23. Paint

When your home has all of the cabinets installed and the interior trim 100% complete it is time for the painter to get started. The first thing your painter will do is caulk all of your trim and cabinets. All door jambs, baseboards, crown mold, closet shelving, everything should an will be caulked. Once your trim and cabinets are caulked the painter will prime all wood surfaces for enamel. Some places will not let the builder use oil based enamel with out a special permit because of envoirmental concerns. In this case your painter will probably use a latex enamel. Either case the painter will need to spray an undercoater on all of the wood surfaces, even those which claim to be pre-primed. Now comes some labor. The painter will sand everywhere that primer was sprayed. The easiest way to understand why, is to rub your hand on the edge of an unsanded door or window sill and feel the roughness. The wood should be smooth after the sanding is done. Your painter will also stain anything that requires staining with the exception of the front door. If you have a stain grade front door it will not be installed until at the very end of the construction process. The painter will spray his latex on the walls first (after caulk) then he will undercoat all enamel surfaces and stain where required. At this point he is ready to spray your undercoated surfaces with enamel. You will have overspray on your walls. Your second coat of paint should be applied to your walls using a roller. Your painter will cut-in the latex and enamel.by hand. Any stained areas should get their sealer coats. This will make them smooth like glass, no streaks are acceptable. Once the painter has finished his cut-in the home should look finish with out completed selections. Paint should be 100% complete and all masking tape and paper removed. The home is finally coming together. The exterior is almost complete and the interior is looking more like the dream you invisioned.