“Green” is not merely a color, it’s a idea as well . Everyone needs to reduce our impact to the world before we destroy it completely, and here is an alternate way we can help that you may not have considered before.
“Green” paints are fairly common for interiors, but rare for exteriors since strong odor is rarely an issue . The normal high end exterior paints are all water based and 100 percent acrylic and low-no odor. Buying “green” paints does not always reduce environmental impact of paint. Actually “green” paint can increase the general effect on the environment when misapplied.
Always be certain to do your research first when looking for residential exterior painting Minneapolis. When trying to reduce harm to the Earth, i would not always specify a “green” paint. Instead, I might target these four areas:
1. Preserving the substrate long term and minmizing maintenance. This saves the trees, keeps landfills from filling, decreases fuel usage by painting contractors and ultimately saves you money- this comes at the cost of more up front prep, more gallons of paint, higher priced paint and more work. Selecting a well designed paint system and general maintenance plan is much more environmentally friendly than starting over with a new Green licensed home.
There are way more VOC’s in the caulk we are using than in almost all of the paints we use. However, urethane sealants are better than acrylic’s by 400%, so this still decreases the final impact in the long run by conserving your substrates.
2. Reducing waste: Calculate how much paint you will need carefully and buy materials from a local paint business. It is commonly feasible to under order and pick up an extra gallon if necessary. Dont purposefully over order additional paint, it too often gets wasted, frozen or does not match anyway after fading.
Taking care of your house regularly requires less work and materials and decreases the quantity of waste to be disposed of. When a home is not maintained, one maintenance issues often contributes to another which causes the acceleration of decay. Not caulking causes the window to decay, which causes the insulation to become wet which in turn causes the siding and drywall to decay. All these items finish up in a landfill and must be cut down from forests in Washington, made on the other side of the country and then shipped out to yet another State, all because the caulk was not maintained.
3. Labor and fuel use: Complete the painting job once very well. Two coats would also be advocated, because the second coat requires no more tape, poly, preparation, etc, but seriously increases the life of the paint job. It requires only 25-40% more labor and materials, this suggests fewer trips and fewer gallons.
For houses, we avoid special paints from far flung places. Having paint shipped in is dear and wasteful. Highly rated paint from California or Ireland is nearly never an environmentally sound choice if you live somewhere else completely.
4. Recycling- Should be taken seriously. First, we always try and under order, in order not to have excess paint. Every gallon we purchase either ends up on your house or is recycled. Our oils and oil water mixes are used in making concrete. Our leftover acrylics are used to color houses of indigenous Americans in South Dakota. Ask your contractor what he does with the excess paint.
For the majority of homes, I would suggest 2 coats of a 25 year 100% acrylic paint from a nation wide provider who has a store in area. When it comes to specialized projects like metal coatings and decks, I will not make a blanket recommendation. Every project needs to be researched separately to figure out what coating system will protect the structure best so as to keep the planet Green and not empty your wallet. Be certain to inform your contractor that you need to preserve your structure in order to have the least impact on the Earth.
Have a discourse on how the company attempts to minimise impact and maximize longevity. Work with the painter to decide what paints and procedures will accomplish your goals best. Hopefully this helps you when looking for environmentally friendly exterior painting Minneapolis.
