One of our most exciting and satisfying projects we undertook in 2009 was the painting of a 1910, Edwardian style home in the neighbourhood of Mount Pleasant. At Metal Dog Painting we assist our clients in selecting a colour palette that will be respectful to the vintage and architectural style of their home while considering the overall feel of the neighbourhood and personality of the clients. In this case the home owners, one of them being a professional artist, had a very clear concept of the colour scheme they wanted that more than accomplished all of these criteria.
Inspired by the Painted Ladies houses of San Francisco fame, six colours were chosen that made a confident statement while not over powering the style of the home or the neighbouring residences. The red adds drama to the understated green while the yellow lends a brightness to balance the overall colour scheme. Adding to the impact of the over all pallete was the careful placement of each colour in relation to the others. The dark green band on the bottom of the facia board added the perfect contrast and delineation between the yellow of the eves and the wonderful, soft blue of the soffets and veranda ceilings. Enlisting the darker green in the beveled insets added a natural shadow and depth to the raised panel doors.
A project of this size and complexity can become extremely labour intensive and great care must be taken to optimize the work flow and maximize efficiency in order to keep costs to a minimum. We accomplished this by spraying of the largest portions as well as the less detailed, but time consuming, aspects such as the spindles on all the decks and veranda. Setting a proper workflow also allowed us to use the sprayer more, with less masking to reduce environmental impact. This efficiency is also vital in playing to the individual strengths of each painter, separating the broad strokes from the detailed touch.
This job also had its challenges in the variety of surface conditions, from new construction, to original, multi layered, cracked and peeling paint. Proper removal of all loose paint as well as priming using the appropriate product, of old and new portions was vital to the appearance and longevity of this project. Not priming or using the wrong primer leads to tannins from wood, especially cedar, bleeding through the new paint and leaving a brown stain on the top coat.
In the end, it was extremely satisfying to see the home owners vision come to fruition. This home was transformed from mostly unremarkable to being an example of creativity that is complimentary and respectful to the neighbourhood that it is a part of.
