade. It bears repeating what all home design books say: Light paint expands space, dark colors make it smaller. If you have a big space, you can afford to go mid-tones to dark (in fact, in some areas maybe you should because a lot of these colors are interesting to look at). One more lesson I learned the hard way is that light colors make your furniture pop out. One friend who saw our spare room when it was blue and later ecru said the chairs looked new. Hello! He brought me home with another friend when I bought those chairs!
As for the bubbles on your walls, you will get them whatever paint brand you use if the walls aren’t prepped right. Remember, walls should be sanded lightly before applying paint, otherwise the paint has nothing to latch on except paint so it has the tendency to peel big time. Sometimes handymen also apply masilya on parts with stubborn bubbles.
Summer is over and our "olive oil" and "yellow brick lane" walls have survived, but not for long. I’m tired of this colorful house.
I suspect my husband has already hidden his R2D2 figures.
What can I use to remove soap scum on my marble walls and urine stains on the marble floor of my bathroom? What’s the best way to remove stains on granite?
Stone Lady
Remember that natural stones such as granite, marble, travertine and slate are porous, meaning they absorb liquids. I learned this from Liberty Marble & Granite vice president Dinggay Espiritu when I interviewed her for an article. Some stones are more porous (granite) than others (marble) and Dinggay says the trick is to clean the stained area right away with water and a sponge. So if you drop soy sauce on your granite counter, you should clean it ASAP before it gets absorbed.
Dinggay also copied a handbook for me called Stone Restoration and Maintenance by Frederick M. Hueston. The author suggests using commercial cleaners to remove soap scum but these products should not contain acids, better yet get a product that’s specifically made for stone. "To keep soap scum from forming on the shower wall, apply a good quality silicone impregnator and an application of marble wax… Pine-type cleaners are not recommended for polished stone surfaces. They contain harsh chemicals that can etch the stone."
On urine stains, Hueston says: "The likelihood of removing these stains is about the same as that of winning the lottery."
As for granite, Dinggay recommends dark granite for kitchen countertops where spills often occur.
I don’t know what stained your granite, if it’s oil you might find this letter on bobvila.com useful: For oil stains, put a baking soda/water mixture on the stain and allow it to dry and then wipe it off. Another solution from www.finishing.com: "Mix one cup of unbleached flour with three tablespoons of dishwashing liquid (for grease cutting ability) and water. Add water to consistency of yogurt. Apply as poultice to countertop approximately 1/4 inch. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit overnight or longer. Wash off poultice. This removed a large oil stain on my new countertop." (Poultice is supposed to draw the oil out.)
Experts recommend that natural stones be protected with a sealer or stone impregnator – and they usually are when the granite or marble is installed. After some years you may need to reapply a sealer. Liberty Marble (223 Nicanor Garcia St., Bel-Air, Makati) carries the Italian brand Hydrex (P1,200 for a liter), which is used to protect granite, marble and other concrete surfaces from oils and other penetrating stains. True Value (at Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Robinsons Galleria among other locations) carries the US brand True Seal Concrete clear acrylic sealer (P1,617.75 for a gallon).
Check out findstone.com, which has a Q&A section all about stains, granite absorbency and other tips on the care of natural stone.
Is there no law banning tricycles from main highways? They are a road hazard especially at night. Travel time takes longer because they run at a slower speed. Please clarify.
ARF
As far as I know, tricycles are banned from highways and national roads. So the ones you see on main roads, such as España, shouldn’t even be there. Speaking of España, something should be done about vehicles that make a U-turn on the railroad tracks, posing danger to the vehicles behind them. I’ve never seen a race such as ours that’s so self-righteous about their own driving and then commit the most horrible traffic violations. Unfortunately, tricycles are a way of life in this country, just like actors who think they can be president because they slay zombies in their movies.
Please help. Red ants, both small and big, are all over my house. We’ve covered all food, cleaned up the area, placed citronella all over the house even though it smells.
Jean
How do you prevent ants from attacking clothes inside drawers and closets and on the walls of the bedroom? By the way, there’s no food or dead insects in those areas.
Ant Hater
Ants started to crawl near my bed and I’m worried they might bite me. Can you recommend a safe and inexpensive way to get rid of them?
Zel
You guys should meet my husband. He hates ants. Hates them as much as I hate rats. I’ve written about this before. My husband uses the Raid chalk to prevent ants from crossing the line, so to speak. The chalk acts as a repellant for ants and it’s fun to see them in their long line and suddenly turning back at the chalk line. But since we have pets inside the house, we use it only outside.
There are a lot of websites where readers post their homemade ant repellant recipes. Sites such as pointask.com and durmebugs. tripod.com suggest using boric acid. Mix one part boric acid and nine parts sticky syrup like honey or Karo, heat it and put it in a shallow jar and put a drop on the lid or if it’s a plastic container punch holes at the bottom for the ants to enter. They will take the mixture back to their nest and poison the rest of the colony. Another way is to mix boric acid with water and then paint it on the surface where the ants converge. Or use boric acid dust and sprinkle it in cracks on your floors or walls. Since boric acid is toxic, keep it away from children and pets.
Some websites also suggest using natural ingredients like orange-oil based products to get rid of ants like Orange Guard (orangeguard.com) and Orange Plus cleaner. Augarden.com suggests a spot of lavender oil. Another suggestion is to sprinkle cayenne pepper. The important thing is to find the entry point of the ants and attack it. For ants that walk on poles or wires to get inside your house, coat the places with petroleum jelly.
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