South Florida Real Estate Homes For Sale, Fort Lauderdale and other Cities.: my home value

Saturday, April 6, 2019

Get Your Florida Home Ready For Interior Painting

It is truly invigorating to seat around and look around your home after a fresh paint job.
If you are thinking about selling soon you can’t go wrong with an off white color it makes the home lighter and easier to show.

Preparing for Interior Painting

Even more important than the actual painting itself when it comes to interiors is preparation. Most people just dive right in and hope they have everything they need and know everything they need to know. But preparation can make the difference between a neat, attractive and lasting job versus a complete mess. These tasks can be completed over time – don’t try to get them all done in a weekend. Use the weeks before the actual painting weekend to prepare.

The home interior painter’s tools may take some time and investment to put together, but the result will be worth it. Tools and materials needed to prepare your walls include items that protect the painter as well as get the job done:

old clothes l head protection (cap or scarf) l rubber gloves l ear protection

surgical mask (available at hardware stores) l safety glasses l fine-grit sandpaper l paint scrapers l screwdrivers l putty knife l detergent and ammonia or tri-sodium phosphate (TSP)l sponges l primer or adhesive pad

orbital sander l wallpaper steamer l adhesive drywall tape l fan l hand sanding block l spackle.

The True Value of Your Home in South FL

First, remove everything from the walls – pictures, any sort of hangings, including their nails, and move furniture out from the walls several feet, or even out of the room if you can. Whatever’s left should be covered with a drop cloth. Turn off the electricity so you can remove light fixtures, switch plates and outlet plates, and wrap all disconnected light fixture wires. Once all wires are safely wrapped, you can turn the electricity back on.

Now it’s time to make any needed repairs to walls and ceilings. If you have large holes or cracks that need fixing, it’s a good idea to get more extensive instruction. There are many good wall repair manuals available at your hardware store, so it’s a good idea to invest in one of those to ensure the best job possible. Repairing little cracks is a little simpler.

For small hairline cracks, spread spackle over them, let dry and sand smooth. If there’s any loose or bubbled paint, scrape it off. Don’t forget to vacuum up any dust that results.

Now comes the hard part – thoroughly cleaning the walls and ceilings. Paint will adhere much better to clean walls and there’s less chance of bubbling. And if there’s any wallpaper glue residue left on the walls, the result is an interesting pattern under your paint that you hadn’t planned on.

Walls should all be washed with ammonia and detergent, or a cleanser like Spic and Span, or tri-sodium phosphate, which is available at your hardware store. Be sure to wear your rubber gloves when working with these solutions. After a meticulous scrubbing, walls and ceilings should be rinsed thoroughly with water. Do this twice if after drying you feel residue on your surfaces.

If your walls have stains from water damage, permanent markers or other sources, clean and scrub them as best you can, rinse and let dry completely. Then you’ll want to seal the stains with shellac or other commercial spot primer from your hardware store. Don’t ignore mildew either or it will come through your new paint job. To get rid of it, mix bleach in with your TSP (or if you’re using household cleanser, read the label to be sure that it’s safe to mix bleach with).

If you’re painting over a gloss or semi-gloss paint, you will need to “degloss” it before painting or the new paint will peel off. You can do this by lightly sanding the surface with fine-grit sandpaper or use a liquid deglosser, again available at your hardware or paint store.

A word of caution, however – if you use the liquid deglosser, you must paint over it within an hour, although it’s faster and less messy than sanding. Finish this phase up with a painstaking vacuum job.

Next comes masking, using two- or three-inch masking tape. Mask off all woodwork trim and cover the windows with newspaper and your masking tape. Be sure that your tape edges are straight. You’ll need to mask the perimeter floor also. Don’t bother masking around the ceiling, however, as you’ll do a process called “cutting in” when you paint. Do not remove the tape for at least 24 hours after painting to avoid pulling up part of your paint job with it.

To prime or not to prime – that is the question. On never-before-painted surfaces, it’s a must, but it’s even a good idea on already painted walls too. It minimizes lap marks, helps with evenness of color and seals the surface,

which adds up to a longer-lasting, better-looking paint job. Surfaces previously painted with enamel or gloss don’t need to be primed.

Now you’re ready to paint!

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Spring Cleaning Get Your Home Ready For The Summer

I developed a tremendous appreciation for Spring from living in Michigan for 12 years I always felt that I was being renewed and looked to the summer with anticipation, now many years later I feel the same although I now live in South Florida.

I remember how everyone cleaned their houses thoroughly before summer came!

Spring Cleaning Checklist

It's time for spring cleaning. This is the time of year for deep cleaning that you don't have time for on a regular basis. If the task seems too large, why not break it up into several weekends so you don't become overwhelmed? One of the reasons to perform intensive spring cleaning is to perform maintenance and upkeep checks--making sure that your appliances are working properly.

We'll start on the outside and move our way in. Be sure to get the whole family involved--many hands make light work. Turn it into a yearly tradition, a signal that summer fun is almost here.

First, a few rules: Never mix cleaning products. Bleach plus with ammonia can equal death. Start at the top and work your way down. Inventory your cleaning supplies and products and make sure you have enough--garbage bags, vacuum bags, paper towels, rags, rubber gloves, etc. Take them with you in a bucket or other container so you won't have to go searching for what you need. Have plenty of cold water and high-energy snacks on hand (nuts, dried fruit, cheese, vegetables) to fuel your endeavor.

Tackle the garage. Appraise your tool collection--get rid of tools you don't use or that are rusted or beyond repair. Make a pile of things to sell in the garage sale and things to haul to the dump. Install pegboard with hooks on the walls to hang tools and implements. Make a special place for outdoor toys, bikes, scooters, skates, etc. Finish by sweeping and spraying the floor.

Inspect the roof for loose shingles, for mushy places, for debris. Get the hose up there and spray it off. Remove debris from gutters. Ensure that gutters aren't loose or in disrepair.

The True Value of Your Home in South FL

Examine exterior paint, brick or siding. Touch it up if needed. Check window screens for needed repairs or replacement, then power wash the outside of the house, including windows.

Clean up woodpiles and other debris which serve as homes for pests.

Check your lawn sprinkler system for maintenance problems.

Drain all sediment from your hot water heater.

Perform maintenance on home cooling systems, air conditioning or swamp coolers before hot weather warrants their use.

Go through each bedroom closet. Box up any clothing that has not been worn for more than two years and donate it to a local charity. Perform repairs (sewing buttons, fixing hems, stain removal) before storing winter clothes.

Dry clean winter coats and donate those that haven't been worn.

Using a vacuum hose, dust out each closet thoroughly--walls, shelves, ceilings, floors.

Using a telescoping vacuum extension, sweep away all cobwebs and dust near the ceilings.

Throughout the house, remove all wall decorations and wash down the walls throughout the house using 1/2 cup ammonia, 1/4 cup white vinegar and 1/4 cup baking soda to 1 gallon of warm water.

Vacuum-dust all baseboards and wash them down using the above solution.

Wash all inside windows. Vacuum out the tracks. Vacuum/wash/dry clean all window coverings.

Dust and wash light fixtures and chandeliers. Vacuum lampshades. Replace light-bulbs.

Wash all knickknacks. Vacuum books and bookshelves.

Dust and wash down all interior doors.

Remove heat registers, dust and wash thoroughly.

Clean out and reorganize the linen closet. Repair fraying towels and washcloths or throw them out and replace.

with a vacuum brush, remove hair stuck to walls and ceiling by hair dryers and hair spray.

Deep clean shower, toilet, floor and sink.

Inventory the medicine cabinet and toss expired medicines.

Defrost freezer (if needed) and wash out refrigerator. Toss out expired foods.

Remove screen on stove fan and wash. Clean oven and soak stove rings and drip pans.

Go through your kitchen appliances, clean thoroughly and get rid of ones you no longer use regularly.

Use your vacuum on the front of the coils and motor to remove dust and dirt.

Launder all quilts, blankets, comforters and bedspreads. Turn mattresses.

Move furniture to the center of each room and vacuum thoroughly. Shampoo carpets.

Inventory the contents of each room. Force yourself to get rid of the things you don't need.

Have a garage sale.

Put the proceeds toward a family vacation, or visit a local amusement park, water park or favorite restaurant to celebrate the beginning of summer.

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