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Entry bubble Painting Weekend!

By: Sommer | November 23, 2007 | Category: Health

This weekend, instead of traveling or shopping like crazy, we’ll be painting the bedrooms in our townhouse. I’m really excited to finish this project so I can focus on the other decorating and organizing that I’ve been putting off for about 6 months. Also, since I’m one of those people who can’t stand white walls, I’m doubly excited to paint! (I inherited this case of “white-wall-itis” from my mother…) painter

Although I’m excited to paint and do some other minor home improvement projects I’m also concerned about the quality of our indoor air, both since our townhouse is about 60 years old and because the Environmental Protection Agency reported that the air in America’s homes contains 2 to 5 times more volatile organic compounds (VOC) than the air outdoors.

Products like paint, carpet, building materials, cleaning products, and dry cleaned clothing all contain VOC’s which include chemicals like benzene (in glues, paints and furniture wax), methylene chloride (in paint strippers and aerosol paints), and perchloroethylene (in newly dry cleaned clothing). Obviously, products with lower levels of these chemicals are better for your health and home and they’re better for the environment, too, since they’re typically produced with more environmentally friendly processes.

Remembering back to how bad the fumes smelled after we painted in the spring led me to look into using low VOC paints this time since they release fewer dangerous and stinky fumes into the air. I think they’re a little more expensive but the difference in price is definitely worth the added comfort and peace of mind.

| View Comments [2] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: chemical   health   home   organic   paint   sommer   voc  

Comments (2):

blue comment bubble Posted by Citizen Jmaximus on November 24, 2007 at 08:10 AM EST

Valspar is the best paint I have ever used. I always used to buy the cheapest paint, and it showed. Never again. Not only does it look outstanding and is super thick, but it has very little odor. It also cleans up very easy. I will never use another brand or type again, ever. Buy it at Lowes.

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blue comment bubble Posted by GBC on November 29, 2007 at 09:38 PM EST

It was the weekend before Thanksgiving when I said to my wife, “My brother and his family will be here for the holiday. So, I am thinking about painting the living and dining rooms.” My wife replied, “You always paint just before the holiday.” She was right. Three years ago it was the front door. After that it was the entrance foyer. Last year it was the kid’s bathroom. That was more than just painting, though. Years of teenage steam showers had left a toll on the plaster walls. This was major work. But that was last year. This year is was simply the living and dinning rooms. A few years ago, before it was holiday painting I was into holiday molding – ceiling molding in the living room, chair-rail molding in the dining room. But I had not mastered the art of caulking the gaps between the molding and the waves of un-uniform plaster ceilings. For years I lived with seeing these annoying little gaps between the molding and ceiling every time I looked up. So, before I painted the living room this year I was determined to resolve the molding-ceiling gap problem. After reading the instructions on the caulk tube I quickly mastered the technique. “Caulk in temps above 40 degrees.” That one was simple – keep the windows shut. “Do not apply when rain is forecast.” Again, keep the windows shut. “Fill gap with caulk pushing caulk ahead of nozzle. Smooth bead.” No problem – just smooth out the bead with my finger. It worked like a charm and looked like a professional job. I was pretty proud until I went to dispose of the empty caulk tube and noticed a series of “WARNINGS!” (with an exclamation point to boot.) “Harmful if absorbed through skin. Avoid contact with skin.” So much for smoothing out the bead. The warnings continued, “Use only with adequate fresh air.” So much for avoiding the low temperatures and rain. I quickly applied the paint, trashed all the left over supplies and hoped for a good, long life.

Anyway, holiday painting is a fun!

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