Latest / Repcolite Home Improvement Show / Secrets to Squeaky Floors and Perfect Paint Edges

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Secrets to Squeaky Floors and Perfect Paint Edges · Repcolite Home Improvement Show

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Hi everyone, and welcome to Home in Progress, brought to
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: you by Repkolite Paints and Benjamin Moore, offering expert advice,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: premium paint, and all the tools you need to keep
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  Speaker 1: your home moving forward. I'm Dan Hansen in today's show
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  Speaker 1: is packed with practical fixes for some of the most
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  Speaker 1: common frustrations in DIY home projects. Coming up a little later,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: we're going to tackle the topic that drives a lot
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: of people crazy from time to time, paint flashing. It's
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: an uneven, patchy look that shows up on your walls
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  Speaker 1: after you paint. We're going to explain what causes it,
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  Speaker 1: how to fix it, and most importantly, how to avoid it.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Right before that, we'll walk you through the process of
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  Speaker 1: fixing squeaky floors, and coming up next, we're going to
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: take a look at masking tape. It seems simple, but
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  Speaker 1: if you've ever peeled it off only to pull paint
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  Speaker 1: with it, or you've struggled to get clean lines, you
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  Speaker 1: know there's a right way and a wrong way to tape.
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  Speaker 1: We're going to help you avoid the most common mistakes
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  Speaker 1: and get great results every time. But first, I've got
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: something I've got to get off my chest. I think
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: I think my phone is reading my little you know,
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: my little pea brain. I think my phone is reading that.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm not joking. I'm being serious. I know there
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: are conspiracy theory people out there who talk about how
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  Speaker 1: our phones can read our minds, all right. I've run
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  Speaker 1: into these folks, and a lot of the time I
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  Speaker 1: blow that stuff off. A couple of years ago, I
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  Speaker 1: really thought it was nuts, you know, absolutely tinfoil hat stuff.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: But as I go places and have conversations and then
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: suddenly start getting served ads, you know, on social media
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  Speaker 1: or whatever, that the ads seem to be entirely based
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  Speaker 1: on the conversations that I've had. Well, after having that experience,
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  Speaker 1: you know, I've come to accept the fact that the
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  Speaker 1: phone is listening to me. All right. I think it's
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  Speaker 1: listening to all of us, and I think most of
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  Speaker 1: us have come to that conclusion. We know that, you know,
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  Speaker 1: we've all experienced that. But I'm literally talking about my
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  Speaker 1: phone reading my mind, knowing my thoughts somehow, and then
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  Speaker 1: sending me as it's based on those thoughts. And like
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: I said, I'm not joking, And I bet you're thinking
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  Speaker 1: that I am or that I'm crazy or that I've
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  Speaker 1: got some weird twists to this where it's not where
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  Speaker 1: it will make sense in a way. No, I mean
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  Speaker 1: exactly what I'm saying. My phone. I'm looking at you
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  Speaker 1: phone right now, I'm holding it, looking at it, and
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  Speaker 1: I know it's reading my mind right now. Here's what
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: led me to this. And I've had a number of
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  Speaker 1: scenarios or experiences that are similar to what I'm going
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: to describe, but never so profound is the one that
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: I'm going to tell you about. You know, I've thought
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  Speaker 1: about things just out of the blue. They pop into
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  Speaker 1: my mind. I don't google them, I don't talk about
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  Speaker 1: them out loud to anybody. It's just a thought that
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  Speaker 1: goes through my head. I spend a little time thinking
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  Speaker 1: about it, and then hours later, maybe a day later,
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  Speaker 1: I don't know, all of a sudden, there are ads
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  Speaker 1: that are showing up about that exact same thing that
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  Speaker 1: has happened. And that's weird but maybe coincidental. All right,
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  Speaker 1: I get all that. Well, not long ago, something happened
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  Speaker 1: that changed my mind. It's not accidental. It's reading my mind.
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  Speaker 1: And this thing is not fun to talk about, you know,
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: it's not fun to talk about it's not gonna be
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: fun to listen to parts of it. I'm sorry, buckle up.
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  Speaker 1: This isn't Saturday Morning, fair. I understand that, but this
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: is the time slot that they've given me. So anyway, quick,
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: finish your cheerios, slurp down your your coffee, you know,
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: suck down your oatmeal real fast. This is your final warning.
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  Speaker 1: Give you one second to finish up. All right, here
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  Speaker 1: we go a while back. I'm getting ready for work,
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  Speaker 1: right and in the bathroom, I'm moving around and I
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  Speaker 1: stub my toe hurts like crazy, you know, stub my
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  Speaker 1: toe hurts like crazy. I'm hopping around. I look down
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  Speaker 1: and I see the nail has split, you know, it's
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  Speaker 1: bent back, it's split some mass. It's not good. It hurts.
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  Speaker 1: And then I'm looking at it and I start to
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  Speaker 1: wonder why that nail, you know, crack so easily and
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  Speaker 1: split so easily. And then I started to look at
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  Speaker 1: and consider the condition, the health condition of my toenails. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I'm sorry, you know, if you haven't finished eating, still,
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  Speaker 1: you got seconds now to get this down. Anyway, I'm
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  Speaker 1: looking at my toenails wondering about their the state of
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  Speaker 1: their health. I'm sure This is one hundred percent normal.
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  Speaker 1: People do this all the time. We're constantly evaluating our
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  Speaker 1: toenail health. Anyway, I'm doing that in the bathroom. I'm
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  Speaker 1: wondering about my toenails. I'm not googling anything. I'm not
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  Speaker 1: talking to anybody. There's nobody there. You know, I'm alone
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  Speaker 1: in that space. And I didn't take this conversation anywhere
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  Speaker 1: else either, you know, this was a Dan only conversation,
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  Speaker 1: you know, until now. But as I'm sitting there, I'm
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  Speaker 1: looking at them, at my toenails, and I'm wondering if
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  Speaker 1: they're healthy, do they look the right color? Are they
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  Speaker 1: too thick? Are they supposed to be that thick? Is
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  Speaker 1: there something going on? Am I just old? You know,
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  Speaker 1: I don't know. I'm wondering these things. And then I think,
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  Speaker 1: wait a minute, what if it's a fungus. You know,
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  Speaker 1: what if I have toenail fungus of some kind? And
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  Speaker 1: that is so gross to think about. You know, I'm
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  Speaker 1: appalled at myself. I'm disgusted with myself just thinking that
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  Speaker 1: I might have this toenail fungus or whatever's going on.
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  Speaker 1: You know, all I can think is that I've got
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  Speaker 1: mushrooms starting to sprout down there. But then as I'm
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  Speaker 1: thinking all those horrible thoughts, I remember something else. Miracle
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  Speaker 1: of miracles. I think I've got toenail fungus stuff in
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  Speaker 1: the medicine cabinet, right, Who doesn't I think I do?
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  Speaker 1: I open up the cabinet door, and after a quick search,
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  Speaker 1: sure enough, there it is a dusty, little brown bottle
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  Speaker 1: that's been in there for eight years, you know, expired
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  Speaker 1: since twenty nineteen, with the label fungus side funguside. I
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  Speaker 1: don't know how to say that, fungus side all over it.
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  Speaker 1: I don't remember why I've got that bottle, but I
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  Speaker 1: was thrilled to see it. I read the words. I
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  Speaker 1: didn't touch the bottle, I didn't grab it and use it,
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: but I did read it, and I was thinking really
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  Speaker 1: hard about it. You know, all of this was really
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  Speaker 1: really powerfully in my brain because I was grossed out
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  Speaker 1: by the idea. It was all consuming for these few
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  Speaker 1: minutes that I was searching. Anyway, I decided I was
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  Speaker 1: going to put it on just in case after my
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  Speaker 1: toe stopped bleeding, because I figured it was going to
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  Speaker 1: sting like crazy, you know, in the state that it
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  Speaker 1: was in so I put it back in the medicine
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  Speaker 1: cabinet and that was it. You know, I didn't google
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  Speaker 1: about it. I didn't talk about it afterwards, of course,
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  Speaker 1: I didn't talk about it. Like I said, I hate
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  Speaker 1: the idea of talking about it. I hate talking about
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  Speaker 1: it now. It's gross, but it's for the greater good.
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  Speaker 1: I'm doing this for all of you out there. Anyway.
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  Speaker 1: All I did was think about it. No googling, no searching,
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  Speaker 1: no talking, just thoughts. And then lo and behold, the
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  Speaker 1: next day, finally getting to my point, I'm literally blown away.
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  Speaker 1: I still remember this moment, sitting there, just stunned, looking
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  Speaker 1: at my phone. I'm looking at Facebook, and all of
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  Speaker 1: a sudden, an ad comes straight across the screen as
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  Speaker 1: I'm scrolling, and it's an ad full of weird misshapen toes,
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  Speaker 1: yellow toenails, you know, just horrible. And the header on
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  Speaker 1: the ad says, are you worrying about toenail fungus? I mean,
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  Speaker 1: come on, how can that ad just be a random
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  Speaker 1: ad out there? How is that even possible? You know,
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure some of you are going to say that
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  Speaker 1: maybe it would have always been there, And you know
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  Speaker 1: now that I'm thinking about toenail fungus. I just happened
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  Speaker 1: to clue into it. I don't buy that for a second,
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  Speaker 1: because the toes in that ad were so misshapen, they
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  Speaker 1: were so hideous, you know, they were mutant toes. They
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  Speaker 1: would have gotten my attention no matter what, because it
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  Speaker 1: was ridiculously, you know, a gross ad. The only real solution,
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  Speaker 1: the only real conclusion that I can make, is that
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  Speaker 1: my phone is literally reading my mind. So I don't
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  Speaker 1: know about you. I don't know if you've ever run
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  Speaker 1: into that. That's my musing for the day. I would
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  Speaker 1: love to know if you have any ideas or feedback
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  Speaker 1: on what I just said. You know, not my toenails.
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  Speaker 1: It turns out they were healthy and fine. So everybody
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  Speaker 1: can breathe easy when I'm in the pool. You don't
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  Speaker 1: have to worry what's happening, at least not from my toenails.
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  Speaker 1: My toenails are fine. I want to know instead, what
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  Speaker 1: you're thinking, what your ideas are about your phone reading
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  Speaker 1: your mind. Has that ever happened to you? Let me
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  Speaker 1: know Radio at Repcolite dot com. I'm serious, reach out
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: and let me know. I want to know. All right,
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  Speaker 1: enough of that, let's get onto the show for today,
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  Speaker 1: and here's what I've got. I'm really sorry that that
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  Speaker 1: was the thing I started the show with, but it's
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  Speaker 1: been on my mind. I wanted to talk about it anyway.
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  Speaker 1: Coming up at the end of the show, we're going
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: to be talking about choosing colors for west facing spaces,
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: and I'm going to be giving you the last chance
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: for a while to win one of two Repcolite gift
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: certificates for one hundred bucks. In fact, since it's the
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: last one of these that I'm going to do for
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: a little bit, I want to extend the opportunity through
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: the whole show. You know, maybe you're only catching this part.
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  Speaker 1: This is all you heard. You heard the toenail story,
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: and now you've got to go somewhere else, maybe to
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: a therapist. I don't know. If that's all you're gonna hear.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: You can't ride with me till the end of the show.
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: I still want to give you a chance to win.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: And here's how it's gonna work. You've got intel ten
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  Speaker 1: am today to email me at radio at repco Light
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  Speaker 1: dot com. R E P C O L I T
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: E dot com, Radio at repco Light dot com. Tell
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: me you know, tell me what your next project is,
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: or tell me about a topic that you want to
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: hear on the show, or maybe your favorite Repco light location,
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: maybe break up your favorite Repcolite employee, tell me your
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: favorite song. I really don't care. Just email me and
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: tell me something fun, something interesting, whatever. Get your emails
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: in before ten am this morning, and then at ten
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: or right after I'll draw two random winners from amongst
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: all the entries. So email right now, radio at REP
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: and I'll remind you throughout the show. But now you've
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: got a head start, all right. So at the end
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: of the show, we're going to be talking about flashing
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: paint flashing. It's not probably what you're thinking. It's a
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: paint problem. It's kind of common. We'll talk about how
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  Speaker 1: you avoid that. We'll also be talking about fixing squeaks
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  Speaker 1: in your floor, and we'll also be talking about masking tape. Basically,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to look at three big complaints that we
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  Speaker 1: hear all the time when it comes to masking tape,
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  Speaker 1: and most likely you've experienced at least one, if not
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  Speaker 1: all of them at some point. They're common, they're frustrating,
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  Speaker 1: but the good news is they're completely avoidable, and we're
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: going to get to that topic right after. This home
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: in progress is brought to you by Repcolite Paints and
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: Benjamin Moore, Top tier paint expert advice. Your next project
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: is way easier than you think it's going to be.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: All right, let's talk about masking tape, and I want
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: to talk about you know, three big complaints that we
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: hear all the time when it comes to masking tape,
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  Speaker 1: and most likely you've experience at least one of these,
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: if not all of them, at some point. They're pretty common,
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: they're frustrating, and the good news is they're really avoidable.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: So let's walk through them one by one and talk
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  Speaker 1: about how to get clean, professional results every single time
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  Speaker 1: you use masking tape. Now, the first complaint I get
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  Speaker 1: a fair amount is this one. I can never get
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  Speaker 1: sharp lines. You know, I've always got paint bleeding under
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  Speaker 1: the tape. Well, if that's the case, you're completely not alone.
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  Speaker 1: You know, you spend the time taping everything off, you
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  Speaker 1: paint carefully, and then when you peel the tape off,
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  Speaker 1: it looks like you tried to do the job, you know, blindfolded,
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  Speaker 1: wavy edges, all kinds of little fuzzy lines, you know,
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: little runs of paint that slipped underneath whatever. You know what,
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: you know what it looks like. It's frustrating, But most
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  Speaker 1: of the time that problem starts with the tape you're using. Now,
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  Speaker 1: I've tested all of the tapes that we sell. You know,
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  Speaker 1: I haven't tested all tapes, but all the masking tapes
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  Speaker 1: we sell. I've tested them all. You know, the cheaper
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: tan stuff, the blue Painter's tape, and high end options
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  Speaker 1: like Frog tape. I've tested all of these and over
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  Speaker 1: and over again, Frog tape comes out on top. It's
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  Speaker 1: not perfect, not one hundred percent perfect, but it's consistently
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  Speaker 1: better than everything else I tried. Now, I do want
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  Speaker 1: to explain this a little bit more, just to make
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  Speaker 1: sure we're all on the same page. All tapes really
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  Speaker 1: can do a decent job. That is the other thing
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  Speaker 1: that I ran into when I was doing this testing.
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  Speaker 1: All of them could do a good job if you
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  Speaker 1: you know, really did everything right. You know, even the
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  Speaker 1: cheap ones could produce good results, or at least mostly good.
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: You know, I would say I'd have been happy with
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: the results of all of these, provided you know, you
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: do apply the product in the right way, apply the
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: tape in the right way. For example, let's just focus
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  Speaker 1: on that regular blue painters tape, not the frog tape.
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: Just the regular blue painters tape. You definitely can get
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  Speaker 1: razor sharp lines with that if you apply the tape
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  Speaker 1: the right way and go through all of that work,
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  Speaker 1: which we're going to talk about in just a minute here.
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  Speaker 1: But the thing with the frog tape, the reason I
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: like that one a little bit better, is that the
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: good results came a little bit easier. Now, you got
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  Speaker 1: perfect results if you did the application the right way,
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: but even if you didn't go through all of that work,
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: you still got really, really, really good results with just
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  Speaker 1: the frog tape. So that's why I like frog tape
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: a little bit better. Frog tape comes in a number
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  Speaker 1: of different varieties, but they all share one key feature,
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: something called paint block technology. Now it's fun, it's sciencey
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: and all of that, but the concept is really pretty simple.
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  Speaker 1: The edge of the tape is treated with a special
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  Speaker 1: polymer that reacts with water based paint, So the moment
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  Speaker 1: the paint touches the tape, the polymer gels, and that
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  Speaker 1: essentially forms a barrier that locks out you know the
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  Speaker 1: bleed through you know, it locks the paint out and
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  Speaker 1: doesn't allow it to bleed underneath the tape. And yeah,
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  Speaker 1: it's a little more expensive than the basic stuff, but
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  Speaker 1: the good results are easier to get because of that
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: paint block technology, and to me, that makes it worth it.
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  Speaker 1: And here's the thing. It doesn't take any more time
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  Speaker 1: to use frog tape, you know. And if I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to spend ten minutes taping off a wall or taping
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  Speaker 1: off some trim, or twenty minutes or whatever it takes,
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  Speaker 1: I'd rather get it right the first time then spend
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: more time trying to fix, you know, a little bleeds
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  Speaker 1: and stuff like that where the paint got under the tape.
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: So that's why I like frog tape. That's why I
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: generally use it. And right now through the end of August,
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: we've got inch and inch and a half blue frog
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  Speaker 1: tape on special at all Repcolite locations. So if you've
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: never tried frog tape before, you can pick up a
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: single roll and just see what you think. I think
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: you're gonna like it all right. Now, using the right
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: tape is important. I mentioned that, but so is using
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: the right technique. I was hinting at that all along.
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: Taping's a skill, and pretty much like every skill, it
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: improves with a little bit of knowledge and a little
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: bit of practice. So when you're applying tape, here's what
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: you need to do to get really good results, no
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: matter what you're using. First off, of course, the surface
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: has to be clean. Make sure it's clean. Make sure
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: it's dry, you know, don't wipe it clean and then
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: try to put tape on a damp surface. That's just dumb.
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  Speaker 1: That's not going to work. So it's got to be dry,
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: it's got to be clean. When you're applying the tape,
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: don't stretch the tape as you apply it. You know,
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: you want to gently lay it in place, so use
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: shorter strips rather than long ones. And then once the
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: tape is down, here's the big trick. Once the tape
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: is down, pressed the edge down firmly, you know, burnishing
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: it with like a putty knife or a dull blade
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: or something like that. And that's going to ensure a
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: really tight seal. You know, no matter what tape you're using,
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: that's going to give you a really good seal. The
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: big thing here is just be careful not to press
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: so hard that you damage the surface underneath, all right.
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: So that brings me to the next complaint that we
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: sometimes get, and it's this, when I remove the tape,
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: the paint comes with it, all right. Usually this happens
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: for one of a couple different reasons. You know, either
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: you're applying the tape over fresh paint that hasn't fully ceed,
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: or you've left the tape on too long after painting. Now,
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: even though your paint might feel dry to the touch
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: after a couple hours, it can still be soft underneath
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: for days. So if you use a high adhesion tape
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: on that kind of surface, there's a really good chance
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: you're going to peel it off when you move that tape.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: You're gonna peel paint off when you remove that tape.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: That's why delicate surface painter tapes exist. Frog tape makes
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: a yellow one for exactly this reason. It's great for
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: freshly painted walls, wallpaper, decorative finishes, anything fragile. But even then,
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: when you're using delicate surface tape, you still want to
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: give that new paint at least a full day to
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: cure out and to dry out before taping over it.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: Two or three days is even better, but at least
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: a full day before you put the tape on, even
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: though you're using delicate surface tape, So use the right tape.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: That's one way to get around this problem of paint
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: peeling off when you remove the tape. The other reason
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: that that happens is that you left the tape on
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: too long. So once you finish painting, don't walk away
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: and leave the tape on until the paint dries. The
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: right time to take the tape off is actually while
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: the paint is still wet. You know, as the paint dries,
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: it forms this continuous film that can bond to both
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: the wall and the tape. And if that film hardens
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: too much, sure becomes too you know, consistent pulling that
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: tape later can actually cause the paint to tear or
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: peel as you're removing it. So remove the tape right
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: away after painting. Just take your time and be careful
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: because the paint on the tape is still going to
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: be wet, you know, don't let it brush against you
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: or your floors, your trim, your furniture. Just be careful
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: as you're removing it. If you can't do that before
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: you tear it, that tape off. Take a razor blade
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: and run it right along the edge of where the
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: tape meets the wall and score that paint film that way.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: When you remove the tape, it's not going to tear
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: into the paint on the wall. That's a really big deal,
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: all right. The third complaint we get, and it's incredibly common.
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: My tape keeps tearing when I'm trying to use it.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: All right, You pull a strip, it splits, you try
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: to apply it, shreds in your hands, drives your nuts.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: And usually this boils down to one of two things.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: You're either using really poor quality tape. Don't do that
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: dollar store tape. Don't do it, go get good stuff,
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: or maybe even more likely, you're using tape that's been
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: sitting in your garage since your last project three years ago.
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: You know, heat, cold, humidity, All of those things break
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: down the adhesive and they weaken the backing paper if
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: it's been through a few Michigan summers and winters in
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: a dusty basement or your truck bed or whatever, do
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: yourself a favor on your next project. Toss that tape out.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: Get a new, fresh, role, high quality tape, stored properly
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: is going to save you time, frustration, and all of
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: that down the road. It's definitely worth it. All right.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: Before we wrap this segment up, one question that does
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: come up a lot, especially from contractors, and it's this,
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: why tape at all? You know, good painters don't need tape.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: You know, a season pro with thousands of hours on
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: the job can probably cut in a wall with perfect accuracy.
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: That is one hundred percent true. But if you're a
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: di wire, or if you're a contractor running multiple crews
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: with varying levels of experience, taping is really, you know,
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: one of the best ways to maintain quality control. It's
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: a safety net, keep your lines clean, your work consistent,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: and your results looking really professional, even if you're not
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: on site to supervise every single brushstroke. You know, it's
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: not about taking shortcuts. Really, it's about making sure the
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: job gets done right. So tape does play out as
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: beneficial even to contractors in certain situations. For di wires,
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: I would say, it's really something you almost got to
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: do almost every time if you want good results consistently.
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: All right, Masking tape not glamorous. It's not a fun
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: part of the paint job, but it does help you
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: achieve really good professional results every time if you do
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: it right. All right, next time you're starting a project,
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: don't forget to grab a roll or two. And if
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: you are painting this month all August, check out the
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: blue Frog tape that's on special at all Repcolite stores.
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: All Right, squeaky floors. They are an absolute pain in
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: the neck. But fortunately fixing them is easier than you think.
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: We're going to get to that right after this. This
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: is home in progress where the to do list is long.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: And that's all right. We're not crabbing at you. We're
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: not gonna yell at you. That's how it is. It's
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: how ours is too. It's probably supported by Repcolite Paints
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: and Benjamin Moore because home projects are easier when you've
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: got people you can trust. All right, let's talk about
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: floor squeaks, right, floor squeaks, and really these things can
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: drive you absolutely nuts. You know. I remember having little kids,
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: babies specifically, and it's such a cliche, I know it,
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: but it's true. I remember with these babies how we'd
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: sit in their room, you know, and finally you'd get
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: them to sleep, right, finally they quit crying or fussing
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: or whatever they're doing, and they go to sleep, and
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: you carefully, you know, creep across the floor and you
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: put them carefully in the crib, you know, so quietly,
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: so gently. It's like you're handling nitroglycerin or something. You know.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: You finally got them settled, and you back away. You
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: watch them roll over a little bit. You hold your breath.
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: You're panicking, are they going to wake up again? And
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: then they settle and they go back to sleep. You know,
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: Relief settles in right. You start to leave the room.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: And then for me, anyway, you up at the doorway
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: and you're just staring at this hallway. You know, it's
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: ten foot long, twelve foot long, something like that. It
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: wasn't a huge hallway at my old house, but it
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: was full of squeaky floorboards. And somehow I know I've
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: got to navigate that area by memory, you know, and
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: avoid all these little spots where the floor squeaks. You know.
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: So you go back and forth, you're zigzagging all over
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: the place, putting the foot down here, and you start
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: to hear the squeak. Goh, so you quick pull your
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: foot back. It's like you're Indiana Jones. Really it's what
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: it felt like. You know. I can't tell you how
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: many times I would almost get to the end of
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: that hallway before I ended up stepping on you know,
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: the wrong spot, and suddenly the house is filled with
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: that horrible squeak, and then like an alarm clock, it
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: wakes up the kids and it all starts over again.
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: So squeaky floors, they are not fun at all or
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: real pain in the neck, real pain in the neck. Real.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: I should edit that out, but I think I'll leave
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: it just so you know what I deal with all
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: the time. Do you know what it's like to be
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: talking to people in public? You know, at least on
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: the radio, I get to edit all of that stuff out.
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry this is a big dumb tangent, but now
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: my voice cracked and I'm really focused on it. On
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: the radio, I edit a lot of those out just
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: because I don't want to deal with them all the time.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: But in real life, really speaking to people and my
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: voice does that, it's like, I'm I don't know, it
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: feels like Mickey Mouse or something that's not even accurate.
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: I don't know what's wrong with me. Perpetually in a
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: state of puberty explains my height. I'm at that state
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: of puberty right before the growth spurt, and it's perpetual.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: I'm stuck here anyway. Flora squeaks, they're a real pain
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: in the next So let's talk about fixing them. And happily,
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: most squeaks are kind of easy to fix. And I
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: guess to start, let's first talk about what's really making
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: that sound, because maybe most of you are aware, fully
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: aware of what's making that sound. For me, I kind
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: of didn't know. I guess I assumed what it was,
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: but I didn't really know what it was. And once
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: you know what's going on, makes it a lot easier
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: to fix. All right, Floor squeaks happen because something that's
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: not supposed to be moving is moving. Something that's supposed
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: to be tight isn't tight, you know, and a number
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: of reasons make this happen. You know, Over time, wood
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: dries out, it shrinks just a little bit. That can
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: be a part of it. Fasteners can loosen. Parts that
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: used to sit snugly together start to rub a little bit,
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: and that rubbing is where the noise comes from. All
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: of that, if you've got access to the underside of
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: your floor, you know, like from an unfinished basement or
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: crawl space or something. You can often spot the issue
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: really quickly. You know, a lot of the times the
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: sub floor was nailed instead of screwed down, and those
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: nails don't always hold. It will loosen up a little
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: bit over time, and in some cases those nails aren't
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: even driven into the joists like they're supposed to be.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: You know, if you go down there and look, you'll
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: find nails coming out of the joists on angles, you know,
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: kind of half in, half out, or sometimes they're like
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: a row of nails like an inch off from the
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: floor joist. They completely missed the joist as they were
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: nailing it. And that means your subfloor over that particular joist,
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: that particular area, it's just floating right, it's just sitting
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: on top of the floor joist. It's not secured to it. Now.
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: In pretty much all of these instances, when you walk
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: across the floor over those areas, that subfloor is going
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: to flex, it's going to hit the joist, it's going
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: to rub against that nail. That nail that's part in,
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: part out is going to squeak a little bit. That's
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: where the squeaking is coming from, just that movement. Now,
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: Also keep in mind that even when nails do hit
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: that joist, you know, even when they're dead on into
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: that joist, like I said earlier, they can work loose
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: over time, especially if construction adhesive wasn't used during the install.
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: And even though gluing the subfloor to the joist is
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: standard practice right now, it hasn't always been the case.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: So plenty of older homes or you know, quick builds,
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: they can skip that step entirely and without the glue,
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: really just relying entirely on nails or screws to hold
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: everything tight. So that's what's going on, That's where the
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: squeak is coming from. Now, finding and fixing the spots
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: is going to be relatively easy for the most part,
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: if you've got access to the underside of the floor
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: from the basement or a crawl space. You know, it's
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: not the only way to fix these things, and we'll
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: talk about other ones if you don't have that access,
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: but it is the easiest way now, if you're able
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: to go down there and look up and see the
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: floor joists and the sub floor and all of that,
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: it's really straightforward. Just get a partner who's going to
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: walk the floor, you know, on the main level where
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: the squeaks are while you're down below. You know you're
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: going to be down below looking up, trying to pinpoint
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: the trouble spots. So you're listening for squeaks, You're watching
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: for movement, you know, as the other person walks across
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: the floor above you. Sometimes, you know, if you're close
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: enough to it, you'll actually see small amounts of dust
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: maybe puffing out from where the sub floor meets the joist.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: That's possible, and if you see that as a telltale
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: sign there's movement there. You can also put your fingers
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: along that spot, you know, that little corner if you will,
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: where the joist meets the subfloor. You can put your
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: finger along there and feel for any shift or bounce.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: You know, you should feel a little bit when the
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: person walks over that trouble area. Another thing to look
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: at is look carefully at the nails or the fasteners.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: If they're not driven into the joyst cleanly. If they're
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: you know, missing the joist altogether, that's likely, you know,
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: a likely culprit for your problem, your squeak problem. So
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: examine all of those things, and once you've found the
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: trouble spot or identified the trouble spots. It's probably gonna
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: be multiple spots. But once you've identified them, you've got
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: a few different options to fix it. One of the
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: simplest ways is to gently tap a thin, really thin
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: wood shim into the gap between the joist and the
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: sub floor. Now, you're looking to take up that slack.
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: You know that that wiggle room that it's got, just
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: you're trying to close that off. You just don't want
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: to overdo this with the shim. If you force the
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: shim too far or too thick of a shim, you
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: can actually lift the floor above and create a brand
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: new problem that you're gonna have to deal with. So
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: slide it in snug and then secure it with a
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: dab or two of construction adhesive to hold it in place. Now,
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: another approach, not the shim approach, but another one, especially
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: if the gap is longer than a shim can realistically handle,
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: is to use what I call a two by four method.
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna do my best to describe it. Put on
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: your thinking caps as i'm talking, and then I'll put
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: a link in the show notes to a video demonstrating
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: what I'm talking about. But you take a piece of
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: two by four, maybe it's eighteen to twenty four inches
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: in length, maybe longer, you know, maybe a little bit shorter.
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: Take that piece, and then run a generous bead of
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: thick you know, construction adhesive along one of the thinner edges.
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: All right, this is gonna be the edge that presses
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: up against the underside of the subfloor. All right, So
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: put construction adhesive on that edge, and then press the
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: glued edge tight against the subfloor, hold it up there,
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: tight against it, and screw the two by four sideways
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: into the joe. What you're doing is creating a sort
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: of glued ledger support, you know, beneath the subfloor. Now
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: that adhesive bond between the two by four and the
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: sub floor is going to eliminate the flex, and the
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: screws into the joist are gonna hold the whole thing tight.
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: It's simple, you know, really low cost, really effective. It
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: is important to note though, that this fix, unlike some
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: of the other ones that I talk about, isn't going
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: to be immediate. You know, that glue needs to set
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: up and cure, and once that happens, then it's gonna
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: be permanent, and you know you're gonna have a fixed
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: squeak no problem, but it is going to take time.
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: Some of these other ones are instant fix. You know,
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: once you've done it, the squeak's gone. This one, the
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: squeak could persist for a little bit to the glue drives.
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: So just keep that in mind. Now, not everybody has
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: access to the floor from underneath. If you're working from
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: above and everything else below is closed off, you can't see.
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: And let's say you've got carpet in this particular area,
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: if you're working with a problem there, you're gonna have
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: to look for something called Squeak No More. This is
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: a kit that I ran into. Squeak No More. It's
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: basically a number of little guides and things that you
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: would use, and then some specially designed screws that you
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: can literally drive right through the carpet and into the
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: subfloor without damaging the carpet fibers. And I know this
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: sounds ridiculous, all right. I was not hooked on this
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: until I really dug into it a lot further. And
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: I do think there's a lot of value to the system.
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: I'm going to use it in my own hallway just
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: to try it out. But the way it works is
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: that screw this special screw. You've got to use the
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: right screw. That's why you're looking for this kit. Squeak
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: no more. I'll put links in the show notes. The
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: screw that you're using in that kit is engineered to
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: snap off just below the surface of the subfloor, all right,
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: so everything stays invisible. It doesn't damage the carpet. You know,
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: the fibers cover where the screw went in, and you
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: never feel anything when you walk over the spot because
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: that screw gets snapped off within the subfloor. I know that.
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: Like I said, it sounds literally crazy. I've got a
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: video link in the show notes that demonstrates the process.
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: It's definitely something to check out. If you don't have
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: access to a carpeted floor, you know that that's got
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: some squeaks. If you don't have access to that floor
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: from beneath and you can't figure out how to fix
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: it the other way. This could be a brilliant solution,
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: all right, So keep that in mind. And the same
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: system also works for hardwood floors. That's not ideal in
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: a lot of regards because you're literally having to drill
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: a hole in the surface of your hardwood floor and
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: run this screw through that. But again, the screw snaps
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: off beneath the surface of the hardwood plank, and then
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: that hole can be filled with colored putty. It's not ideal.
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: I don't love that solution, but it does work if
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: you've got no access to the underside of the floor
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: from the basement. So I'll put links to that system
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: squeak no more in the show notes. Definitely check it
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: out before you write it off. But here's where I
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: want to add a little bit of a cat If
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: you're drilling into your finished flooring, you know, hardwood, or
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: if you're drilling through carpet because you don't have access
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: from underneath, you need to make sure that you know
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: what's beneath the floorboards. You know what's beneath the floorboards.
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: You don't want to suspect what's beneath the floorboards. You
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: don't want to think you have a good idea of
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: what's beneath the floorboards. You really need to know what's
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: beneath the floorboards. You know, modern building codes, they're going
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: to place plumbing and electrical away from the tops of
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: floor joists. But in older homes or remodeled areas, that's
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: not always a guarantee. So if you're unsure, you've got
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: to find a way to check, you know, whether it's
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: with a stud finder, with a live wire detector or something.
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: You've got to find out where exactly the joys are,
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: make sure you hit it and make sure there isn't
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: water or electrical around it. There are plenty of times
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: when people do something like this, think they're solving one
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: problem and they literally drill into a water pipe. You know,
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: it happens, and it's a mess when it happens. Don't
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: drill into electrical lines, don't drill into water lines. You've
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: got to do your due diligence and make sure that
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: you're safe. All right. I'm just giving you the tools
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: and the method. You've got to make sure that you're
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: safe to do this, so make sure you check it out.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: Another solution moving on that you're going to see online,
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: especially when the squeak is caused by wood rubbing against wood,
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: you know, board to board and a hardwood flooring situation
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: something like that. An online solution that's really popular is
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: to work a dry lubricant like powdered graphite, talcum powder,
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: even baking soda into the gaps between the floorboards. Now,
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: the idea here is that the powder is going to
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: settle into the seams and reduce the friction that's creating
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: that squeak. And in some cases this really does work.
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: It really can help, especially if that squeak is surface
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: level and not due to movement between the sub floor
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: and the choice below. You know, if that's the problem,
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: this isn't going to do a lot. It's got to
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: be you know, board to board movement that's causing the squeak.
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: Then it can fix it. It's a temporary fix at best,
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: so keep that in mind. And over time that powder
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: is going to shift or wear away with foot traffic
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: and cleaning, and the squeak's going to return. So that's
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: something to keep in mind. But there's a bigger concern,
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: especially if you think you might ever refinish your hardwood
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: floors or apply another layer of top coat. Many baby powders,
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: for example, they contain fragrance oils or moisture absorbing agents,
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: and these things can penetrate the wood. Also, the powder,
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: all of these things that you're putting on. Once it
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: gets down into the gaps between the boards, it can
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: be kind of a trick to remove it. It's not
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: always easy to get it out, and it's definitely possible
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: that you could end up with adhesion problems when you
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: try to reseal those floors later. You know, in worst
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: case scenarios, you could even see visible streaking, you know,
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: uneven finish absorption, or even fish eyes in the top coat.
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: So while it might seem like a harmless DIY trick
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: and it might offer some short term relief putting powders
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: or things like that into the gaps between the boards,
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: it's worth thinking twice about before doing that. So there
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: you go. Squeaky floors. They don't need to annoy you.
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: You know, you don't have to zigzag your way down
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: the hallway like Indiana Jones to avoid trouble spots anymore.
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: The squeaks are fixable and it's surprisingly easy really in
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: a lot of cases. Now. Of course, there are tons
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: of other situations that I couldn't get to on the
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: show right now that make this whole thing a little
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: more complicated. I understand that there's a lot of different
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: things going on, and there are also many methods out there.
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: You know a lot of other methods for fixing squeaks.
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: Before you start your project, Before you jump into this,
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: definitely go and check out some videos and you'll see
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: all the different solutions that I talked about. You'll find more.
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: Check out the videos, do some research, make sure you're comfortable,
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: and then jump in and get it fixed. And also,
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: if you've got a method that I didn't mention but
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: which works really well, you know, even if it's just
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: in your experience, let me know. I want to know
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: about that. Radio at repco Light dot com email me.
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: And remember, speaking of emailing me, remember I'm being away
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: two one hundred dollars repco Light gift certificates after the
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: show today. If you want to be in the running
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: to win one of them, all you got to do
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: is email me at radio at repco Light dot com
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: and tell me something interesting. Tell me about your favorite
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: method for fixing squeaks on your floor that would work,
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: or tell me a topic that you'd like me to
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: cover on a future episode. Tell me how religiously you
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: listen to the show. I don't care what you tell me,
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: what you send just send me something fun. Email that
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: to Radio at repco Light dot com. Do that before
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: ten o'clock this morning, and then after ten I'm going
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: to draw two random winners from all of those entries.
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: So get those emails off Radio at repco Light dot com.
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: All right, have you ever finished painting room? You think
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: it looks perfect, the color looks perfect, and after you
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: get everything put away and the room back together, the
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: sun comes in, catches the walls at just a particular
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: angle and you see that the finish is completely uneven.
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: Have you ever run into that? That's paint flashing, And
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: we're going to talk about what causes it and more importantly,
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: how to avoid it. Right after this, you're listening to
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: Home in Progress, where the projects are real, the mistakes,
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: they're educational, sometimes painful, mostly educational. And the only thing
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: more stubborn than that old wallpaper on your bathroom wall
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: is your determination to get it fixed. Proudly sponsored by
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: Repcolite Paints and Benjamin Moore Paint with a Purpose, people
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: who care and everything you need to get the job
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: done right. All right, Right now, let's talk about you know,
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: a kind of common paint problem flashing. Now it's not
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: the kind of problem you're going to run into on
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: a regular basis, but it's possible. Over the course of
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: you know, a normal DIY paint career, you'll run into
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: it a couple times, two, three times, depending. But anyway,
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: flashing is a paint problem that shows up as an
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: uneven sheene or gloss or shine across a painted surface.
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: You know, it's not a color mismatch. It's all about
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: the way light reflects off different areas of the wall.
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: You know, some areas are shy, some areas they are dull,
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: all along the same wall. It's really frustrating. It's flashing,
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: all right, So let's talk about why it happens in
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: the first place. And there are a handful of reasons
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: that it shows up, and they're almost always going to
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: come back to either how the surface was prepped, how
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: the paint was applied, or what kind of conditions you
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: were working in. Let's start with the surface. One of
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: the biggest culprits of flashing is uneven paint absorption, and
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: that happens a lot with drywall repairs, you know, especially
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: when they haven't been properly prepped. Patches using drywall compound
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: those areas really soak up paint really fast. You know,
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: they soak it up at a much different rate than
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: the surrounding wall where the paint is already there. You know,
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: those those areas are sealed up. This patch is not
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: sealed up, and it really sucks the paint in and
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: that difference in absorption rate can really change the final sheen.
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: And that's why priming matters so much. If you skip
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: the primer or you use a really low quality one,
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: it means the surface that you're painting is going to
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: drink up your paint unevenly. Primer acts like a seiler.
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: That's its main goal. That's pretty much, well, not its
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: only goal, but it's its main goal. Acts like a seiler.
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: It's going to create a consistent surface for your finish coat,
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: and that's going to allow your finished coat to behave
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: the same way, same finish, same sheene across the entire wall.
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: When you skip that primer step, flashing becomes a real risk.
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: Now in a lot of situations, you can use your
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: finish paint as a primer. In these situations, you know,
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: just hit those patches with a first coat of your
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: finish paint before you coat over. Everything else. The first
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: coat on those more porous spots, those patches or whatever,
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: that's going to seal them up and it's going to
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: help your finish dry evenly. So not sealing those patches
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: up with primer or with your finished paint, that's one
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: of the main reasons that that flashing occurs. Another reason
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: is inconsistent application. You know, if you're applying paint too
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: slowly or at an uneven film thickness, you can encounter
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: flashing problems. Applying the paint too slowly, that means one
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: section can start to dry before you've had a chance
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: to blend it into the next. That's a recipe for problems.
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: And if you apply the paint too thickly in some areas,
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: that's no good either. In both cases, you're going to
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: get lapmarks and those areas are going to reflect light
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: differently and make your finished look uneven. You know, a
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: lot of this comes about by using the wrong roller nap.
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: You know, if you use a roller nap that's too
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: short for your walls or for the texture on your walls,
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: you're not applying enough paint and you're going to end
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: up with that paint drying before you can roll into
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: it again and keep a wet edge. So you got
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: to use the right roller nap. If you use too
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: thick of a roller nap, of course, you end up
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: putting on too much product. So finding the right roller
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: nap for your project, for your surface is really key.
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: On top of all of those things, you've got the environment.
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: You know, the environment that you're painting in. Drying conditions
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: play a huge role. If it's too hot or too cold,
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: or the humidity is really low, or if you're painting
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: in direct sunlight, the paint can dry unevenly and that's
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: going to affect how it flows, how it levels, And
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: it's another way flashing can sneak in. You know, even
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: the quality of the paint honestly can make a difference.
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: Some paints are just more prone to flashing because of
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: how they're made, you know, whether it's pigment, concentration, binder
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: quality additives, whatever. Lower quality paints don't always level out
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: as well, and that can leave you with a patchy finish.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: All right, So that's flashing. That's why it happens. How
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: do you fix it? And the problem here is if
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: it's already happened, you know, the paint's dry and you're
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: looking at a wall with a patchy, uneven finish. There's
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: not a really great easy way to fix this. You're
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: really basically just looking at a repaint, and in most
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: situations it's going to be just like touch up work.
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: You know, you can't paint a small area in the
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: middle of a wall and expect it to blend in
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: and fade away. You know, we always tell people that
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: with touchups, you're gonna have to take a larger area.
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: Same with this flashing problem. You're probably gonna need to
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: paint corner to corner on a wall if you've got
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: flashing on one particular wall, or maybe you'll get lucky
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: and there are a number of vision U breaking points
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: in your wall. If that's the case, you'll you'll still
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: be painting from visual breaking point to visual breaking point
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: to hide that spot. Now, in some instances, you know,
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: if you've done some patching and it was really severe,
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: it's possible that you know, you might need to literally
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: spot prime those areas, even though you've got one code
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: of finish on it already. It might be bad enough
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: that you need to spot prime those areas before you
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: hit everything with one more code of finish. So if
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: that's the case, hit those areas, feather the edges really well.
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: You don't want to build up layers here. Feather the
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: edge is really well, let it dry and then top
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: coat everything. The good news is that when you do that,
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: it's going to hide the flashing. You know, almost all
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: the time, flashing isn't going to bleed through. It's not
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: a problem like that. You're going to hide it. The
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: downside is, though, like I said, you are looking at
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: a repaint in order to fix it. So with that
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: in mind, let's talk about how you avoid it entirely,
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: you know, right from the get go. And the good
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: news is it's not as bad as you might think.
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: You just have to do a few key things right
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: from the start and you won't have a problem. So
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: first and foremost prime or hit those concerning areas, you know,
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: the patches and stuff, with a first coat of your
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: finish paint. Now, if you've got new drywall, i'd recommend
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: a specific drywall primer before you move on to finish paint.
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: If you've got patch spots on a wall, go and
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: hit those with a first coat of your finish paint.
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: Feather out the edges really well, and then when that's dry,
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: roll another coat of finish over everything. That should eliminate
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: all of your flashing concerns if it was just coming
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: from the patches on the wall or the unsealed surface.
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: So that's one thing you can do. Second, use high
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: quality products. You know, better paints tend to perform better.
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: Third thing, apply the paint evenly and consistently. And this
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: doesn't just mean work quickly and evenly across the room.
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: It also means using the same tool across the whole surface.
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: You know, if you start with a roller, finish with
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: a roller and use a consistent roller nap. If you
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: go from a three eight inch nap to a half
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: inch nap for any reason, or you switch from a
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: foam to a microfiber, or even from a brush to
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: a roller for cutting in that change has the possibility
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: of showing up as flashing or just a different look
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: on your final finish. So try to stay as much
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: as possible with the exact same tool all the way
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: through the process. Fourth, watch your conditions. Try to work
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: when temperatures and humidity levels are moderate. Don't stretch your
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: paint too thin. Remember thinner coats can flash more easily,
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: especially if the surface underneath is absorbing at different rates.
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: All right, that's flashing. If you have any other questions,
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: swing out to any Repcolite. We'll walk you through what
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: you're dealing with and help you figure out the best
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: way to move forward and fix the problem. If you're
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: dealing with a problem, or better yet, we'll help you
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: avoid all of these problems on your next project. Just
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: let us walk you through what you need to know.
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: All right, that's going to do it for this episode.
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: Remember I'm giving away two one hundred dollars Repcolite gift
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: certificates after the show today. If you want to be
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: in the running, just email me at Radio at repco
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: Light dot com and tell me something interesting. I don't
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: care what you tell me, just tell me something fun.
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: Email that to radio at repco Light dot com before
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: ten am this morning, and then after ten I'll draw
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: two random winners. All right. If you found today's tips helpful,
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: whether it was solving those squeaky floor problems, getting better
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: results with masking tape, or maybe just you know, finally
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: being able to understand what's going on when your paint's flashing.
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: If any of that was helpful. Do me a favor
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: and hit that subscribe button so you'll never miss another episode.
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: And if you are enjoying the show, we'd love it
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: if you could leave a quick review or rating wherever
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: you're listening. It helps more than you know and it's
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: one of the best ways to support what we're doing.
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: You can always find more pain advice, how to guides,
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: an inspiration at repcoll light dot com. And of course,
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: if you've got a question or a topic you'd love
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: us to cover on a future episode, shoot us a message.
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: We'd love to hear from you. For Home in Progress,
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: I'm Dan Hansen. Thanks for listening, looking up to