Archives: Painting and Finishing

Drywall | Snap, Crackle, Pop

By Todd Fratzel on Maintanence, Painting and Finishing

Minor Drywall Problems At work we warranty certain things on new homes for one year. By far the most common problem we see after a year are minor drywall problems. It’s not unusual at all during the first year or so of a new home to see and hear lots of minor drywall problems. In…

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Minwax® Ultimate Floor Finish Preview

By Todd Fratzel on Painting and Finishing

Professional Quality Urethane That’s Incredibly Easy To Use Over the years I’ve spent countless hours applying urethane to furniture, floors and trim work. The task was often tedious, extremely odorous and difficult to get professional looking results. Also, because traditional “clear coatings” on wood involved solvent-based polyurethanes cleanup was extremely difficult and messy. I’m happy…

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How To Stain Pine To Look Like Mahogany or Brazilian Cherry

By Todd Fratzel on Painting and Finishing

Staining Softwoods Dark Colors Like Mahogany Recently I started building a custom built-in entertainment center that consists of white painted wood cabinets and a wood countertop that needed to match some existing Brazilian Cherry in the house. In an effort to save time and money I wanted to build the 10′ long countertop from plywood…

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Lead Paint Opt-Out Bill May Soften Tough New Lead Law

By Todd Fratzel on Painting and Finishing, Safety

Lead Paint Opt-Out Bill Introduced In The Senate Back in April of 2010 the EPA started enforcing the new Lead Paint Law. Since then home owners and contractors have been in an uproar about insanely steep fines and harsh restrictions. One of the biggest complaints from homeowners that we have received is the in-ability to…

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Rust-Oleum Cabinet Transformations Review – Before and After

By Todd Fratzel on Painting and Finishing, Product Reviews

Rust-Oleum Cabinet Transformations Last year I attended a really cool Media Event with the folks from Rust-Oleum down in New Orleans. The event introduced several new products including the new Cabinet Transformations. If you’re not familiar with this new product you can quickly learn about it by reading over my article from the event. In…

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Scotch-Blue™ Painter’s Tape

By Todd Fratzel on Painting and Finishing

Scotch-Blue™ Painter’s Tape The folks from 3M recently sent us samples of their Scotch-Blue™ Painter’s Tape to use on a project. We just finished painting our daughter’s new bedroom so it was the perfect project to test some of the new Scotch-Blue™ Painter’s Tape. Frankly I’ve never been much of a “tape” kinda guy preferring…

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Groov Caulk by GE

By Todd Fratzel on Painting and Finishing

The essential fall task of weatherizing your home with caulk just got a whole lot easier! With the introduction of Groov* caulk by GE, an entirely new technology unlike anything on the market, consumers no longer have to sacrifice either long-lasting performance or ease of use when they buy caulk. Groov caulk performs and lasts…

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Valspar® Signature Colors® Review

By Todd Fratzel on Painting and Finishing, Product Reviews

Valspar® Signature Colors® with Hi-Def Advanced Color System™ Technology We recently remodeled our previous guest room into a beautiful new room for our daughter who’s turning 3 and leaving behind the nursery and crib. As part of the remodel we needed to paint over a very dark purplish color with a much lighter shade of…

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