Painting for all seasons at pocket-friendly rates

By GEORGE OSOM

The rainy season has lingered on for a while and the weatherman says we should brace up for another one month of cold and wet conditions.

This comes with its share of inconveniences. Talk of jogging to work (sounds healthy), frequent blackouts, marshy grounds and, yes, the painter.

Now, your average painter knows pretty well that coatings and wet conditions are strange bedfellows. I do not mean to say painting is impossible during the cold season but for one to complete any paintwork in winter, patience has to be their middle name. Does this, therefore, mean that our abodes have to contend with the muddy splashes, blistering and seepage on the fine art work that before the rains sat gracefully on our walls, roofs and floors? Should your exotic well manored Cowtan and Tout’s Rajah wrinkle and peel off because it is raining season?

Sadly, the deterioration on paintwork in adverse weather conditions is more often than not a product of our own errors of omission and commission and accounts are due for payment in hostile environment.

Good paintwork, done with good paint and a ‘good’ workman, guarantees your surface protection and a durable magnificent look even in adverse weather. When the average homeowner ventures to paint, the cardinal considerations are always the cost and the colour of the finish. Unfortunately, this is where the rain starts to beat us, in the real sense of the word.

Washability

There is a lot more to a decorative coating than the economic and aesthetic aspect. One has to delve much deeper into washability and scrubbability (your wall could be coated with self-cleansing paint in the rain), the ability of the paint to obliterate imperfections, resistance of the paint to mildew attack (we don’t want fungi and bacteria laden surfaces) and finally in this green age, we must take into consideration the extent to which our paint products are environment-friendly.

Rainy season

The film of coating will stay on your wall long after your budget is spent and your love for peach, tango or magnolia has faded. If, for instance, you opt for coatings of a lower price but with poor washability and lack of self cleansing properties, woe unto your exteriors on a rainy season.

Lately, paints have emerged that are suitable for areas prone to germ attack. Hospitals, bathrooms, kitchens and kindergarten need not be painted with any other fancy coloured coatings if they lack protective properties. When one understands the various characteristics of paints and their features they are better placed to make informed choices beyond the cost or colour.

You should even go further and develop an eagle’s eye on the product and its manufacturers. Tales abound of occupants of a building suffering from volatile poisonous emissions as a result of poor quality coatings.

— The writer is a painter trainer at Crown Paints (K) Ltd