What Do YOU Like or NOT Like About Remodeling or Painting

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

We would like to hear from our web viewers and customers about what you like and don’t like about the remodeling industry. We want to help make remodeling and painting better for you. If you can briefly share some of the frustrations you have had with contractors and some positive experiences, we’d appreciate it. We want to improve our services and point our customers in the right direction for excellent remodeling companies.

Please comment to this blog entry or send us an . Thank you so much, in advance, for sharing!

Chism Brothers: Company Party 2006

Monday, December 18, 2006

We had an excellent turnout at our annual Christmas Party for all of our employees. This year, Phil’s BBQ, catered the ribs and chicken! We updated our company photo as well.

We are very blessed to have our current staff. Our goal has been to build a company that works as a team, and we feel that we are on the right track. We know that we have a great group of people representing our company well and serving our customers with the best possible service. We had a great 2006 painting season, and we look forward to continuing to serve San Diego with painting services that are done professionally and right.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

How to Move Heavy Furniture By Yourself

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

If you hire Chism Brothers Painting to paint your home, we will definitely take care of moving your funiture for you. However, we have found a few tricks that our customers love, and we thought we would pass that information along to you.

If you need to move furniture for any reason during the year, we recommend a product called “EZ Moves.” We have been using them for a number of years now and are pleased with the results. This product will NOT scratch your floors, because it has a teflon coating on the bottom of the movers. The cost is about $20.00 for a set, and it is well worth it. You simply slide one of the EZ Movers under each corner of a heavy piece of furniture and begin to easily push the item where you want it. It is that simple. We found out about it while painting a home in Scripps Ranch a few years back. We were amazed when we found out the mom of the house had moved all the furniture for us with little effort! This clever mom introduced our painters to this amazing product.

To purchase the EZ Moves, please visit their website: EZ Moves They have a number of other fun products as well!

Home Mortgage Accelerator

Monday, December 11, 2006

It appears that the housing market in San Diego has begun to decline in recent months. The average home takes about seven months to sell. Now is the time to stay in your home until the next housing boom. The trend amongst those who do stay in their homes seems to favor doing some upgrades whether it is a full remodel or just painting. If you have questions regarding ideas on how to keep your home looking sharp without spending a lot of money, please .

Recently, the Union-Tribune published an article on how to accelerate your home mortgage. If you are planning on staying put and looking for ways to pay off your mortgage faster, we found a website that may be helpful to you: Mortgage Accelerator

Lamb’s Player Theatre

Friday, December 08, 2006

Beginning January 3rd, 2007, Chism Brothers Painting will be painting Lamb’s Player Theatre in Coronado. In return, we will be receiving advertising spots through the 2007 season. Pat Chism, former Vice-President of Chism Brothers, was a long time supporter of Lamb’s Players, so we plan to partner with them in the future. We look forward to beginning the work at Lamb’s Players as we anticipate the new year! 

Put a Stamp on It!

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Like most companies, we have mailed our invoices with a return envelope and without a return stamp on them. You’ve undoubtedly seen plenty of bills with the helpful informatory, “Please Place Your Stamp Here.” We never even considered putting a stamp on the envelopes as a convenience to our clients. Earlier this year, one of our clients suggested we should consider putting a return stamp on our return envelopes to make it easier to drop in the mail. When was the last time you received your insurance bill with a stamp all ready to go? Ever since our client’s suggestion, we have made it a part of our system to provide a stamp on all our return envelopes! 

We are always open to suggestions on how to improve our services. We hope our clients will enjoy this small convenience of not having to waste another stamp to pay a bill!

Coffee and Christmas Lights

Saturday, December 02, 2006

One of our customers, Mark Fackler from La Jolla, yesterday suggested that we, Chism Brothers, consider hanging Christmas Lights for our clients. He thought it would be a perfect service to offer since we are already up on ladders painting homes. We liked the idea and decided to post it on our blog. We are going to research ways we can advertise for hanging Christmas lights next season, so stay tuned for this new service. Until then, if you would like us to hang your lights, please send us an email or call our office.

We also have been giving Whole Bean Coffee out to our customers as a way of saying “thanks” for your business and referrals. You also will receive coffee just for getting an estimate! If you would like extra coffee for the holidays, (some of the most freshly roasted coffee you can get), please ask us how you can purchase the beans. Simply email our office or go to: www.WearTheBean.com

KPBS on Saturdays

Friday, December 01, 2006

Listen for our ads on KPBS on Saturdays. Chism Brothers Painting has been advertising on KPBS for a while now. We are currently on the Car Talk and Prairie Home Companion time spots. You may also find us on your morning drive during the year on KPBS.

Discounted Material Cost

Thursday, November 30, 2006
Most service companies charge a premium for materials and supplies. One of the questions we hear frequently is, "How much would I save if I purchased the paint myself?" At Chism Brothers Painting, we are striving to be the best in the service industry. We have discovered it is best to not charge extra for materials. Therefore, if you select the Painter For a Day™ program or hire on a Time and Materials basis, you will only pay our discounted material cost. We receive a discounted cost from our paint suppliers for all paint products and sundries, and this is the cost you will pay with Chism Brothers. We pick up the paint as well, so you do not have to worry about a thing. We want you to be completely pleased with the whole painting experience!

La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club: Tennis Tournament

If you enjoy playing or watching tennis, feel free to stop by the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club this week for the USTA's annual fall tournament. It is free and open to the public all of this week. Chism Brothers Painting is a proud sponsor of this year's event for the 4th time.

What Type of Paint Should I Use for Interior Painting?

Monday, November 27, 2006
You have probably heard that a good paint job depends on how well a surface was prepped. This is correct, but selecting the right kind of paint for any painting project is very important as well. Paint products are different than they use to be. Most of the products found on the shelf are better than older products, but you have to know what type of paint to use and how to use it in order for it to be effective. Walls and Ceilings When selecting an interior paint for your walls or ceilings, you need to ask yourself a few questions to determine the proper product. First, do you want a washable and durable paint or a paint that just looks good? Why is this a good question? Because sometimes a paint that is more washable and durable may not look very nice on your walls or ceilings if the area gets a lot of natural light. Paint that has more of a sheen to it tends to make the imperfections on your drywall more noticable. Most ceilings are painted with flat except for kitchens and baths. If the areas get a lot of moisture or grease from cooking, you need to use an enamel (anything but flat). The flat finishes today are washable for a short time and durable. However, if you know you are going to have children or a lot of foot traffic around the painted surfaces, flat is not recommended. Certain accent colors look good with flat as well. Whether you decide to use flat or an enamel on your drywall, we would highly recommend painting with acrylic paints (also called "water based"). It is getting more difficult to paint with oil based paints, due to all the government regulations. An oil base has its place. If you already have oil base on your bathrooms and kitchen, it is typically less expensive to paint with the same product. The downside to using oil is that it tends to yellow. If the area has a lot of natural light, the oil will not yellow as fast. Woodwork Many times, people ask us to put a gloss on the walls or trim when in reality, they just do not want flat. A Gloss from the paint stores is very shiny and does not necessarily look appealing on most surfaces. For woodwork, we would typically recommend using semi-gloss, and in some cases a low-sheen enamel. Because it is getting harder to find oil base products, we recommend switching to a durable water base paint when painting woodwork. The waterborne paints are getting better each year. The problem we found in the past with most water base paints is that they did not dry as hard inside and were less durable than the oils. On the positive side, they do not yellow and the smell is not bad. If you hire us to paint your cabinets, we will test the surfaces and see what existing products were used. Depending on the surface, we can use water, oil or a pre-catalyzed lacquer. The pre-cat. lacquer is the most durable of finishes. To learn more about the right products to use on your home, ask our estimator.

Monthly Safety Meeting: Hand Tool Tips

Monday, November 20, 2006
Monday Morning Meetings We had another great Monday morning all shop meeting. We went over certain types of equipment to use, (i.e. types of masking tape to be used on surfaces) and other quality-related issues. The purpose of our meetings is to discuss how things are going in the field, talk about safety, ask questions, talk about certain products that we as a company feel are good or not so good. We ended with sharing some of the praise reports that our clients have given our employees. We like to let the whole company know what people have to say about us. We are grateful to have some very talented painters. Their quality and professionalism keeps Chism Brothers on top in San Diego among painting contractors. For those of you who enjoy reading, here is the safety talk text we discussed (from the PDCA's "Weekly tool box topics") Hand Tool Tips "Hand tools are probably the most misused type of tools in the painting industry. We always seem to have the opinion that anyone can use them and that no training on proper use is needed. That is about as far from the truth as you can get. Let's cover a few simple but key rules for working with and handling hand tools.

• Always wear personal protective equipment as required. This includes eye and hearing protection.
• Make sure that hand tools are in good repair, and use them only for the purpose for which they are designed.
• Remove tools with mushroomed heads, split or defective handles, or other defects that will weaken them or render them unsafe for use.
• Don't leave tools on scaffolds, ladders, or overhead working spaces when you're not using them.
• Don't throw tools from one location to another, or drop them to lower level.s This could cause great harm to co-workers.
• Be sure that tool handles are sound and smooth, in good condition, and securely fastened to the tool.
• Always examine the handles on tools for nails or other metallic objects which may cause injuries to your hand.
• Never carry sharp edged or pointed tools in your pockets or clothing.
• Use only non-sparking tools in locations where sources of ignition may cause fire or explosion.
• When using razor blades, always discard them properly.

Always use the right tool for the job." You will love working with our whole staff. We strive to be more than just your typical painting company. Our safety meetings make our people more the more alert--on and off the project.

What Is Enamel Paint?

Thursday, November 16, 2006
A lot of homeowners seem to get confused when they use the word "enamel." When doing estimates, we typically hear that a person wants the following, "Gloss, Enamel, High-Gloss, etc." Some also think that "enamel" is considered separate from semi-gloss, gloss, and the like. The best way to describe what enamel means is to think about a person's teeth. The shiny outer layer is a protectant called, "enamel." The enamel can break down causing tooth decay. Enamel is typically a coating that is hard or shiny. When we use the word "enamel" for painting your home, we are referring to any paint product that is not flat or matte. Here is a list of enamels that we typically use in the paint industry: eggshell, low-sheen, semi-gloss, and high gloss. Enamel can range from 5% to 100% shine on the top coating. So when you hear a painter say that we will use an "eggshell enamel" that is different than using a flat finish or gloss. Typically enamels are easier to clean because they dry with a shine. If you have children, it is best to have a very low-sheen enamel on the walls. For more information about what is the best type of paint to use on your home, please contact our office!

Another Happy Customer

Tuesday, November 14, 2006
We have just posted our latest testimony of one of our happy clients in La Jolla. Please read what she and others had to say on our testimonial page. Mrs. Wilson was a new client but was referred by her son and daughter who are both customers of Chism Brothers Painting. We have worked for all three family members this year.

How a Primer or Sealer Can Benefit Your Home

Monday, November 13, 2006

A question that we are frequently asked is, "Are you going to use a primer?" We thought it would be useful to explain briefly why primers and sealers are and should be used.

The Paint Quality Institute recently published an article that describes the use of Primers and Sealers. Here is a portion of the article below:

"Primers perform several valuable functions. They help the topcoat adhere better to the surface that’s being painted. They do this by making the surface more uniform and accepting for the top coat, so that when the paint is applied, it can get a better “grip” than it would on a bare surface. In addition, primers help give the finished paint job a more uniform appearance in terms of color and sheen, thereby making it more attractive. This is especially true when the surface being painted is porous or uneven. Finally, some primers help prevent stains from coming through the paint from the surface below.

While primers are generally pigmented, sealers are not. The role of a sealer is to seal a porous surface like weathered concrete or stucco so that a finish coat can develop a uniform sheen or gloss. Sealers also help protect the finish coat on masonry from efflorescence which is a white, salt-like residue and to help seal out moisture.

No matter what your painting project this fall might be, remember to use a primer or sealer in these circumstances:

1. When painting new wood or any other surface that has never been painted before.
2. When repainting a surface that is uneven or badly deteriorated.
3. When repainting a surface that has been stripped or is worn down to the original surface material." (View Complete Article)

You can rely on Chism Brothers Painting to ALWAYS prepare the surfaces properly before applying finish coats. Our painters are trained to know the value of proper primers and sealers and when they should be used. We keep up on the latest products so we will only use the best on your home. For more information about how we prepare surfaces for paint, please email us

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