Real Estate Update

Kerry A. Francis asked:




Spring renovations of your home this spring? Make sure that you are properly prepared to paint your residence or commercial property. A quick coat of paint can well improve appearances greatly and even increase the value and saleability of real estate. Still there are a couple of basic tools needed in addition to elbow grease.

In addition to a good paint brush, a quality roller cover is one of those essentials. As with paint brushes, professional quality equipment generally costs only a few dollars more than the low end stuff, but the difference it makes in ease of use and the quality of the finished product makes the small additional expense more than worth it.

A painting roller cover is basically a long hollow tube covered with fabric, foam or other materials. It fits over the cage on the “roller frame” and is what actually holds and applies the paint. There is a huge selection of roller covers that you will find available on the market at your local hardware and do-it-yourself local fix it and upgrade stores for the local handymen. And handy people. However they should all fit on the standard frames of the painting rollers, you will only need a couple of them. Hence you can easily mix and match the covers, which you purchase, to suit just about any and all painting situations that you will encounter on your home and property renovations.

That being said there are several different types of fabrics and other materials that are used to make roller covers. Choosing the right type for the right job can sometimes be downright confusing if not frustrating. Which and what type that you select for your project can be dependent on the type of paint or other finish that you are painting as well the type of finish that you want to achieve . For example the finish could be smooth or textured in appearance

Choice one may be rollers made of synthetic fabrics. Often rollers that are made up of a blend of synthetic fabrics are a proprietary nature developed specifically by that manufacturer specifically for certain painting needs and uses. If that is the case then follow the manufacturer’s instructions for that product. The instructions that are detailed with the unit should well list what that manufacturer lists as being acceptable use for that product.

In general synthetic fabric covers are suitable for most types of latex as well as oil based paints, making them good all purpose covers. They are typically not rated for use with such coatings as polyurethane and epoxy

Next in line when it comes to painting roller covers are lamb’s wool and lamb’s wool blend products. Lamb’s wool covers are generally softer than synthetic covers themselves. They will absorb more paint with less paint spatter. 100 % lambs wool covers are typically suitable for all paints including latex. , but they actually work best with oil based paints. In terms of final product, being smoother, by using a lamb’s wool based roller you finished product will usually be finisher faster and smoother with a more uniform, polished finish

Lastly when it comes to label descriptions and specifications there are a couple points to watch for when choosing your paint roller cover. “Nap length” refers to how long the actual fibers on the roller covers are. Naps range in size from a 1/8 Th of an inch to a full 1