‘Green’ Exterior Painting Advice
September 3, 2010
“Green” isn’t simply a color, it is a idea as well . We all need to minimize our impact to the world before we destroy it completely, and here is another way we are able to help that you may not have considered previously.
“Green” paints are reasonably common for inside, but not common for exteriors since strong odor is rarely a problem. The standard high end exterior products are all water based and one hundred percent acrylic and low-no odor. Buying “green” paints does not always reduce environmental impact of paint. In fact , “green” paint can increase the overall result on the environment when not used properly.
Always be certain to do your research first when looking for green painting companies Minneapolis. When trying to reduce harm to the Earth, I wouldn’t always identify a “green” paint. Instead, I would target these 4 areas:
1. Preserving the substrate long term and reducing maintenance. This saves the trees, keeps landfills from filling, reduces fuel usage by painting contractors and finally saves you money- this comes at the expense of more up front prep, more gallons of paint, higher priced paint and more work. Choosing a cleverly designed paint system and overall maintenance plan is far more environmentally delicate than building a new Green licensed house.
There are more VOC’s in the caulk we are using than in most of the paints we use. However, urethane sealants are better than acrylic’s by 400%, so this still reduces the general impact in the long term by protecting your substrates.
2. Reducing waste: Calculate how much paint is needed fastidiously and buy your supplies from a local paint business. It is often possible to under order and pick up an extra gallon if required. Do not intentionally over order extra paint, it too often gets thrown out, freezes in the garage or doesn’t match anyway after fading.
Looking after your house continually requires less work and materials and decreases the amount of waste to be disposed of. When a home is not maintained, one maintenance issues frequently contributes to another which causes the acceleration of rot. Not caulking causes the window to rot, which causes the insulation to get wet which then causes the walls to rot. All these items finish up in a rubbish heap and have to be harvested from forests in Washington, made on the other side of the country and then sent out to yet another State, all because the caulk was not maintained.
3. Labor and fuel usage: Get the work done once properly. 2 coats would also be recommended, because the second coat needs no more tape, poly, preparation, etc, but significantly increases the life of the painting. It needs only 25-40% more labor and materials, this implies less trips and less gallons.
For houses, we avoid special paints from distant places. Having paint shipped in is costly and ineffective. Highly rated paint from California or Ireland is almost never an environmentally sound choice if you live nowhere near there.
4. Recycling- Should be taken seriously. First, we usually attempt to under order, so as not to have leftover paint. Each gallon we purchase either ends up on your house or is recycled. Our oils and oil water mixes are employed in making concrete. Our leftover acrylics are used to color houses of native Americans in South Dakota. Ask your contractor what he does with the excess paint.
For most houses, I would suggest two coats of a twenty-five year 100% acrylic paint from a country wide supplier who has a store in area. For more specialized projects such as metal coatings and decks, I can not make just one advice. Each project must be analyzed separately to figure out what coating system will protect the structure best so as to keep the planet Green and not cost you a fortune. Be certain to inform your contractor that you need to preserve your structure in order to have the least impact on the Earth.
Have a discussion on how the business makes an attempt to minimize impact and maximise longevity. Work with the contractor to choose what products and procedures will accomplish your goals best. We hope this helps in your search for environmentally friendly residential painting Minneapolis.
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