Combating Bedbugs, Painting Shutters & Choosing Colors for South-Facing Rooms

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Home in Progress, sponsored by Repolite Paints and
Benjamin Moore. It's the podcast where we talk paint projects
and all the ways to make your homework and look better.
I'm your host, Dan Hansen, and we've got a packed
episode today. We're kind of all over the place with
this one. Later on in the show, we're going to
talk about how to paint shutters, you know, exterior shutters,

(00:20):
what kind of paint you use, whether you should remove
them or paint them in place, and how to get
great results that actually last. Before that, we'll talk about
paint blocking. Why freshly painted doors, for example, sometimes stick
even days after painting. We'll talk about that and how
to stop it from happening on your next project. We're
also going to talk about paint color choices for south
facing rooms where sunlight can either make your color glow

(00:43):
or completely wash it out. We'll get into all of
that as the show unfolds, but first, let's talk about
a pest problem that's been crawling through the headlines lately
and possibly hopefully not but possibly into your suitcase. We're
diving into bed bugs, which is just a terrible gross
image diving into a big bed of bedbugs. It seems

(01:05):
like that should be something in a movie, you know,
a horrible scene in a movie. But that's what we're
gonna do metaphorically. We're going to talk about how they spread,
how to avoid them, and what to do if they
find their way into your home. So let's get started.
And I want to start right off the bat with
the reason I'm talking about this. Recently, Fox seventeen published

(01:25):
a report highlighting a list from Orcan you Know, the
pest control company. They highlighted a report that Orcan made
concerning or ranking. I guess it is concerning, but they
were ranking the worst cities in the country for bedbugs,
and in the midst of that article, four Michigan cities
make the cut. And on top of all of that,

(01:46):
Grand Rapids, you know, right where I'm nearly located, it's
one of them. It's too close for comfort for me.
It's not exactly the kind of top ten appearance that
we want to celebrate. So today I want to focus
on practical information. You know, what you need to know,
what I need to know to stay safe. We're going

(02:07):
to cover how bedbugs spread, how to avoid bringing them
into your home, the signs that you might have a problem.
And then, of course, what to do if you find
yourself facing an infestation. And to start, let's talk about
how they spread. Bedbugs they're hitch hikers, like hippie hitch hikers.
And that's not a slam on hippies. I shouldn't have

(02:27):
brought that in when I'm talking about bedbugs. But you
never know. Bedbugs they're hitch hikers, all right. They don't fly,
they don't jump. They're just quiet, little creepy crawlers. That's
what they do. They hide in the seams of luggage,
in the folds of your clothing, in purses, in backpacks,
in furniture, they hide in just about anything. You know,
you might stay at a hotel, you might visit a friend,

(02:49):
you might pick up a secondhand couch, and in so
doing you might unknowingly bring them into your home with you.
And here's the frustrating part. It doesn't matter how clean
your home is. Bed bugs don't care. You know. They're
not looking for a hoard or home. They're not looking
for mess. They're looking for blood. Right, They're not looking
for crumbs, they're looking for blood. Anybody can wind up

(03:11):
with them. And once they're in your home. They tend
to stay close to where you sleep, and of course
that's how they get their name. Some mattresses, box springs, headboards,
the crevices of nearby furniture often become their hiding spots.
And mostly they come out at night to feed and
then they disappear again into the cracks and seams as
the morning dawns and we start to become active. All right,

(03:33):
Now that you know how they travel, let's talk about
how to avoid them. And first off, when you're traveling,
you know, whether a hotel or an airbnb or even
a friend's house, it pays to be crazy cautious. I
mean not crazy like you know you've got a mental issue.
I was using that to mean excessively or well, excessively
doesn't convey good things either. Be cautious, take take time,

(03:58):
and before you unpack it everything, take a few minutes
to inspect the bed. First thing I do when I travel.
I don't travel often, but when I do, it's the
first thing I check. I am checking the bed because
I do not want to live or bring these things
to my home. Because I know myself, I know my
mental state. I know the tenuous nature of it. I

(04:20):
know if I've got bed bugs in the home that
we're all in for just a long dry ride of
who knows what's going to happen. It's gonna be horrible.
I had two mice in the home once, I think
it was only two, and it was brutal. The kids
still talk about it. So when you travel, check the bed.
Take a few minutes before you do anything. Check the bed,

(04:42):
pull back the sheets, check the mattress seams and the
edge of the headboard. Look for signs of trouble. And
what you're looking for are tiny black specks, you know, droppings,
or worse, the bugs themselves. Right, See that, then you
know you got to get the heck out of dodge.
The bugs are small, they're reddish brown. They're about the
size and shape of an apple seed, you know, So
that's what you're looking for. If everything looks clear, you're great.

(05:04):
You know, probably great. Now I can't say for sure
you're great, but you're probably great. At least it's better
than finding bugs. But still it's smart to keep your
luggage off the floor and definitely off the bed. You know,
use the luggage rack if there is one place your
suitcases on a counter or a tile surface, something smooth
and easy to wipe down. And when you get home
from your trip, take your clothes straight to the washer

(05:26):
and dryer and wash them and dry them on high
heat if possible, even if you didn't wear everything. You know,
heat is your best defense against bed bugs. They can't
survive in high temperatures. So do all of that. That's
for traveling, For thrift stores, garage sales, even roadside freebies,
you know, those are another source of trouble. And that
vintage armchair, that budget friendly dresser that you stumbled across

(05:48):
might seem like this crazy good deal. You can't pass
it up, but it's worth inspecting thoroughly before you bring
it into your home. And if you're not sure what's
been living inside it, you might want to pay all right,
might want to pass No matter how good a deal
it is, it's gonna bite you if it turns out
to be full of bedbugs or even carry just a few.

(06:09):
Oh man, you don't want that now. Even with all
those precautions, sometimes bedbugs still find a way. Right. It's
like Jurassic Park, life finds a way. I think that
was the line. It's gonna find a way. Nature finds
a way. I don't remember. All I know is bedbugs
can find a way in even when we're careful. So
how do you know if you've got a problem. Well,
the most common clue is gonna be bites. Bedbug bites.

(06:32):
They often appear in small clusters or in little lines.
Typically they're on skin that's exposed while you're sleeping, so arms, legs, neck, back.
They can itch like mosquito bites. Sometimes they cause a
red rash or swelling, but not everybody reacts the same way.
You know, some people don't get any marks at all,
which makes detection even trickier. Aside from the bites, there

(06:54):
are other signs, and they include small dark stains on
your sheets or your mattress, maybe pillowca And those are
often droppings left behind after feeding. That's nice to think about, huh,
sleeping right nuzzled up right next to bedbug droppings that
were left behind after they fed on you. Yeah, so

(07:15):
look for those. You might find even little shed skins,
you know, little paper thin translucent shells left behind as
they grow, you know, because when you get bedbugs, they
do like to grow, and you know they're gonna become
even more horrible as time goes by, so they shed
their skins. If you see that, that's a sure sign

(07:36):
of a problem, and you're gonna want to deal with that.
In more severe infestations, there can be a faint, musty odor,
kind of sweet, but still unpleasant. So if you notice that,
it might not just be the natural you know, whatever
musk of your room, it could be bed bugs. And
of course, like I said earlier, if you see the
bugs themselves, especially hiding in mattress seams, corners of the

(07:59):
bed frames, or even behind outlet covers or picture frames,
that's a clear sign that you've got a problem. Now,
if that happens, if you suspect you might be dealing
with bed bugs, there are a few really important things
to keep in mind. First off, don't panic. I'll say
that again, don't panic. I know they're creepy, and I
know they're hard to get rid of, and you're gonna

(08:20):
probably want If you have a brain like mine, your
first thought is that the only solution is to burn
the house to the ground and then gather all the ashes,
and then burn the ashes and then scatter them and
then move you know, miles and miles and miles away.
That's overkill. Don't do that. Don't freak out, don't have
a meltdown. It's not great, but you can get through it.

(08:44):
So first thing to keep in mind is that they're
not dangerous in the way that some pests are. You know,
they're not great, they're pretty bad, but they don't carry disease.
They're just persistent. They're annoying, all right. So first thing,
don't panic. Second thing, you should act quickly. You know,
the longer you the worst the infestation can become. But
don't run out and start immediately tossing all your furniture,

(09:06):
you know, into the road or hauling it to the
dump or something like that. And don't necessarily start spraying
bug spray all around the house. You know, those things
can actually make things worse. Moving infested items can spread
bed bugs to other areas of the home or even
your car. And over the counter bug sprays they're not
terribly effective against the bed bugs, and in fact, they

(09:26):
can cause the bugs to scatter deeper into the walls
and the furniture. So your best move is to contact
a licensed pest control company. You know they're going to
come out a lot of the times they'll do a
free inspection or a low cost inspection. They'll confirm whether
you've got bed bugs. They'll walk you through the next steps.
They'll have some recommendations, and the professional treatments are going
to usually involve things like chemical insecticides or heat. In

(09:49):
heat treatments, your home is heated to temperatures that kill
bed bugs at all life stages, from eggs to adults.
It's often one of the most effective solutions, but it
does require professional equips and set up, so talk to
a professional. It's not fun, but it's going to be
your quickest way probably through this problem. It's for sure
the place to start, and you're also going to most

(10:10):
likely need to prep your home before that treatment happens.
They will walk you through what you need to do,
but it's not unusual that you're going to have to
you know, wash bedding and clothing, vacuum, thoroughly reduce clutter
so that the treatment can reach all the hiding places,
you know, things like that. Now, one last thing before
we wrap all of this up and move on to brighter,
happier topics. Don't be embarrassed. Bedbugs don't mean you're dirty

(10:34):
or that you did something wrong. They're really common, and unfortunately,
with increased travel and global movement, they're not going to
really be going away anytime soon. Best thing you can
do is stay informed, stay prepared, do your checks, all
the things we talked about. So that's the bottom line.
Bed Bugs are sneaky, but they're not invincible. Keep your
eyes open when you travel, be cautious with used items,

(10:56):
know the signs, and if you spot something suspicious, don't wait,
act fast, call a pro, and get it handled before
it becomes dun dun, dunt. An infestation which we don't want.
Sounds like a horror movie and when it happens kind
of feels that way too. But remember, you can get
through it. I don't want to leave on a sour note.
You will survive and you'll be stronger on the other

(11:18):
side of this. Right, here's hoping. All right, let's shift
peers into something a little more pleasant. Paint colors. You know,
the lighting in your space plays a huge role in
how colors actually look, and one of the biggest influences,
even indoors, is the natural light that's coming through your windows.
Sell facing rooms in particular have their own unique challenges
and advantages, so let's talk about that. You know what

(11:39):
you need to know when you're picking colors for those spaces,
and we're going to do all of that. Right after this,
you're listening to Home in Progress, where the projects are real,
the mistakes, they're educational, sometimes painful, mostly educational. And the
only thing more stubborn than that old wallpaper on your
bathroom wall is your determ termination to get it fixed,

(12:02):
probably sponsored by Repcolite Paints and Benjamin Moore Paint with
a purpose, people who care and everything you need to
get the job done right. Well, right now, let's talk
about self facing rooms. And I promised, like three weeks
ago or something like that, I promised that we would
do this, and then thank you, aging brain. I completely forgot.

(12:25):
Most of my life is just a long series of
things I've forgotten. And then the other night I was
dreaming it was all about work, which they're just the
worst possible dreams ever. I mean, I like what I do,
I do, but I don't like it that much that
I want to just live in it twenty four to seven.

(12:47):
I don't want to dream about it and then wake
up and then go do it for real. That just
blows Anyway, the other night, I was dreaming about work
and it hit me that I completely forgot to do
the whole self facing rooms segment. So anyway, without any
further ado, let's get into south facing rooms. And what
I want to start with is this. If you've got

(13:07):
a self facing room, congratulations, you've hit you know, the
natural light jackpot. Self facing spaces, they tend to get
consistent sunlight all day long, and that light is usually
warm and golden. It glides in with pizazz. You know,
it brightens everything that it touches. It's basically exactly one

(13:29):
hundred percent exactly what happens when I walk into a space.
You know, a rosy glow kind of follows me. Eyes, faces,
they all lift up and they look down because I'm shorter,
but there, you know what I'm saying. They look happier,
they look lighter, everybody's mood brightens, the you know, all
of that happens. The clouds part, angels sing when I

(13:50):
walk into a room. I'm sure that you are having
no trouble picturing that. Anyway, That's what happens in soeuf
facing rooms with the light. The light pours in, it
brightens everything and it may make most paint colors look
their best, But that doesn't mean that picking colors in
a cell facing room is a breeze. In fact, it's
easy to think that you can just slap you know,

(14:11):
pretty much anything on the wall and get great results.
But here's the thing. Southern light is intense. You know,
it's a little in your face. It's a little bit
of a chameleon as well. It changes character as the
day goes on, and as we'll get to at the
end of this segment, as the seasons change. It's kind
of chameleon like in that regard. It's warm and glowing

(14:33):
in the morning in the evening, but around noon, that
same sunlight becomes so strong that it starts to wash
colors out. So a color that felt cozy in the
morning that might easily feel flat, you know, lifeless by lunchtime,
and it might feel like way too much color by
late afternoon. That's all possible, and that's why it's so
important to give a lot of time and thought to

(14:55):
the colors that you're putting in a self facing room.
And what I want to look at right now is
to basically break color recommendations down by the vibe that
you're going for. I kind of think that's more helpful
than what I did with northern facing spaces, and that
one I just gave out a bunch of Benjamin More colors,
which I think is kind of helpful. But what I'd

(15:18):
like to do, I guess, instead, is just break it
down by vibe and then I'll give you some generalized
colors with a few specifics thrown in. So let's start here.
Maybe you want to create a calming, you know, a
RESTful space, maybe a spot to read, to relaxed, recharge,
a place to kick back, you know, probably without socks,
so you can feel the carpet between your toes, you know,

(15:41):
as you sip a warm beverage or in the summer,
a cool beverage and listen. You know, I don't know
what to enya or something like that. If that's the
space that you're looking to create, you know, that little
toes in the carpet while Nya kroons space, you know,
which we all are craving a space like that in
our homes. If that's that's what you're trying to create,
that calming, RESTful space, look for colors that have cooler undertones.

(16:05):
Things like a soft gray blue, a pale lavender, a
dusty green. These tones are going to offset the warmth
of that southern sun, and they're gonna help settle that
space down a little bit. You know. Think of something specifically,
like Benjamin Moore's Quiet Moments. It's a pale you know,
blue gray that just whispers peace. You know, that's a
little goofy, but you know it's very calming. Think about

(16:26):
a gentle green gray like Spanish olive, if you want
something a little more grounded, you know. So those are
some ideas that'll get you off and running. If you're
looking for a calming, RESTful space. What if you want
the opposite, You know, a room with energy, a spot
that feels alive and fun. You know, pretty much everywhere
I go I bring that with me. Maybe you want
that in your home, you know, a place for family dinners,

(16:49):
for game nights, hanging out with friends. I laugh, because
I have one single friend. Yeah, we won't go into that.
It's it's too sad for a Saturday morning. We'll just
leave that there. We'll put a pin in that one
and maybe we'll come back and visit that again. Or
I'll talk about it with a therapist either way. If

(17:09):
you have a lot of friends, like most people do,
and you want to create a space to entertain and
do all of that, you might be wanting to lean
into that warm light that you've got going for you
in that southern facing space. So go with rich saturated colors.
Maybe a buttery yellow, a coral peach, even a golden tan,
maybe an earthy clay. These colors are going to bounce

(17:30):
off the light. They're going to amplify that space and
the energy you know that's going on in the room,
and it's going to be great. It's exactly what you want.
But be careful. They can get really intense. You know,
we talked about what afternoons can do, or you know,
in the middle of the day too. If you go
too bright, especially in a room with a lot of windows,
you might start to feel like you're living in a

(17:51):
lava lamp or something like that, and nobody really wants that.
Nobody shoots for that. You might get it, you might
tolerate it, you might I love it, who knows, but
you're normally not shooting for that lava lamp feel. So
sample those colors first. Make sure you've got the right
one before you jump in. All right, Maybe you're looking
for cozy, you know, not just calming and relaxing, but cozy.

(18:14):
It's a popular one, you know, people want that for bedrooms,
smaller living areas, things like that. If that's your vibe,
if that's if that's your jam. Have you ever seen
that Gary Busey weird YouTube thing. I don't know what's
wrong with the man, but somebody asks him if something
is his jam, and he says no, he doesn't like jam.

(18:36):
He likes honey, and he kisses it on the lips.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, google it.
It's worth it. It's a little creepy, but it's worth it.
But maybe cozy is your jam, you know, maybe that's
exactly what you want. Try for medium to dark colors,
particularly in the cooler tones. You know, a smoky navy,
a charcoal with blue undertones would be good. You know,

(18:57):
maybe a deep green gray that would be great in
that space. It would cut the brightness of the sun down.
It's going to make everything feel a little more grounded
and a little more intimate, you know, a little more cozy.
That's exactly what you're looking for. So colors like Benjamin
Moore's Knoxville gray or Hail Navy are great examples. You know,
they've got depth, they've got personality, and they can hold
up to that bright light without looking washed out. And

(19:19):
don't worry so much about the color names and all
of that. I will put all of this info in
the show notes and you can check it out there,
or you can head to Rep cao Light dot com
and check out this entire radio segment podcast segment as
a blog, you know, in blog form, so if you
like to read rather than listen, you can find it

(19:41):
there with all the info. All right, What if you
want something that feels light, fresh and airy. If that's
where you're at and that's what you're looking for, this
is where it's self facing rooms really really do shine.
You know, a creamy white, a soft grayge. Love saying
that grayge just feels so sophisticated when I say that.
So creamy white gray, even a cool toned white can

(20:02):
make the most of all of that sunlight. Just remember
the warmer whites that you use, they're gonna pick up
and kind of exaggerate some of that warmth in that
southern exposure. So if you're trying to cool the room visually,
steer towards whites with a touch of blue or gray
in them. You know Benjamin Moore's white diamond or decorators
white good places to start. They're gonna cut the yellow
cast kind of keep things looking clean. Now, let's say

(20:25):
last one I've got for the vibe. Let's say you
want something fun or whimsical. You know, space that feels
creative and playful, maybe just a little offbeat. Self facing
rooms can handle color. We kind of have talked about
that a little bit already, but you can really lean
into some real color in a southern facing room. You know,
sea glass, aqua rose pink, you know, a chalky lilac,

(20:48):
even a muted teal. All of those colors are gonna work. Now.
Generally speaking, those colors can feel overwhelming in a darker space,
but the bright southern light coming in is gonna help
them feel energized and have instead of dreary and MOPy
and heavy. So you've got a lot going for you
with the southern space. You can really lean into some
colors and have a lot of fun with that. So

(21:10):
those are just a few different vibes that you might
be going for in your space, and then some generalized
colors and a few specifics to help you get there. Now,
let's talk about something that we don't always think about
when choosing color, the seasons. And I want to talk
about this because southern light isn't static. You know, it
changes with the time of year. In winter, the light's
going to be cooler and it comes in at a

(21:31):
lower angle. You still get daylight, but it has a sharper,
kind of a bluish edge to it. If you will
fast forward to summer where we're at right now, and
that same light is going to turn golden. You know,
the sun's higher, the rays are stronger, Your walls are
likely going to pick up a bit of an amber
glow in a southern facing room, and that shift can

(21:51):
dramatically change how your paint looks from one season to
the next. A cool gray, you know, for example, that
felt perfect in January might feel a little green and
muddy in July. You know that's possible. A creamy neutral
that looked perfectly warm, you know all winter long, it
was just everything you wanted, like a little spring day,
that same color might suddenly feel a little bit too warm,

(22:11):
and maybe bordering on peach as summer kicks in. Now,
I did find based on all of that, you know
what I'm telling you. I found a number of design
blogs and design professionals who really leaned into the importance
of sampling, right, sampling your paint colors. And to some extent,
a big extent, they're right. You sample your colors. Always
sample your colors. And don't just check your color at

(22:35):
one single time of the day. You know, look at
it in the morning, look at it at midday, look
at it during the evening time, evening hours, and get
all of the vibes that you're picking up from that color.
You know, really assess it at different times of the day.
That's great advice. But I did find a number of
them that took it further in regards to the seasons,
and they suggested that the colors should be analyzed over

(22:58):
the course of the seasons, if at all possible. So
start now, I mean you should have started yesterday or
last week or last summer, but start now. If you
want to paint that living room, man, the best you
can do is next summer, So start now. Get a
Benjamin war color sampler to get some on your walls

(23:18):
today and then watch it through fall and winter and spring,
and then by next summer you should know which color's best. Right.
I don't know they wrote it. I read it. I'm
curious if they reread it and thought about that. I'm
certainly not saying that you should sample your colors for

(23:38):
an entire year before you make your decision. That's taking
it a little far. I think I only bring up
that seasonal thing just to make you aware of it.
Keep it in mind as you're picking your colors, But
don't sample your colors over the course of the year.
That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, all right.
One other thing, A few other things. Don't forget about
your trim and ceiling. Let's start with that one. A

(24:01):
crisp white like Chantilly lace. You know, that's a really
safe bet in a self facing room for the ceiling.
It's clean, it's neutral, it's gonna work well with just
about everything. Now, in all of this conversation, I've said
it once or twice, but I'll say it one more time.
We're speaking in generalities here. You know, not all self
facing rooms are created equal. Some get just blasted with

(24:22):
sunlight all day long and others are shaded by porches
or overhangs or big trees or whatever, and that shading,
all of that matters. You know, rooms with tons of
windows and direct sun might need deeper colors to avoid
feeling overexposed. In contrast, you know, a self facing room
that's filtered or darker, you know, can still benefit from lighter,

(24:43):
medium tones, but you'll want to avoid anything too icy
or cold, or the room might feel off balance. Now
here's a rule of thumb as we wrap all of
this up, the more light that a room gets, the
more you can afford to go deeper with your colors.
Pretty basic, lighter colors are going to wash out during
peak sun hours, while colors or medium depth tones, they're
all going to maintain their personality. But if your self

(25:04):
facing room is a little more shaded or small, you
don't need to shy away from color. Just choose one
with you know, a little bit of warmth or a
grounded base that's going to help you out. And absolutely,
as we've already said it, sample your colors on the
wall before you make your paint purchase. You know, live
with them throughout the whole day. You know, see what
it looks like. At eight in the morning, See what

(25:25):
it feels like at noon, See what it feels like
in the evening. You know, you don't have to look
at it in all seasons, but at least look at
it through the course of a couple of days, and
that will give you a really good idea which colors
are best. All right, that's going to be it self
facing rooms. They can be beautiful, cheerful, wonderful, versatile spaces,
and with a little bit of thought you can make
them work exactly the way you want. And we're absolutely

(25:47):
here to help you do that. We've got color experts
on staff at every single one of our Repcolite locations.
Just swing in, bring your pictures, bring all your hopes
and dreams, bring everything you've got, and we'll help you
out which colors are going to work best in your situation.
All right. Coming up next, we're talking paint blocking, What
it is, why it happens, and how you can avoid

(26:08):
it on your next project. That's right after This home
in progress is brought to you by Repcolite Paints and
Benjamin Moore. Top to your paint expert advice. Your next
project is way easier than you think it's going to
be well, let's talk about a common and incredibly frustrating
paint problem, paint blocking. If you've ever painted a door

(26:28):
and you've had it stick to the frame the next day,
or you painted a shelf and then later, you know,
found that your coffee mugs or your cups were kind
of glued there. If you've ever had either of those things,
you've experienced paint blocking. And sometimes when you try to
pull the things apart, you end up getting peeling, tearing,
sometimes even a completely ruined finish. It's really annoying. It

(26:52):
feels like something went wrong. But the good news is
it's totally preventable. We're going to get into that. And
before we dive into the y and all of those
things and how to avoid it, let's talk about the
what you know, paint blocking. It's kind of a weird name, right,
I mean paint sticking, paint I don't know what paint
sticking that makes more sense. But the term blocking, you know,

(27:14):
where does that come from? Well, it actually comes from
the printing and manufacturing industries, where it describes materials that
stick together when they shouldn't. You know, that's blocking. That
term eventually made its way into the paint world. So
now when you hear blocking, just think paint that's clinging
where it shouldn't, you know, clinging to things that it
shouldn't be clinging to. So why does paint blocking happen? Well,

(27:37):
one of the biggest reasons is rushing the dry time.
And I know we all do it. We all do.
We're all guilty here. We're all in the little group
sitting in a circle high. My name is Dan. I'm
guilty of rushing the dry time on my paint. I
end up with paint blocking all the time. We all
do it. You paint a door, it feels kind of

(27:58):
like it's dry to the tide. Right for me, it's
kind of dry to the touch. Some of you you
wait till it truly is dry to the touch, and
then you close it for the night, and then the
next morning it's stuck shot or you pull it open.
More likely you pull it open. It's not that stuck shot.
You pull it open and you hear a big crunching
sound or a tearing sound or a big unsticking sound,

(28:20):
and the door opens up and there's a whole bunch
of paint missing from the edge. It's very frustrating. That
happens because the paint can feel dry to the touch
on the surface, but it's still going to be curing underneath.
And if you trap that curing paint between two surfaces
like a door and you know, the weather stripping, it's
going to create that bond that pulls and peels when

(28:41):
you try to break it. Another factor that causes it
is paint quality. Low quality latex paints, especially in semi
gloss or gloss. Low quality latex paints tend to stay
tacky a bit longer, and that tackiness, of course, leads
to sticking. Is tackiness ever good for any thing? I
wish it was? I certainly wish tackiness had some kind

(29:04):
of payout, you know, payoff in the real world, because
I'd be rolling in dough if taxi paid for something.
But taking normally doesn't do any good in this instance.
It leads to sticking. And it's even worse in warm
human conditions, where paint struggles to dry completely, you know,
as it is. So how do you prevent paint blocking? Well,
you start by choosing, you know, a high quality paint,

(29:27):
and this is where it really pays off to go
with something good, you know, We talk about that all
the time. Good paint does make a difference, but I
sell paint, so you know, you got to take that
with you know, the amount of trust you place in
what I'm saying. It really does, but you got to
find that out for yourself. In this instance though, Oh man,
it really makes a huge difference. Benjamin Moore's scuff X

(29:50):
for example, you know the semigloss scuff X. All of
the scuff X finishes, but Semigloss it's easily one of
the best options on the market when you're talking semi loss.
In terms of block resistance, So scuff X from Benjamin
Moore incredible block resistance, especially in high traffic areas where
surfaces might come into contact regularly. It's designed for commercial settings,

(30:12):
so you know it's tough, but it really does work
just as well in a home. So scuff X from
Benjamin Moore. Can't recommend that enough for avoiding you know,
paint blocking and all of that. The Aura Exterior Regal Select,
there are other great options. You know, both are going
to be durable, they're smooth, and they resist blocking very
well during that tricky curing phase. All of those products

(30:34):
are going to be better than just your standard run
of the mill, water based you know, latex paint products,
So get good stuff. It's going to matter. And no
matter what paint you go with, make sure you secondarily,
you know, we're talking about how to prevent it, make
sure you follow the instructions on the label. You know,
don't just go by feel when it comes to the
dry time. Go by the manufacturer's recommendations. And make sure

(30:57):
that you're painting in a well ventilated space. You know,
good airflow really does help the paint dry and cure properly,
and that's going to help you prevent that blocking. Now,
a few practical things, you know, if you're painting a
front door, I brought that up earlier. If you're painting
a front door, there are a few additional things that
you can try. You could paint early in the day,
you know, start your painting then, and then leave that

(31:18):
door open as long as possible before you have to
close it. Hopefully you've got a screen. Are you going
to be inviting all of the outside world, the nature inside,
all the bugs and all of that. But if you've
got a screen you're find or a storm door or
something like that, try to leave your door open as
long as possible before you have to close it. That's
one thing you can try. You can also usually remove

(31:39):
the weather stripping. You know, most of the time, it's
really simple. You just use a flat tool like a
putty knife or a painter's five and one tool if
you've got one of those, even a flat screwdriver, and
you use that to pop it out of the track
and then just pull it out, super simple, and that
should give you space to close the door without the
freshly painted door edge coming into contact with anything. Then
the next day, you know, and everything's good, you just

(32:01):
easily pop the weather stripping back in. If you're curious
how that works, you can't quite wrap your brain around it.
I've got a link to a quick DIY video that
I ran across demonstrating what that looks like and how
to do it. I've got that all in the show notes.
You know, paint blocking is not a glamorous, exciting, fun
hilarious topic, but it is one of those behind the

(32:22):
scenes kind of things that can really make or break
the quality of your project. And once you know what
causes it and how to avoid it, it's one of
the easiest frustrations to eliminate. All right. If you have
any questions on any paint project, remember everybody at Repcolite
is waiting to help you know. We've seen it all.
Trust me, we've seen it all. We would love to

(32:42):
find something that we haven't seen yet. You know, we've
been doing this for over seventy almost almost eighty years,
and not each one of us, but the collective has
been around for almost eighty years. So please, if you
think you've got something we've never seen, stop in see
if you can stump us. We'd love to help you out.
All right. Do you want to easily and quickly improve

(33:04):
the curve appeal of your home and better yet, do
you want to do it for free? Completely for free? Well,
we're going to talk about the project that I've got
in mind. It's a good one, it's simple, and I'm
going to tell you how one lucky listener is going
to win a one hundred dollar repcoll Like gift certificate
after the show wraps today. All of that's coming up
right after this. This is home in progress where the

(33:26):
to do list is long, and that's all right. We're
not crabbing at you. We're not going to yell at you.
That's how it is. It's how ours is too. It's
probably supported by repcoll like Paints and Benjamin Moore because
home projects are easier when you've got people you can trust,
all right. You know a lot of times when people
start thinking about the exterior, you know, updating the exterior

(33:48):
of their home, we jump into big stuff, or at
least our brains do. Our brains want to jump into
big stuff, you know, new siding, landscaping, overhauls, replacing windows
or doors. That's a big one that pops up for me.
It's the driveway. I mean, oh my goodness, the driveway
like a complete and utter overhaul of my driveway. It
is like a dream to me if I could do that.

(34:11):
You know, just thinking about it brings a little tear
to the corner of my eye. My neighbor across the
street had his driveway done last year, I think it was,
and I think he's tired of me sitting in my
yard directly across from his driveway, you know, just sitting
there and admiring it. It's probably a little bit creepy,

(34:33):
to be honest, I admit that, but his driveway looks
so good. It is. Oh, it's a knife through the heart.
I'm happy for him, right, I'm big hearted like that.
But oh my goodness, if I could steal a driveway, No,
I wouldn't do that. I would never advocate stealing anything,
even a driveway, but man, I want that driveway anyway

(34:55):
when it comes. I'm way off track when it comes
to making our homes ba you know, look better, feel better,
all of that. There are tons of amazing things that
we think about adding, you know, all the things I
talked about, But one of the simplest, most affordable ways
to boost your curb appeal. And it's gonna sound boring,
but one of the best ways to boost your curb
appeal without tearing your yard apart or spending thousands of

(35:18):
dollars you know, on doors or windows or whatever, and
not stealing somebody's driveway, you know, without doing any of
those things. All you need to do is repaint your shutters.
It's a perfect weekend project. It's a small investment, quick turnaround,
huge impact. Now, when it comes to shutters, a lot
of different varieties out there. A lot of people, probably
most people have vinyl shutters, but they're not the only

(35:40):
kind out there, you know, we still see plenty of
wood shutters, quite a few composite shutters, even some aluminum
ones still lingering around, especially on mid century homes. And
with all of those different varieties, different styles, different not styles,
different materials, the good news is almost all of them
can be painted. Not all of them, but almost all

(36:00):
of them. The key is understanding the material you're working
with so you can prep and paint it the right
way and don't waste your time or money. All right,
So let's talk about that and walk through the different
types of materials out there and what you need to do.
And let's start with vinyl shutters, since it's the most common.
And if you go ahead and give her a goog
you know, do a little googling about vinyl shutters and

(36:22):
painting them. You're going to find a lot of conflicting
info online about whether or not vinyl shutters can be painted.
You're going to see plenty of experts, you know, I'm
using little quotes, experts saying don't do it, the paint
is not going to stick, don't bother, buy new. That's
not the whole story. They're not entirely wrong, but they're
not entirely right either. There are plenty of vinyl shutters

(36:46):
that can be painted and which will hold paint beautifully.
Mine are painted and they've held the paint for years
and years and years and years. However, there are others
that are not paintable, and the reason they're not paintable
is they contain plasticizers. Plasticizers are just special chemicals that
are used to make vinyl and other materials plastic materials

(37:06):
more flexible and less brittle, so they last better and
hold up better outside. Those plasticizers really cause trouble for
paint when it comes to adhesion. You know, over time
they migrate through the vinyl and they just break down
the bond that you've got between the shutter itself and
the paint that you put on it. And even if
you use a bonding primer, you know, because a lot

(37:27):
of people will think, okay, plasticizers, I'm going to go
to some crazy, you know, really effective bonding primer that's
going to stick to anything, you know, something like sticks
from Benjamin Moore. I've talked about that over and over again.
We use that on a ton of different scenarios and
it's just unlike anything I've ever seen before. You can
paint we've painted glossy tile without a lot of prep.

(37:50):
I'd still recommend prep, but I did it for a show,
you know, a home expo that we went to. I
painted it without any prep. We painted half of that tile,
that glossy tile with sticks, left the other half unpainted.
Let people try to scratch it off. And they could
scratch little, tiny, tiny little flakes of it off, but
most of it ninety eight ninety nine percent of that

(38:11):
primer bonded to that surface. Now. Sticks is not every
time I talk about painting glossy tile, people think about
a tub surround, a shower surround. It's not ideal for that,
you know where there's going to be water like that,
but for a kitchen, back splash or something along those
lines painting those tiles. If you've got tiles in there
and you're sick of the look, you can paint them

(38:31):
and use sticks as a bonding primer. It's unlike anything
I've ever seen. But it's not going to still work
on these shutters that are not meant to be painted.
Even the best bonding primer is going to struggle with
the plasticizers and you're going to end up with peeling.
Often in big sheets after just a season or two.
So if the shutters are not paintable, don't bother. You

(38:52):
just can't do it. But like I said earlier, a
lot of them are paintable. And that leaves us with
the big question, the big quandary, how do we figure
out which which one we've got? Do you have the
paintable ones or do you have the ones that are
gonna self destruct in two years like a mission impossible message?
How do you know? How do you get to that answer? Well, unfortunately,

(39:12):
and this is a big sad this is a big
sad reality on the show. Unfortunately, there's not really an
easy test for this. Now. Logically, if they're already painted
and they're not peeling, chances are they're paintable. All right,
So you got that one, and let's play out the
other possible scenarios out there. What if they're painted but
they are peeling just a little bit. What then, Well,
if you've got some peeling on your shutters, you're painted shutters,

(39:35):
You're gonna have to do a little bit of testing.
So start by scraping oh so gently. Let me say
that one more time. Start by scraping oh so gently
at the peeling spots with a putty knife, you know,
just lightly go after them. Be sure you don't damage
the material, you know, the shutter itself. I don't want
those emails. You know. The radio guy told me to
scrape my vinyl shutters, and now I've got big grooves

(39:57):
in them. Nope, I said, be careful. I said, go
oh so gently, so gently, scrape at the paint that's peeling,
and see what happens if it lifts off easily around
the peeling spot and more and more comes off. Well again,
you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure
out that those shouldn't have been painted in the first
place and shouldn't continue to be painted. It's just not
going to hold up. On the other hand, if only

(40:19):
small flakes come up and the rest of the surface
is solid, you're probably fine. You know, it's just a
small area where there was some problems. You can get
that cleaned up and fix it and you're good to go.
All right, So that's already painted vinyl shutters. That's how
you would test. What if they're not painted right now
and you don't have any of the original packaging, what
do you do then? Well, if that's the case. Really,

(40:39):
it's a little trick here. There's not a really good
answer here. If you can determine the brand and the
model of your shutters, you know, maybe pull one off
and see if they're stickers or anything on the backside,
that would tell you what it is. You can do
a little research and find out or talk to a dealer,
you might be able to figure out if they're paintable
or not. If you can't determine that info, you're probably
bad not to paint those. It's probably you're running the

(41:03):
risk that it's a lot of work that's going to
just peel off down the road. If that's the case,
then you need to change the color. You're probably better
off just buying new in that instance. Now, once you
know that your shutters are paintable, the process from that
point on is really straightforward. You take them down. You know,
usually a few screws, you know, there's screws at the corners.
You could leave them up to paint them, but that's

(41:24):
going to be a little more difficult to work with,
so ideally take them down, clean them really well. Don
dish soap works great, so does Crudcutter. We sell that
challenger another product we sell tsp tri sodium phosphate. All
of those cleaners would work really well. Pick one of them,
and then scrub the shutters well with a tire brush
or something along those lines. Powerwashing alone isn't usually enough.

(41:47):
The scrubbing is really what makes the cleaning step effective.
So scrub them well and then rinse them and once
they're dry, you're ready for paint. And for the painting itself,
a Wooster Jumbo coder roller makes the job easy on
the flat surfaces, and then you finish up with a
brush for the edges in the corners and maybe the
louvers or whatever you've got, you know, depending on the
style of the shutters. And a quick aside here, if

(42:09):
you're going to use a brush outside, use a nylon
brush or a nylon blend brush. Don't go with a
polyester brush. You know, polyester bristles. They're going to bring
the price of the brush down. They're cheaper, but they
also soften up quite a bit when you're working outside
in high temperatures like what we've got in summers in Michigan,
and the result of that is they get really soft,

(42:30):
they get droopy, they get floppy, they're not easy to
work with outside in the heat. They're not fun in
painting by all means, and by all measures should be fun.
Nylon bristles or blends aren't going to do that. They're
going to stay the way you want them to, and
it's going to just be a lot easier to work with.
So don't go with the cheap o brush on this.
You're going to regret that, So get the right tools.

(42:51):
Apply one to two coats of a high quality acrylic
latex paint like Benjamin Moore's Regal Select Exterior or an
Exterior Element gar Repcolites Endura. All of these products have
excellent adhesion, durability, color retention, all of those things, and
if you use one of those products, you're not going
to need a primer. Just go straight to your finish paint.

(43:12):
And one last thing. On vinyl shutters, make sure your
new color is the same or lighter than the original
shutter color. If you go darker than that original color,
the shutters can heat up way too much in the
sun and they can actually warp and sag. People don't
always realize that, sometimes they don't even believe it, but
it can cause permanent damage and then you're going to

(43:33):
end up replacing them anyway, and there's nothing worse than
that is going through all the work of repainting something
and then finding out you melted them a little bit,
made them sag, and now you've got to buy new
ones anyway. So stick with the same color or lighter
when you're choosing your new color. Now what about wood shutters, Well,
these are much more straightforward when it comes to painting,
and really, if they're structurally sound, painting them is a

(43:55):
great way to bring them back to life. As with
any wood surface, you're going to start with the cleaning.
Don TSP Credcutter, Challenger, all those cleaners that I mentioned earlier,
they're great. Do that, and then scrape or sand off
any loose paint. If the shutters are shiny as it is,
you've got to sand them and dull them down. Do
all of that. After you've done that initial washing. You

(44:16):
know there's a lot of contaminants that build up on
surfaces and you don't want to sand that into the
finish and then try to wash it, So you do
have to do the washing first, then do that sanding,
and then after you've done all of that, do another
quick rint to make sure you've got all that sanding
dust off and then let it dry. Once it's dry,
you're ready for paint. If you're down to bare wood

(44:37):
in some places, you're going to want to spot prime
those areas. But if the surface is already coated and
it's in good shape, you can skip the primer on
these and go straight to the finished coat, especially if
you're using products like the ones i've already recommended, Regal Select, Aura,
element Guard and Dura. You know all of those products.
Endura is a Repcolite product. All of those are going

(44:57):
to have excellent adhesion and durability. So that's wood shutters.
What about composite shutters, Well, they're often made from a
mixture of materials, you know, engineered would PBC blends. These
can also be painted successfully. Many of them are going
to come to you pre primed. So if that's the case,
just clean the surface thoroughly and apply your top coat. Again,

(45:18):
a separate primer isn't necessary in the situation, you know,
unless you're dealing with a bare material or significant staining
of any kind. And if that's the case, step out
at any Repcolite and you know, bring a sample in
so we can see what you're working with and we'll
help you get the right product. If you're just starting
from scratch, you're going to want to talk to the
manufacturer of the shutter that you've got, and they've got

(45:41):
finishing recommendations as well, so make sure you double check
with all of that. And it's really straightforward. You should
be able to use a good acrylically text paint pick
one like I showed, like I already recommended. All of
those products are great. They're going to have great flexibility
and UV resistance. They'll be perfect. Finally, last material that
I want to talk about. Last shutter that I want

(46:02):
to talk about are aluminum shutters, and they're not quite
as common today, but they're still out there. You can
still find them. And painting these super simple, really similar
to all the other shutters. Not a big difference here.
You know, you've got to make sure they're clean, dry,
and dull. You know, that's basically what it boigles down to.
So clean the surface with a good cleaner and be
sure to scrub it before rinsing. Here's one thing that's

(46:24):
a little bit different. Aluminum can often exhibit chalking. You know,
it occurs when the surface oxidizes and it leaves this white,
powdery residue. You know, if you rub your hand over it,
you'll get some of that off on your hand. And
when you see that, you've got to get that off.
Power Washing alone doesn't usually remove all of that, and
you've got to get a scrub brush and actually scrub it.

(46:46):
And nobody likes to hear that because it feels like
a lot of extra work. But when you think about it,
you know, if you get a power washer and you've
got a dirty car, and you power wash your car
and maybe one half of it, you actually get the
little little mint, you know, the that looks like a
little sheep, and you put it on your hand. What
it doesn't look like a sheep unless you've got like
a kid version of it. But it's wooly. That's what

(47:07):
I was trying to say. You get the little wooly
mitt and you scrub and wash one half of your
car and then rinse it as well with a power washer,
and then the other half you just rinse with a
power washer. You're gonna notice the difference. The side that
you actually scrub is going to be a lot cleaner.
That plays out in everything. When you're doing exterior painting
of any kind, you know, painting your siding or all

(47:29):
of that, the scrubbing really really helps. In addition to
the power washing. Don't just rely on power washing, so
really wash these aluminum shutters down, scrub them well, rinse
it once it's dry. All you need to do is
go to any of those paints I recommended and they'll
be great. So once Again or Exterior Regal Select Exterior

(47:50):
Element Guard from Benjamin Moore Repcolites Endua. All of them
are great. No primers needed. Painting your shutters. It's a
fast project with a huge payoff. You know, standards, shutter
is usually about eighteen inches wide four feet tall, roughly
about six square feet, and that means even a full
set of shutters on your house isn't going to require
much paint. Quarter or two is going to go a

(48:11):
long ways. Now. Of course, if your shutters aren't paintable
or they're falling apart, replacement is the way to go.
But keep in mind, if they can be painted. New
vinyl shutters, you know, pretty much the lowest price option
out there, even they run from like twenty five to
fifty bucks apiece. Somewhere in that range. You can find
them cheaper, you can find them more expensive. That's a

(48:31):
good little average twenty five bucks fifty bucks a piece.
All the other types are more expensive, so if you're
replacing all of your shutters, it adds up fast. Painting,
on the other hand, costs a fraction of all of that,
and you can do it in a single weekend. If
you have any questions about this project, stop out at
your closest Repcolite and let us help. Not right, I

(48:51):
want to make the project even more affordable. I said
I was going to do that, and I'm going to
and I've got two things that I can do. First, off,
element Guard from ben More. It's one of the products
i'd recommend on any of these surfaces. It's on sale
for the rest of July at all a Repcolite locations.
You can pick it up for about twenty bucks off
per gallon, so everybody can take advantage of that savings

(49:13):
through the end of the month. So that's one way
you can save some money. Second, I'm going to be
giving away a one hundred dollars gift certificate every week
for the next four weeks to one lucky listener. Every
single week, so entering the contest is really easy. All
you need to do is email me at radio at
repco light dot com. R E P C O L
I T E dot com. Email me at radio at

(49:36):
repco light dot com. Tell me what the next project
is for your home inside outside. I don't care. What's
the next project you're going to tackle. Email that to
radio at repcolight dot com and I'm going to choose
the seventh entry and that person's going to win one
hundred dollars Repcolite gift certificate to get you started. All right,
that's going to do it for this week. If you
want to catch this episode again, you can find it

(49:57):
online at repco light dot com or search for Home
Progress wherever you get your podcasts. Whatever you do today
makes your paints a part of it. And remember, your
next project is way easier than you think it's going
to be, So jump in, get moving on it, get
it crossed off your list. You're gonna feel like a
million bucks. It feels great to cross those things off,
get it done. Stop out at any rep Caollite and

(50:17):
let us help have a great weekend. Everybody. I'll see
you next week. I'm Dan Hansen, thanks for listening.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Dateline NBC

The Breakfast Club

Crime Junkie

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Combating Bedbugs, Painting Shutters & Choosing Colors for South-Facing Rooms

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}Dateline NBC

The Breakfast Club

Crime Junkie

All Episodes

Combating Bedbugs, Painting Shutters & Choosing Colors for South-Facing Rooms

Dateline NBC