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Show Health; Home A Garden, April, 1995-1- 5 Home face lift: (Continued from page 14) outside and ruin the look," said Segreto. Any other imperfections should also be sealed with Spackle. And you must pay attention to mildew, a common exterior painting problem. "Mildew covers many hundreds of exterior fungi that grow on the outside of houses where it's subject to moisture," said Segreto. "Folks want to paint over that, but the most important thing to do is wash the area well with a commercial mildew wash or a quart of bleach in a gallon of water. That will kill the mildew; then rinse the area well and the paint will last a lot longer than if you just paint over it." but not easily on narrow sid- ing. And sometimes you might want to use a power sprayer. "Good brushes pick up paint well and put it down well. Cheap brushes don't pick up as much as better brushes," said Segreto. "A customer has a lot easier time painting with good quality paint and good quality applicators." HOW MUCH YOU'LL NEED How much paint you'll need largely depends on what kind of surface you'll be painting. Stucco takes much more paint than regular Masonite siding, for example. In general, the more irregular the surface, the more paint youll need. It will also depend on whether the surface has been painted bePrimer is necessary before fore or sealed with a good you paint with either oil or primer. As for what it will cost to latex if you're painting on new wood or been has that wood, paint it yourself, consider down. Mildew areas these standards: About 400 scraped should also be primed after square feet is average covepreparation. rage per gallon, though more porous or irregular surfaces PROPER APPLICATORS will average as low as 250 The brush is the most comsquare feet per gallon. Suing mon applicator, especially for Sears' Weatherbeater as a irregular surfaces, such as gauge, which costs about $16 stucco. Rollers can be used, a gallon, and assuming the average exterior paint job takes about 8 to 10 gallons, the job will cost from $200 to $300. In that amount is a lot of sweat equity, however, not to mention other factors such as dropcloths, scaffold rental, masking tape, brushes and any other materials you may need. HIRING CONTRACTORS "Paintingyour home can be a very rewarding experience, and but it is tedious, said Lester. "Before you decide to tackle dropcloth requirements to prothe painting, ask yourself the tect your property. Your property will be imfollowing questions: "Do you have the time and proved either way you go. COLOR CHOICES patience for the job? As for colors, "there are al"Do you have the skills to do the quality job you demand? ways perennial favorites, but Do you have the physical we're also seeing strong restamina?" gional palettes today," said If not, then hire a profes- Claudia Hagen, associate paint sional painter, but understand buyer for Sears. "We're going d it will cost you several times away from very the above estimate. And Lester 'field' (primary) colors to also advises that you make midtone field colors. And we're sure they carry workers' compensation and liability insurtime-consumi- light-colore- seeing a whole lot of excitement in trim colors - teals and brilliant reds for front doors, for example." The "Heartland Palette" that Sears presents for its ex- terior Weatherbeater includes a Desert Sand field color with accent trim colors ofCornfield e and Regal Green; Smoke with New Wave Gray and Mountain Forest; Mushroom Beige with Pategonian Sand and Mountain Blue. Pink-Beig- ance. "Ask for references from other jobs they have done and specify the masking and Seeds, fertilizers, pest and weed control products plus tools, garden & tiners mowers Come see us soon!!! LAWN CHIEF Lawn Mowers Hex Netting, Galvenlzed Vinyl 36"x5ff 25.00 48,x5ff 33.00 .48"x50 29.95 Coated Fence 36"x5ff Diamond Gard , Vinyl Coated Yard Gard , Vinyl Coated ............. 240 W. 1st No. PRICE Store Hours: 394-883- 1 Mon. thru Sat. 8:00 am to 6:00 pm MM 15.95 'tans? & |