Protect Your Home’s Exterior from Winter Weather

Man sealing window with caulk Unfortunately, we have little control over the havoc that winter weather can wreak on our homes. In New England, homeowners see snow ranging from light and fluffy to wet and heavy, dangerous ice storms and unforgiving freezing rain.

While you cannot secure your home in a bubble for the duration of the season, you can take some simple steps to help protect the exterior of your residence all winter.

Check Your Paint

During the fall season, we can see seasonably warm temperatures before winter weather arrives. Take advantage of these mild days to get outside and inspect your home’s exterior paint job.

If you notice buckling and chipped paint or rotting wood, act now to ensure the damage does not worsen over time. Make your paint touch-ups and contact a professional to evaluate the state of the wood.

Clean the Surface

Pressure washing is popular maintenance in spring, but it should be done in the fall too. When winter arrives, you may not see your lawn, porch or fence without a pile of snow on top for several months.

If you clear away dirt and debris beforehand, you are protecting these surfaces from further contamination. For your paint in particular, it is better suited to face the elements clean than dirty.

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4 DIY Projects for Thanksgiving Decor

autumn garlandThanksgiving 2017 is on its way and so are family gatherings and work parties. These holiday festivities are fun, but also cost money to cater. This year, take some of the stress and expense out of decorating your home or office for Thanksgiving! Try these 4 do-it-yourself (DIY) decor ideas. 

Make Your Own Garland

The fall season is all about chilly mornings, colorful leaves and pumpkin everything. Decorate your mantle, doorway or staircase with DIY garland that incorporates these seasonal feelings!

Gather some leaves – real or craft – earth tone fabric pieces and branches. Then, use clothes pins to secure these items to grapevine garland, available at local craft stores. If placed above the hearth, use mini pumpkins and gourds to hold the garland down.

Personalized Place Settings

Holiday dinners are a special time spent with family. Less and less households are sitting down to eat dinner together on a regular basis, so Thanksgiving and Christmas are unique opportunities to spend quality time with loved ones. Make personalized place settings by crafting a leaf shape from wire and inserting name cards.

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How to Restore Damage After a House Fire

professional carpet cleaningOctober is National Fire Prevention Month. According to the US Fire Administration, there were 1,298,000 fires in 2014, 3,275 deaths and $11.6 billion in damages. Fortunately, these statistics have decreased from previous years’ data, but fire damage remains a concern for homeowners.

Unfortunately, some fires cannot be prevented. If your house has minor to moderate fire damage, the team at M. Brett Painting Company can help restore its appearance. What can we do?

Identify the Dangers

After a fire, you could be faced with toxic gases and ash, smoke and heat damage or mold and mildew growth. These present a danger to health and safety, should you remain in the home. When you hire M. Brett Painting, we will use professional equipment to identify the these risks and attempt to salvage your belongings.

In some cases, the most dangerous damage is unseen to homeowners; let us find and remove these contaminants for you and your family.

Clean Your Home

When we arrive on the scene, we will start with smoke and ash removal, two pollutants that can put health in jeopardy.

If the fire department was brought in to stop the flames, your carpeting and furniture is likely very wet. Not only can we help speed up that drying process, but we specialize in carpet cleaning and restoration as well. If carpet needs to be completely removed, we can do that too. Our team can handle everything from disinfecting and deodorizing to air vent and duct cleaning.

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4 Home Improvement Projects for Fall

Painter working on exterior of houseLiving in New England, many of us are used to an abrupt transition from hot to cool weather between seasons. When autumn arrives, kids are back to school, beach gear is packed away until next year and pumpkin spice lattes return to keep us warm when temperatures drop.

Although housework is the last thing on our minds after a fun-filled summer, there are four home improvement projects that are best completed in the fall.

Pressure Washing

After several seasons of snow, pollen and fallen leaves, professional pressure washing can remove all that dirt and debris from your home. Your home will look good as new from the outside after a thorough washing of the siding, deck, fences and driveway. Pressure washing also helps to ensure a smoother finish when you’re planning an exterior paint job.

Exterior Painting

Certain times of the year are best for exterior painting. At M. Brett Painting Company, our years of professional experience tell us that the fall season is one of those times! If your property’s paint looks blistered or cracked, autumn is ideal for an exterior paint job when the days are cooler and the sun is not as strong.

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5 Signs It’s Time to Repaint an Interior Room

woman looking at purple paint samplesAs homeowners, we’re so concerned about the outward appearance of our house that we can sometimes neglect the interior. When you spend hours mowing the lawn, weeding the garden and manicuring the shrubbery, there’s less time to keep the inside tidy. One day, you notice that the walls of your interior rooms are looking lackluster. Is it time to repaint? Consider these 5 signs before making a decision.

You’re Ready for Change

Have the walls been the same color since you moved into your home? Maybe it looked new at first, but years later, you no longer like the color scheme. As furniture and home accents evolve, so should your paint colors. If it’s time for a facelift, start browsing paint samples!

The Paint Is Peeling

When moisture seeps below the protective layer of interior paint, it can lead to premature peeling. This often happens in rooms like the bathroom and kitchen. Although it may not bother you at first, trapped moisture can also cause mold to form, which can be toxic.

The Colors Are Fading

Interior rooms that see plenty of sunshine during the day can start to fade after repeated exposure. Even if the paint application is holding up fine, you may feel dissatisfied that the original color you chose for your walls is a shadow of its formerly vibrant shade.

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Warning Signs of a Poor Paint Job

Wallpaper and paint samplesAs a homeowner, you should be proud of your property rather than self-conscious about its appearance. However, when a poor paint job leaves the exterior or interior rooms dilapidated, it can be frustrating. You spend a lot of time maintaining your yard and cleaning up after the kids, but can only do so much to distract from cracked, fading paint.

A contractor you can trust, M. Brett Painting has been transforming homes and businesses for over 25 years. We outline 3 warning signs to help you avoid another painting disaster.

Lack of Preparation

In many cases, the outcome of a paint job is a direct result of the painter’s preparation. Care before you start a job, as well as during and after, is often the key to painting success. For instance, if primer is not used before applying paint, the color may not shine through as well or have a smooth finish. Let’s take a look at preparing an interior surface vs. an exterior one.

Interior Rooms

Before starting an interior paint job, all furniture and light fixtures should be removed from the room. Cover outlets, windows and floors to prevent paint splatters from staining. The walls should be thoroughly cleaned of dirt, dust and other debris to promote paint adhesion.

A Building’s Exterior

At M. Brett Painting, we pressure wash the exterior of a home or business before applying new paint. Debris is removed from all surfaces, including siding, fencing and decks. Then, the surfaces should be hand scraped and sanded before the project begins.

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4 Reasons to Paint Your House This Spring

newly painted houseWhen is the best time of year for professional house painting? Most of the experts will say spring, but you may be wondering why. We outline four reasons to call M. Brett Painting this spring to schedule an exterior painting job before summer weather arrives and New England weather conditions drastically change.

1. Spring Has Ideal Conditions for Painting

Paint responds best to dry air and mild temperatures. These conditions are the best for the application, adhesion and drying of paint on the surface of your home. What about the other three seasons?

In the summer, extremely warm temperatures can cause paint to dry too fast while in the winter, it does not dry fast enough. Fall weather brings brisk winds that can kick up contaminants that stick to the exterior of your house. Spring weather is just right!

2. The Effects of Winter Weather

After a long New England winter, every home could use a professional pressure washing to remove dirt and debris buildup. This kind of weather wreaks havoc on your home in more ways than one! The accumulation of moisture from snow, ice and freezing rain can lead paint to prematurely crack, peel and flake off. This can also occur as the result of sudden temperature changes, when the wood structure of your house swells and contracts.

3. Improve Your Home’s Curb Appeal

Spring is a popular season for house hunting and homebuying. The weather is nice for touring grounds and sellers do not have to worry about potential buyers dragging winter weather inside.

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Home Improvement Tips for Spring

man inspecting his roof Winter weather in New England can wreak havoc on our homes! After months of being hit with heavy snow and debris, the wear and tear on the exterior of your house becomes visible come springtime. When the seasons change, it’s the perfect time to get outside into the crisp spring air and perform a few home improvement projects! We list six maintenance tips to get you started.

Clean the Gutters

This is more than a fall maintenance job! Cleaning the gutters is also necessary in the spring after a long winter of wet snow and ice. Leaves and other debris could be frozen inside of the gutter and once it melts, cause moisture to leak into your home. Spring gutter cleaning also allows homeowners to see whether or not loose granules need replacing.

Check Outside Faucets

Many homeowners disconnect their hoses when the weather turns cold, but improper storage can also lead to cracking and other damage. Before you bring out the garden hose to water your lawn and plants, make sure that it has no leaks. Other pipes that may have been frozen during the winter months should be properly thawed or replaced if burst.

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2017 Paint and Home Décor Trends

cans of yellow, red, blue and green paintIf you’re thinking about renovating your home this year, it’s important to be aware of the trends predicted to be popular in 2017. Whether you’ll be painting your house or redesigning the interior look, we highlight some of the emerging trends.

Popular Color Palettes

Behr Paint Company categorized the trending color palettes for 2017 into three categories: Confident, Composed and Comfortable. Most of these colors evoke a feeling that matches with different personality types.

Confident Colors

Imaginative social butterflies will love this collection of attention-grabbing hues. Navy blue and saturated greens reminiscent of the ocean paired with fiery red is a bold design move that starts a conversation with your guests!

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Choosing Interior Paint Colors for Your Home

green and yellow paint samples What’s your favorite color? This is a common “get to know you” question that we’ve been asking one another since we were little. Colors hold a lot of significance in our lives; we choose clothes, cars and phone cases based on our favorite ones. Colors also have a profound impact on our mood – does yellow make you feel calm or uneasy?

When it comes to the rooms of your home, you likely don’t want to feel anxious. If you’re considering repainting your rooms, we offer five quick tips to help you choose the right colors for you.

1. What’s the Layout of the Room?

The color you choose for a room will partially depend on how the space is set up. When a room get a lot of sunlight during the day, your color options can become limited. Natural light can make an already bright color, like red, overstimulating to the eye. For rooms with several windows, softer hues of blue or white might be more appealing.

2. What Is the Purpose of the Room?

Each room in your home serves its own purpose. Whether a space is used for work, relaxation or entertainment will play a big role in your color decisions. Colors can be matched to most moods; blues and greens are known to be more calming, whereas shades of orange can spark creativity. The general rule of thumb is that brighter colors work best in more social environments and neutral colors create a calmer, more formal atmosphere.

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