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hey habitat - from you


From Habitat magazine - issue 03

Questions and answers

From you…

From Sylvia: When we moved to our present home, it had a large spare room that opened onto the back garden. I so desired to do something creative somewhere and the spare room seemed like a safe option. The walls are part wallpaper, part pine boards. I used Resene Ayers Rock paint effects on the paper and Resene testpots. Now I have a great view no matter what the weather.


From Lynn: Just a point of interest. I painted an old faded leather lounge suite with diluted Resene Lumbersider – three coats. Now looks like a new one (almost!). Very impressed with the product. Painted nine months ago and no problems so far.


From Eric: My friend cautioned me to paint on the shady side of the house, following the sun around. Acrylic paints dry out fast in direct sunshine. What a breeze painting was after that advice.

A comment: top grade Resene paint can be dearer than the competition, but the quality and thickness of the resulting paint job more than makes up for the difference in price. I thought later, I know why that paint is so damn good. It started in Wellington – if it was not so good, that paint would be blown off those houses out to sea by the very strong gales Wellington suffers (just joking of course!!).


From Colin and Sue: I have found a new use for Resene Interior Paintwork Cleaner concentrate: cleaning shower linings and glass doors. A handy hint.


From Richard: Just a quick note to pass on: I have been trialing – and it has been very successful – using Resene Gelled Epoxy, with rapid set concrete and a little moisture, to fill holes in concrete. It works a treat. It dries after two days and is very, very solid.


From Lois: I have so enjoyed your excellent magazine. Thank you for sending it.

I’ve just read your Q&A section and wish to offer a solution to the problem of masking tape sticking to and lifting paint. I am a professional artist and frequently use masking tape in a variety of ways on my work. I have found I can avoid disaster by using a warm hairdryer, blowing on the section I want to remove. As I pull the tape clear, I move the dryer to the next part. It removes very easily and leaves no mark of any kind. I even use this on watercolour paper without removing the surface of the paper. Prior to this discovery, I had many disastrous happenings that were so frustrating, not to mention devastating!


From Christopher: We had a purpose-built home theatre included in our new home (all painted with Resene of course!) and ordered a large audio-visual screen to be mounted on the viewing wall in order to enhance the picture quality from a top-of-the-line projector. To cut a long story short, the potential supplier let us down more than once, so we looked for an alternative.

Another visiting AV specialist recommended painting a screen on the wall. The paint colour recommended was silver, apparently giving a higher gain than white.

We were told that screen paint was available, but was expensive. Unfortunately (or fortunately, as it turned out), we could not track any down. So, we went into the local Resene ColorShop and came out with a pot of Resene Hi-Glo Aluminium roofing paint. The test area painted on the wall produced a perfect picture, so the whole wall was painted, giving us a five-metre-wide screen for the cost of a tin of paint. Friends think the picture results are as good as a commercial cinema and one has already used the same idea for his new home theatre.

Just a tip, though: it’s better to spray the paint on, as brushing/ rolling tends to leave lines that show up slightly in the projected picture. Silver walls also look good in a modern setting and you don’t end up with an unsightly screen or even more expensive manual or electric pull-down hidden one.


Questions and answers

Q. We are planning to build a new home, but we have been told that if we select certain building materials, we need to check the reflectance value of the colour of paint we want to use to ensure it meets the requirement. Can you tell me what a reflectance value is and how we find out this information for the colours we are considering?

A. The reflectance value of a colour tells you the amount of light and heat it reflects. Black is generally close to 0%, with little or no light and heat reflected, and white is generally close to 100%, with most light and heat reflected. All other colours fall between these two. The darker the colour, the less it reflects and therefore the lower its reflectance value. Some substrates require a minimum reflectance value of 40%, which means that you need to select a colour with a reflectance value higher than this. The approximate reflectance values of Resene colours are listed on the back of colour charts and are also available in the online swatch library. Clear finishes and stains, such as Resene Woodsman, don’t have reflectance values. This is because they allow light and heat to pass through to the substrate, which then either absorbs the light and heat, or reflects all or some of it.

 

Q. We were planning on painting our roof in Resene Karaka, but have been told that very dark coatings on roofs can make them very hot and make it harder to keep the house cool. Is this true and is there anything we can do to minimise this?

A. Dark coatings do absorb more heat and light than lighter coloured coatings. However, last year, Resene developed new Cool Colours. These perform very differently to normal colours. The colour looks the same, but instead of absorbing all the heat and light you would expect it to, it actually reflects much of it. This keeps even dark colours very cool. If you are planning a dark colour on your roof, we recommend using a colour from the Resene Cool Colour range. See the Resene Hi-Glo chart for options.

 

Q. I was hoping to paint a clear finish over my new uncoated deck, but have been told that this isn’t recommended. Why is that?

A. Clear finishes do not protect the substrate from the damaging effects of the sun. If you apply a clear finish over a wooden deck, all the heat and light from the sun will travel through it and damage the wood. If you want to keep the timber look, then select a wood stain, such as Resene Woodsman or Resene Kwila Timber Stain, that has a colour similar to your deck. The pigmentation in the stain will help to reduce the damage to the substrate. Stains do need to be reapplied regularly – about every two summers. If you are happy to go with a solid colour finish, try Resene Non-Skid Deck and Path. This will give you a comfortable non-slip finish and will protect the substrate against the sun.

Mail us at: Hey Habitat, Resene Habitat Magazine, PO Box 38242, Wellington Mail Centre, New Zealand or email with Hey, Habitat in the subject line.

Have you moved? Let us know your old address and your new one, and we’ll make sure you keep receiving Habitat.


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Colours shown on this website are a representation only. Please refer to the actual paint or product sample. Resene colour charts, testpots and samples are available for ordering online.   See measurements/conversions for more details on how electronic colour values are achieved.

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