Wet Weather Delays / Moisture Testing Decks

We are in the midst of completing two exterior cedar decks,
one being a restrip and stain and the other due a maintenance
coating follow-up. Weather has put a hold on all exterior
wood work for obvious reasons.

We normally moisture test topside and bottom of cedar
deck boards to make sure we are in the range of no more
than 12-14% for ideal coating application. This ensures
uniform development of color, sheen and penetration
into the wood's capillary layers.



We often see decks with splotchy appearances, uneven
sheen development and overlap and a lot of this is due
to the surface being too wet to stain.

Let's hope for some dry weather this week !

Looking to Custom Build ?

If you are looking to custom build an addition or finely crafted
home....point your browser to WhiteHall Homes.ca

David Farris and his team are legendary across East Oakville,
the Muskokas and Downtown Toronto for work that signifies
excellence and a level of quality that is unmatched.

Busy June !!!

We are in the midst of a large deck project, a kitchen cabinet
repaint, and a small alcove wall for a client wanting a recessed
LCD cabinet for his latest home theatre update.

Pictures to follow of all three projects once completed.

A note to our kitchen cabinet clients - generally speaking
our HVLP process for cabinet repainting takes 5-7 days
to reach a cure state that is safe to install without
scratches. We always provide touch up as part of our
service - so no need to worry. Since we use an acrylic
waterborne system that is easy for a homeowner to touch
up there is no worry about nitrocellulose or heavily solvented
coatings fumes or vapours. In other words ,safe for babies, pets
and those with sensitivities to chemicals.

Current HAPs list legislation is fast outlawing the use of
nitrocellulose or amino alkyd conversion varnish coatings - they
are just not safe for anyone to apply or to be exposed to.

Cedar Deck Prep

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Project: 1000 sqft2 of Cedar Decking
Challenge: Grit Pad Sand aged surface/brighten and restain
Replace Deck Boards/Top Rail


Here we are prepping a deck with Cedar Restorer after sanding
to brighten up the Western Red Cedar colour. Our biggest challenge
was the balcony balustrades - they took 7hrs of hand profiling
and chemical cleaning but look at them now !

More pics to follow once staining is complete ;)

We went from 36 Grit Pad to a final Sand with 80 Grit as
Sikkens recommends. We moisture meter tested and got
a decent reading of 9% during the week of June 14th.

This deck took 19 hrs of belt sanding and
treatment cleaning to get it coating ready ;) We always aim

for a furniture quality finish and this is very possible with

Sikkens SRD. We even replaced a badly splintered board

for 25.00.

Special thanks to Janice for the assist - J & B for the lead
and of course the homeowner Arlene.

Rainy Weather... So We Paint in Shop !

ColorScapes co-leases shop space for cabinet spraying in a

full downdraft booth facility that is MOE approved

and utilizes VOC compliant waterborne coatings processes.

Shop sprayed cabinets look much better than cabinets

painted in a vertical mounted position as it completely

eliminates runs and sags.

Notice we perform final sprayed finishes "on the flat"

both for final dft thickness check and to avoid sags and runs.

We never exceed the recommended film thicknesses so that

the cabinets do not "check" or "mud crack" due to changes

in humidity in your wood cabinetry.

You can completely transform the look of your kitchen

by painting cabinets and be well below refacing costs of

2500.00-30,000 and up !

We think its fantastic that some people can afford

the high prices that Aya and Kraftmaid charge to re-do

cabinetry facing doors but the reality is that most

homeowners would like to retain the cabinetry they

have and just want to change the colour !

Painting cabinetry is 10% of the cost of refacing and

to be honest...it looks better than a factory finished

cabinet that is packed in cardboard and shipped

with dings and scratches.

Great thanks to Kim and Rick Hackney for the small project.

Bel-Air East Oakville Estate Home

Bel-Air Estates - East Oakville

4 room paint project including:

Kitchen Ceilings

Cabinet/Island Repaint

Exterior Stucco Repaint Rear Elevation

RocketFish Wireless Sound System for Pool Deck/Cabana

Unique challenges on this beautiful home in East Oakville - work

took approximately 3 weeks but look at the results !!!

Special thanks to Diana and Tom F.

Rub through glaze-effect on Kitchen Cabinets

and Island using ML Campbell Almond Glaze

and ClearCoat VOC free lacquer for a mar-free

finish.

Total Project Cost: 9860.00

The clients were quoted between 13 and 15K for this

project from two other large painting companies !

- we beat all prices with references for 9860.00 !!

We saved our clients over 3K and gave them a 5 year

warranty on our work.;)

Because we keep our crew size down - we do not

highball price projects and only hire on an as-need

basis per project, this allows Colorscapes price

competitiveness and precise project staging for

on-time completion.

Tribute to My Great Uncle Edgar

Recently lost my great uncle Edgar at 95 yrs young in

North Bay,ON.

Ed was a master carpenter, a project manager with

Bird Construction and oversaw the construction of

York University during the 1960's-early 1970's.

He was a great guy, an RAF veteran from WWII and had

amazing carpentry skills that were way ahead of his time.

He was building custom built in wall to wall cabinetry

before it ever saw a catalogue or order form and even

built ornate pool tables with custom pilasters.!

Rest peacefully Uncle Ed - everyone misses you.