Ep 4: The Painting Pre-Game Show | Painting 103 | How to Properly Prep for Your Paint Job
Welcome to Episode 4 of the How-To Handyman Podcast!
This week, we are talking about two very different (but equally important) things:
Our Handy Pets: Specifically, a dramatic rabbit named Satchmo and a cat named Max who loves tile spacers.
Game Day (aka Painting Day): Why prep work is boring but essential, and the secret tool that saves you from needing a $300 ladder.
Meet the "Handy Pets"
Before we dive into painting, we have to introduce the official mascot of My Handyman: Satchmo the Rabbit. Arly’s bunny isn't just any rabbit; he has "Grinch feet," perfectly round kitten paws, and ears that act like antennas. He also thinks Arly’s 6'4" boyfriend Jace is a giant fruit tree.
Nearly all of our clients have pets, and honestly? It’s the best part of the job. Whether it’s rescue pit bulls giving aggressive kisses or a curious cat trying to dip his tail in mortar, "Handy Pets" make the work day better.
It's Game Day: Your Ultimate Paint Prep Guide
Arly dropped some major knowledge this week on why painting is 90% prep and 10% actual painting. If you skip the prep, you get... salsa walls. (Yes, Samantha once found a painted-over chunk of salsa on a client’s wall. Don't be that person.)
Step 1: Clean Your Walls You might not see the dust, dog hair, or spiderwebs, but your paint will. Give your walls a quick wipe-down with a Swiffer or a damp rag before you start.
Step 2: The "Roller Trick" (No More Fuzz!) Brand new paint rollers are covered in loose fuzz (floof). If you paint with them straight out of the package, that floof ends up on your wall.
The Hack: Wrap your new roller in painter's tape and rip it off. It acts like a lint roller, pulling off all the loose fibers before they ruin your smooth finish.
Step 3: Prime Your Patches If you filled any holes with spackle, you must prime those spots before painting. If you don't, the paint will soak into the porous spackle and look duller than the rest of the wall (this is called "flashing").
Pro-Tip: If you close your eyes and run your hand over the patch and can't feel it, it’s ready to prime.
The Secret Weapon: Shellac Primer
Not all primers are created equal. If you are dealing with stubborn stains, smells, or weird surfaces, you need Shellac-Based Primer.
Best for: Covering water stains, sealing in smells (like smoke or pet odors), covering wood knots so sap doesn't bleed through, and painting over wallpaper glue residue.
Warning: It smells terrible (like "rancid vodka"). Use ventilation!
Team "No Tape" vs. Team Tape
This might be controversial, but at My Handyman, we generally do not use painter’s tape for cutting in lines. Why? Because tape lies. Paint almost always bleeds under the edge. By the time you peel it off, the paint is dry and messy.
Instead, try this:
Use an angled brush.
Get a step stool so the ceiling line is at eye level (it’s much harder to control a brush when you are reaching above your head).
Keep a damp rag handy to wipe off mistakes immediately while the paint is wet.
The "Paint on a Stick" Trick
Do you have a high stairwell or a vaulted ceiling that you can't reach? Don't rent scaffolding. Don't buy a massive ladder. Tape your paintbrush to an extension pole. It sounds silly, but it works.
Tape the handle of your angled brush to a roller extension pole.
Have a friend help you load the brush with paint.
Slowly and carefully cut in those high corners from the safety of the floor.
Links & Resources Mentioned
Community: Join the How to Handyma’am Facebook Group to ask questions and post your project pics!
Products We Love: Find the tools mentioned in this episode at our storefront:
Connect with Us!
Socials: @howtohandymaam
Credits
Host -Samantha Pearl
Host- Arly Streed
Host - Emily Pearl Reist
Editing and Music by Thomas Streed
Transcript
0:00
Hi.
Welcome to How to Handyman, the podcast where we do not paint over salsa.
In this episode we talk about pets, pets, pets, pets, pets, pets, pets and also what to do on game day, also known as the day you paint.
0:18
Yes.
So I'm Samantha.
I'm Emily and I'm Riley.
And we run a construction business called My Handy Ma'am, where we do all kinds of super cool things and we've learned everything the hardest possible way so you don't have to.
0:34
This episode is dedicated.
So we like to dedicate our episodes to the phenomenal females in our lives.
This episode is dedicated to Sue T, who is the matriarch of this business.
So when we like stumbled, tumbled into the business, we didn't even know we were creating a business.
0:49
Sue was our first customer and then she told every female she knew about us, all of her friends, and then a couple of her friends told all of their friends.
So when we look at like the family tree of the business, it pretty much all leads back to Sue.
So we dedicate this episode to Sue, who is a wonderful example of women supporting women and one of our favorite.
1:10
Friends, hype up the women in your life.
Yeah, it can be life changing and it's been life changing for us.
Yeah, the women in your life should be your pit crew and your cheerleaders.
That's how we look at it.
Yep.
Thank you, Suti.
Arlie has never talked about her little beautiful Sachin bow.
1:32
Oh my God.
And I think you should, guys.
We should.
You're watching the video.
I was in our first episode or one of the episodes.
He's amazing.
OK, I have a small Bunny named Satchmo, OK.
1:49
And no, he is not named after Louis Armstrong.
If you were wondering, he's named after a dog that was named after Louis Armstrong.
So it's he is but it's like second cousin or move but like second name but.
When I was young, I watched the show called White Collar.
2:05
And this woman who was like a jazz fan named her dog Satchmal.
And I was like, this is the best name ever.
I'm gonna name my dog that one day.
And I don't have a dog, I have a rabbit.
And I named him Satchmal.
And then later on I learned that that dog's name was.
2:26
Named after Tide and Louis Armstrong.
They used to call him satchel mouth.
Yeah, because of like the way that he played.
But trumpet.
Yeah, Yeah.
But he, they shortened it to Satchmo.
2:41
Yeah.
And now I call my little nugget that.
But he's the best.
He's like a Holland lop.
And if you know buddies, he is one of the floppy eared ones.
But he the, I guess there's cartilage in between the ears that kind of hold them together.
2:58
And the tighter their cartilages, the more upright they are.
And Satchmo has like tight cartilage, but he's a lot eared Bunny so he can only really have one ear down at a time.
So the other one up, yeah.
3:15
So they're.
Either like what I call like half mass so they're like sticking off the side of his head, or he has.
Like an airplane.
Yeah, yeah.
And or he has like 1 down symmetrical hair.
Yes, yes, One down, one up.
And it's just, he's just the best.
3:32
It does like so for cats, if they go into airplane mode where their ears are like, flat, they're pissed.
Like, you don't want to mess with that cat.
Is that like do bunnies?
No, he OK, so sometimes when he's like tucked away and he has this like little tower thing that he likes, she's like so casually, but.
3:57
Isn't it the?
Castle you built?
Yes, I built him.
It's a wooden little castle.
It's so beautiful.
And so cool.
And she like routed all the edges.
Yeah, they're like smooth.
It's.
Like the Rook in chess.
Yeah, it looks like it does.
Yeah, But he like, sits on this little thing and when he gets really cozy, he kind of mushes down and his ears go back.
4:18
But then sometimes.
Aerodynamic.
Sometimes times he'll like flap on his back very dramatically.
I have to say it's.
A very dramatic Bunny he is.
Possible.
You know how dogs kind of like, find sometimes they circle around a little bit before they rump down?
4:36
Yeah, well, he goes and then he goes and he just flips onto his back like with like.
Some gumption.
There is very much gusto.
There's a lot of action in it.
And then his ears kind of just land in whatever direction they fall in.
4:55
And then if he's laying there peacefully, his ears will be like dumbos, you know, kind of half.
And then if he's like, what is that?
Who that what that noise he like has them both up or one up very intense.
5:10
Moving them around like an antenna.
Kind of they do kind of like move a little bit and rotate and then Oh my gosh, my favorite thing is when he does this little periscoping thing, he gets on his back little feet and then his hands are like like he has the front paws are like kitten paws basically.
5:29
I know they are.
They're very kitten like and they're so perfectly round.
His back feet are Grinch feet like they.
Literally like you know how the so the green chest literally like hair.
Coming out like between his toes.
That's what his feet look like, but his hands are pristinely this little little baby paws, so he sticks them up right next to his chest and he's like and he like looks around like periscoping and he's like, what's going on?
5:59
What you doing?
What you got going on?
He does it especially when so my boyfriend's name is Jace and Jace is allergic to the Bunny, which we didn't find out until after I had gotten.
Feel like you maybe should have known that because Jace is allergic to many things.
Yes, but the Internet said that if you're allergic to cats, the odds of you being allergic to bunnies also are is really, really low.
6:22
So we thought it would be special.
He is there, he's on jerk.
He appreciates that everything on this planet, but he always pays the Bunny tax when he eats like a fruit or a vegetable.
So like apple tax, Bunny banana tax.
6:39
And so I think he thinks that Jace is like this giant fruit tree.
Jace, by the way, is 6 foot 4.
And so whenever.
Jace like kind of stands outside and around Seth MO he gets on his back legs and he's like you got anything?
6:56
You got anything over here?
And he just like follows him around.
He really like.
Likes the only interaction with Jace is getting fed.
Yes, things he really likes.
Yeah, so that's my Satchmo.
He's the best.
If you're thinking about getting a rabbit, think very hard because they are just as difficult as every other plant or any other plant, any other animal.
7:20
I literally got a hydroponic 2 hydroponic like counter.
Grower.
Grower things because he eats so many vegetables that I was like, I'm gonna save so much money and I spend like $200 on like the hydroponic growing system they are.
7:39
But it makes me happy and it's getting kind of like cold outside and stuff.
And and now that my outside garden is dwindling and sad and depressing, my indoor garden is now keeping me happy and giving me a little bit of dopamine.
So that's my Satchmo.
7:55
He's the best.
And he's just a little nugget.
He's just a baby.
How?
They're the official beer sponsor of the NFL.
He's the official Bunny sponsor of my handyman.
Yes, he is.
He loves the shop.
He loves, he does.
8:11
Which is funny because Emily and I both have a golden retriever and our last golden retriever, Gracie, loved to come to the shop.
Yeah, she just.
Chill in a pile of sawdust, like get into stuff she shouldn't like we had to keep an eye on her, but she just liked to be there.
She just find a place to lay down and hang out.
8:27
But Winnie and my dog, Winnie and Emilyn dog Lemon, they like have anxiety when they come to the shop.
I think it maybe they can't because they can't see outside.
I don't know are.
Shops.
In a basement, yeah, yeah.
So maybe it's because they can't see outside.
I don't know but.
And it turns out dogs don't care about sunlight lamps.
8:46
I got myself a sunlight lamp.
From working in a basement I was like I need.
This need to see the out.
And one time I was so frustrated with Lemon.
I was like, look, it's sunlight.
And I think she was like.
She's like, that is not sunlight.
She's like, that's a bright light that you're pointing at me.
That ain't sunlight.
9:02
You were talking about how Satchmo like settles down.
It was reminding me my dog fights demons apparently all the time when she's settling down.
You know, like dogs will like gently this.
Story this like.
Gently be like scrape, scrape, scrape and then circle and lay down my dog.
9:23
Acts like she's ridiculous.
Digging to the core of the earth and it's like.
I have seen her do that.
Before and she does it and it's like really intense.
She gets groomed like her nails aren't that long.
But one time we had a dog sitter who Godspeed to her.
9:40
She watched both of them at once and.
We paid her really well.
Apparently women was getting comfy in the bed next to her.
Yeah, I go to do the laundry after she leaves.
I'm like, what the hell happened?
There are, like Wolverine slits in the comforter, the top sheet, the fitted sheet.
10:01
It's just sliced ribbons like Freddy Krueger came to visit.
Luckily, Lucas and I bought a couch like several years ago.
I don't know how my husband it's.
Like a really beautiful rust orange.
I didn't bunch of research on it, but it was very cheap.
It was like $700.
It has to ride Blum in doing that.
10:17
I don't.
My gosh, honestly, Wayfair, thank you 'cause like.
So we kind of our part of our identity is like our love of animals, all three of us.
Love when our clients have animals.
Yeah, so Arlie has a Bunny and Emily has a dog and I have a dog, but we get.
10:34
To can't do patches eraser.
Sorry, Emily also has a cat.
Yeah, that's your grandkid.
I I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
My cat is catches.
She's a long haired calico.
She also has Grinch feet and she is 17, which means she gets whatever she wants.
10:52
I love the way she gets whatever she wants.
She has a sling that I put her in and I walk.
Around like a baby Bjorn.
We'll just leave that topic right there.
She is.
Customers, nearly all of our customers have pets, which is phenomenal for everybody but Jace.
11:11
Jace reacts with us.
Decide.
Where to send him where he will not die I'm.
Like it's a small dog, can you handle that?
And he's like.
He told me he was like, he was like, can you not bring satchel to the shop today?
Because like, you know, if we need to talk for a while or whatever, he has a lot of questions.
11:31
He's like I'm going to be.
In there too long and I'm going to die because you guys have a bunch of air purifiers.
Yeah, we have air purifiers and where like Jace hangs out.
Satchmond wasn't allowed and he's like not allowed on our bed and stuff like that.
So and then Jace takes like his allergy medicine.
11:47
But this is also the season where he gets bloody nose, so he has to blow his nose a lot from allergies.
It's really bad.
Like the other night he was, I like had like 20 bloody noses all night long.
I was just waking up and like bleeding all over.
Myself, well Jace can't enjoy our customers animals, but we very much enjoy our detail.
12:07
We call them handy pets.
They're they just add like such an additional element to the story.
Do you remember when we were working in Marshall?
So we worked for a customer in Marshall who was also a friend.
And Marshall, sorry, is a small city, like it was a long drive.
12:24
We did it 'cause she was a friend.
It was like an hour away.
But we were.
Yes, we're doing a couple of decks there and she has two rescue pit bulls and these dogs are like.
Nixon and Priya they.
Love you so much.
We've never had dogs be like so aggressively affectionate to the point where I was like, even for us, we're like, I'd like dry ears, please.
12:48
They would be like, we were trying to build something that would be like the, you know, the face right in your face.
And then you feel like wetness on the back of your neck.
And then it's just like.
All the kisses.
We love it.
We love it, Yeah.
It's such a wonderful part of, like, being invited into people's homes is getting to, yeah, like be part of their I.
13:07
Do all our estimating so people should be jealous because I get to see you meet.
All.
The pets I think this so Mondays I do estimates and I do anywhere 8 to 9 in a day.
I saw 10 cats this week and four dogs.
13:23
That's amazing.
And they were all so sweet.
I know I said I have a cat.
I'm allergic to cats so I do keep antihistamine in the car but it's such a joy and it's like such an easy way to connect with customers.
Too, because they're like.
Or they'll be like, I'm sorry my dog jumped on you and I'm like, I would love it to continue.
13:41
Or they're like, I'll make sure my dog doesn't bother you.
And I'm like no.
Please.
We'd like the dog to bother us.
Yeah.
Speaking of animals bothering us, well, we're trying to work.
I don't know if I've mentioned him before but Max like probably the most.
13:57
He's my favorite customer cat so far.
He he might be mine too.
He's just like.
Mischievous, he is so snuggly.
Stinky.
And he's stinky.
No, not stinky.
He's like a stinker.
Oh, stinker.
Yeah, he's like, I was like such a stinker.
14:14
Fart in the room.
He's this black cat with like little white mittens and like a little like white on him.
And we're tiling a completely black and white a bathroom.
And so he fits right in.
But he really just wanted to like play with us and stuff.
14:32
And he was like play with the tile spacers and he would come in and just kind of like find a place and just lay down and then he'd look at us.
And then, but eventually we started realizing that we couldn't have him inside of the bathroom with us.
14:47
Licking in the mortar, he.
Kept licking his tail and it would hit the side of the mortar bucket and get mortar all over his tail and good thing he didn't seem to mind when I like started dunking his tail into the the water.
I was like, I was like, Oh my gosh.
Laurie's come and she'd be like, what are you doing?
15:04
And how I was like drowned my cat.
We had a small accident here, but Max is so great and so sweet and yeah, it's adorable.
But all, all pets are amazing.
We love them all.
But this is the part of the podcast where Arleigh has to pee.
So yeah, we'll be right back nowadays.
15:22
OK.
This is how we do with baby.
All right, we're back from pee Break now.
What is a DJ's favorite type of sauce?
Marinara, that's really good.
15:39
Thank.
You Why did the chicken cross the road?
We are getting so awkward.
Because.
Thank you, already done that one in the podcast but.
But not in a video, no.
OK, OK, so we're back from P break and we missed something.
Well, we ran out of time in the last episode.
15:56
We wanted to tell you about rollers, so we're going to start with that and then Arlie's going to tell us it's painting day.
What are we going to do?
What?
Are we going to do?
What are we going to do?
OK, Rollers.
Practically, don't wreck it.
Did you just make that up?
Yeah, crap it or rack it.
16:14
OK, I don't think I'm going to be.
I'm sorry.
I'm sitting on the I'm not going to be able to get like music out of my brain.
You're.
Going to sing the roller part.
I'm singing the roller part.
We need to make a hot.
Don't do that.
16:31
I will not sing.
We'll stop singing.
We'll stop singing.
I promise.
I promise.
OK.
You're not singing.
OK, rollers.
Rollers are tubes.
16:47
Like paper towel tubes with floof on them.
They're floofy.
You can we're gonna tell you how to make them at home.
No, I'm just kidding.
We're not doing that.
Can you?
Imagine if you're like my dog ripped apart a toy.
I have a paper towel roll.
I'm gonna just glue it on.
Yeah, I'm gonna.
End up with I'm still got my toy.
17:03
Hair.
Yeah, but then I like get bits in the wall.
Yeah, we're gonna talk about bits and bobbins, right?
A little bit, yeah.
All right.
Chunky, chunky nuggies.
Yeah.
OK, how many?
Not the good kind.
The roller covers are basically the things that you have to know about them is there's a bunch of different kinds, but I would use the most common time kind, which is like the nappy kind, which is the floofy kind.
17:32
It's got floof in it and the floof the amount of floof on it is.
How many flutes do you do you have to harm?
In the making of a roller.
All of the flues, no, no.
17:48
So if you have like a smooth surface like metal or something like like cabinets or something like that, you use.
Almost no texture.
Like slippery, smooth, very.
A little floof which is like.
18:06
Quarter inch nap.
Yeah, 1/4 inch nap.
If you have like walls that have slight texture to them, you use something like 3/8.
Yeah, that's, that's pretty common, yeah.
If you have a ceiling that has like some like a medium amount of texture to it, you use like 3/4 to maybe an inch.
18:26
We're getting crazy.
Concrete wall.
Well, the three quarters is more common for the ceilings and then concrete is where you get into like inch or inch and a quarter, whatever.
Those are real.
Yeah, the most common sizes that you're going to find are the 3/8, Yeah.
18:44
And then depending on where you're going, they they have like 3/8 and 1/4 or 3/8 and you know, 3/4 or sometimes they have all of.
Them to go to Sherwin-Williams you can get every single kind there is.
Yes, and we typically do the 9 inch rollers, Emily likes the 18 inch rollers.
19:02
But if the rolling is the fastest part, so even if you do it with an 18 inch roller and you make the fastest part faster, still not that much, Yeah.
Plus the equipment for the 18 inch rollers is more expensive and less readily available.
19:20
Yeah, I will fight Emily on this one.
I just by the 18 inch roller, but this just tells you to each their own.
Yeah, and Emily's wrong, but moving.
Obviously if if you're me, you just work with somebody who likes rolling, because I hate rolling and I would much rather.
Cut it.
19:35
I would so I.
Don't love cutting in because of my hand is like cream.
For me, cutting in is like such a Zen experience.
It is the only time in my life I can think of where my brain is completely shut off.
Yeah, like there is peaceful.
I don't even like, I always prefer to have something in my ear, but I don't really need anything playing.
19:54
Wow, that's impressive.
I know.
At all points in time I need something in my ears.
Yeah, but I'll cut in a whole room and be like, hmm, I should listen to something.
And I just keep cutting.
And then I just keep it.
I my brain, it does nothing.
Not a thing anyway.
So it's like, damn mind, yeah.
20:11
It's like, never mind.
Yeah, it's like never.
I was going to say something rude.
So moving on.
Not rude to you, just rude in general.
Just rude in general.
Then this is the actual topic of this week's podcast, which is.
We weren't going to talk about the taping the roller.
20:29
Can't miss that Bestest trick ever and the Nuggets and.
Then we can move on, but this is important.
To talk about the wall nugs and then how to avoid them.
OK, I thought we were talking about different wall nugs so.
Oh yeah, this is your roller trick.
So no matter how good your roller is, there's a chance it will leave some floof behind.
20:48
Even though the Purdy policy is no floof left behind, it will still leave.
Some floof behind the package.
That is no floof left behind, it will still leave some floof behind.
So the there's a simple trick that you can do and that is to put your roller cover on your roller arm and then you wrap the entire roller cover in painters tape.
21:10
So you just wrap it up and then it looks very.
Mummy.
Then it's very fun.
You just hold the roller arm and you just pull the tape and it just spins and spins and spins.
But if you look at the tape afterwards, you'll see all those floofs that would have been left on your wall or on the painters.
Tape.
It's kind of like lint.
Yes, very.
That's better than Nuggets.
21:26
This episode is sponsored by the word floof, Floof, floof, floof.
Floof around and find out, yeah.
That's every episode's tagline is Yeah, some.
Some.
They're all just need that everyone.
Like in Friends when it was the one with Yeah.
21:43
The one where they whatever, I guess.
Hi, Jack.
Podcast will now be turned back over to Arlene.
Yes, sorry about that.
Thank.
You get the people needed to get.
In your own lane, OK.
OK, OK, I can't stay in my lane, but I'll go there.
I'll attempt just.
21:59
Return there for a moment.
OK, we are talking about the most important part of paint and painting and the least it's.
Unfortunate news, but.
It's 1, yes.
And that is?
22:14
Prep.
Oh yeah.
There's actually so many things that you need to do before you can even open a paint can, and we talked about those things a little bit before picking a brush, picking a roller cover.
Type of paint.
22:30
Typing, paint your sheets, whatever, all these things and those are great like before things to think about, but these are things that you actually have to do.
So the first one I have on here is washing your walls and Samantha has a very interesting story about these.
But basically, given your walls a good either brush down or wipe down, like you could probably put like a Swiffer on the wall and just get everything down because you don't want chunkies and you don't want spider webs.
22:58
In your paint.
And your paint surprisingly stick out a lot.
They do paint.
Them.
Yeah, they really do.
They.
Disintegrate.
There's lots of things in the wall that you don't necessarily see until.
You will see it once it's painted.
Yeah, human hair and.
23:14
Talking about dog hair is good.
If you are painting your room, you might not have dog hair on your walls, but you probably have it on your floor, which means it's going to get on your clothes.
And then when you stand up onto the ladder, it's going to get on your walls.
And then it's going to maybe give it a quick.
So do a little vacuum, get a little like a little Dustin or something on the top of your baseboards.
23:32
Wipe down your walls a little bit.
Go ahead.
So if you do those things, you will probably have and we'll get more instructions.
But the craziest thing that has ever happened to me when I was still doing estimates before Emily pretty much took that over, I went to this house and she was asking me to paint.
23:51
And she's like, well, I had the painting done, but or I think they did the painting themselves.
She's like, we did the painting ourselves, but we're not real great at it, so we'd like you to do it.
So I'm like, OK, I'm looking around.
I'm measuring her kitchen and there is what must have been half a jar of salsa chunky on the wall, painted over.
24:14
I was just know what was salsa specifically, she said.
It was.
Salsa.
Yeah, she said it.
I was like, oh, and she was like, Oh yeah, we, we got some paint on that like got.
Some paint.
It was like mummified into the wall.
So I I would recommend also if you have any major food products on your walls that you take that off 1st.
24:33
Yeah, in the kitchen, you actually might own a prep with a degreaser.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, depending on how used your kitchen is, like my kitchen spotless, you could do anything.
That's because you don't cook.
That's because I don't.
Use my kitchen.
I was gonna say wow, yeah.
So but if you use your kitchen, you know a little bit of.
24:51
Degreaser Pretty gross a.
Little bit of elbow grease.
It's this is something that goes, you know, it's very simple, super cheap.
All you need is a broom and maybe like a cloth and a bucket.
But it, it will 100% change the way that your paint looks.
25:07
And it's hard to fix problems that already exist under paint, but it is really easy to just avoid adding new problems, which is adding chunks or hair, hair and salsa.
OK, the next thing is wall repair.
25:24
So you're going to want to take all your stuff probably out of the room or at least in the center of the room.
And then you take all your stuff off the walls and.
Everything.
All your pictures, The switch plate covers everything, Yeah.
Even things that like say you want to hang it back up, take it down and you can like I wouldn't leave the screws or the nails in or whatever all.
25:46
Those are so hard to roll.
Over.
But you can leave the hole, right?
Yeah.
I would leave the hole and just take the the screw or the nail or the bracket or whatever it is off and leave the hole.
That way you you have it exactly where it's supposed to go.
You don't have to redo it later.
26:02
Yeah, But if it's a small hole, like 1/4 of an inch or less, you can use spackle, which is like the pink lid stuff.
And if it's bigger than that or even super, super shallow like paint tape, Oh yeah, that has like peeled off like peelies.
26:21
That and anything bigger than anything bigger than 1/4 inch really needs to be joint compound and I'd recommend using also.
Known as drywall mud.
Yeah, drywall.
Mud.
I'd recommend using either the dark blue lid or the green lid.
26:40
Is the dark blue lid the dust control dark?
Blue has a regular joint compound and then a dust control one.
The dust control is dark blue and it says dust control and a point to point this out very quickly.
26:56
Dust control is the type of joint compound or drywall mud that the only reason it's dust control is not because it sands and there's less dust.
It's because you're supposed to sand it with something wet.
27:12
You're supposed to do wet sanding.
So if you sand it dry like you do any other kind of joint compound, it will not be any less dusty.
It it it won't it'll be the same amount of dustiness.
I.
Like that one though, because if you don't do a lot of mudding, it comes in like a container that's maybe like half a gallon.
27:32
Like it's kind of this.
It's like a little.
Bread loaf pan.
Yeah.
And then sometimes it even comes with a knife.
Oh yeah.
I've seen those.
So that's that's a good one, yeah.
Then you already have the knife.
It's based.
It's in a mud pan shape, yeah, so you don't have to.
27:49
Buy all that extra stuff.
Yeah, they also have small like quart sized ones and you can, I mean if you're desperate, you can just take your finger and might take a little bit longer.
DRY or whatever.
Now you can really use anything for that, but basically you scoop it out, you put a chunk on, you smoosh it in the hole, and then you swipe it away with something flat and kind of a like sturdy.
28:15
So a putty knife or I don't know, a drywall.
Taping knife if you have one, yeah.
You could use, I don't know, probably a bunch of different things.
I mean if you really just before.
You could use like a gift card, yeah.
You could use a gift card.
You could use anything.
The important part is to scrape away the extra cuz anything you don't scrape away you have to sand away.
28:33
Yeah, that's kind of sucks.
Ask us how we know.
Yeah, so after that you just sand sanded away after it's dried and then you're basically ready go big wall damage we can go into later, but when we.
28:50
Do the drywall repair episode, Yeah.
Anything between like 1/4 inch and maybe like, I don't know, a nickel?
I'd say like half an inch.
Yeah, like half an inch I.
29:07
Would think like maybe 1/4?
Like you could do without any other products, you can do with just joint.
Tape or a patch?
Yeah, you don't.
You just would.
Probably have to do do it twice.
Yeah, when it will dry and it will sink in a little bit.
Yeah, mud works by evaporating.
29:25
At least the pre mixed stuff works by evaporating.
So when you put like a whole bunch in, it evaporates and it shrinks.
And then there's usually like a little dimple on the inside of it and you have to fill that in or cracks, which is not.
Yeah, sometimes it's cracks if you use a lot, but then just a little bit of sanding.
29:46
And you can do that with a sanding block piece of sandpaper or, you know, an orbital Sander or a wet microfiber if you have one.
And that works.
And then you get some priming, priming, priming, prime.
Yes, primer patches, primer patches.
30:02
I'm.
Sure, Arlie will tell us why, but prime those patches, yeah?
So we have two different kinds of primer.
There's water based primer and oil based primer, also known as shellac primer.
And this is actually pretty important to know.
So if you have just a regular run-of-the-mill drywall repair and you need to paint it, you need to do primer first and any kind of primer it doesn't even matter because basically I didn't realize how different primer was, but primer has a higher resin like compound in it then regular paints.
30:42
So it kind of gets sucked into all the pores and drywall mud is very porous and it gets sucked into all those pores and then it fills them and it.
Like.
Seals them so your paint lays on the surface of it like it's supposed to instead of being like sucked in.
31:00
And if you miss a patch and you didn't prime it, you'll be able to see it right away because the paint will be a different color than the rest of the paint.
It will kind of look like maybe a shade darker or something like that.
It's.
Flashing because it's it's a different Sheen, yeah.
31:18
So.
You'd like even if you sanded really well and you close your eyes and run your like hands over your patch and you can't feel it, if you don't prime it, you'll still be able to see it.
Which would really be a bummer because if you went through all the effort of like, really doing a.
Nice patch.
31:34
I love that tip that the best patches are if you close your eyes and your fingers over it and you can't feel it.
Yep.
Yeah.
But using primer is important because you use less coats of paint.
And primer is expensive, but it's you can use a whole big bucket for a lot of areas that would need like twice or three times as much paint.
31:57
And so it's great just to do that, get it out of the way.
And then you have a one stop shop.
After that you just are painting with one color.
You don't have to introduce anything else.
You don't have to keep going over the same spot getting frustrated, but you need you can just.
Less prime.
Just the patch, right?
32:13
You don't have to prime the whole wall, no.
No, no.
Unless you have like bare drywall or you know a lot of.
Prime bare drywall, yeah.
And if you have like dark Navy or dark red, if you have a really dark color, you will want to prime it because it will reduce the number of coats of paint that you have to do.
32:33
Less to cover up, yeah, but also it it creates the perfect layer for paint to sit over.
So if your walls were like super greasy or gross or something and they weren't prepped correctly and then they're not ready, it's better to, I mean, the best thing to do would be to wash them and then prime them.
32:54
But you can pry them and it'll get the surface just perfect for paint.
And then it'll just lay flat and just look like nothing instead of like, you know, some weird patch or some wonky shape or whatever.
And then you won't have peeling.
33:11
So that's great if you put paint directly on drywall and you don't prime.
Evaporates as it dries and if you have raw drywall it sucks the water it.
Looks so bad.
Yeah, you can like peel it off sometimes, especially if it's kind of thick, but OK.
33:28
And then we have Shellac which is the oil based primer and this has.
Worst primer?
It is.
This has a very specific use, like many things and it's basically for things that really need to be sealed and not rehydrated.
33:47
So when you prime something with a water base, it will allow water based products to go through it like a permeable layer.
Yes, but shellac is an oil based, so it dries from this chemical reaction and it is hydrophobic.
34:06
So it does not like let any water through.
So the best thing that I can think of to use this for in like a home whatever is if you've taken wallpaper off of your walls and you can still maybe like feel or see or you might be worried that there might be still some glue on it, which is a high probability.
34:27
If you put shellac on it and you cover your wall with shellac, none of that wallpaper glue will reactivate.
What happens if it does reactivate is say you put water based primer on your wallpaper glue, then you put your water based paint on it and then you kind of get like this bubbling.
34:50
It's like kind of this weird reaction because the wallpaper goo is reactivating and like mixing with some of the stuff and like getting gummy and pulling.
You can see it through.
But if you shellac it, then it's sealed against the wall.
35:06
And if it's perfectly flat, it doesn't matter if it's there still, because then you can paint over it with as many coats as you want.
And it can, you know, be wet for a while and it won't like, ooze through the paint.
So they also, the other one, the other purpose that we use it for is hardwood, or I mean, raw wood.
35:27
Yeah.
So pine, oak, whatever even finished wood, it prevents the tannins in like any stains from coming through, especially like the.
Knots like, yeah, the knots like in our bathroom across the hall from where we are right now, we have Borden batten.
35:45
So we built that with pine, but it was knotty.
Not not knotty, like knotty on purpose, but like it had a few knots in the wood and we primed it like 3 times.
This is before we knew about shellac based primer.
So we primed it three times and still then the knot, I'd be able to see the knot.
36:02
It looks like a water stain does on your ceiling.
That's what it looks like.
And then we painted it like 3 times and what do you know, I still can see that because I didn't understand the tannins in wood will actually dissolve some of the elements in latex paint.
So it doesn't matter how many layers you put on it, it will never it will always come back through.
36:22
So had we known about shellac base primer, I would have.
I could have even just shellacked the knots and gotten by better.
But yeah.
Shellac is also good for water stains on ceilings.
Yeah, because I do not know the science behind this, but once you have a water strain on your ceiling, say you get the roof leaks fixed or the bathroom or whatever is going on, If you just paint it with ceiling paint, it's you're going to come through and you're going to see the stain again, even if it's not wet, you're.
36:50
Yeah, but then you're going to wonder.
Yeah, you're going to wonder.
So if you shellac the spot, it's not going to come through.
If you shellac it and it comes through, you still have a leak.
Yes, yes, you do.
Another good you saw it is painting it on like slick surfaces.
37:07
So if you have like PVC or something, you know, metal.
Vinyl.
Yeah, something that plasticky, probably something that, you know, would you can probably see in your brain before that you could just easily peel paint right off of it.
37:26
Yeah, that's a great place to put shellac primer.
Yeah, shellac is like the Peacemaker.
Yeah, between surfaces that do not want to be painted and paint.
It really is it the.
Peacemaker in the middle, then you get good results.
I have a favorite kind of primer that does that as well.
37:44
It's not shellac, I think it's acrylic based, but bonding primer is one of my favorites.
So if you have.
Like kind of yuck on your wallet.
You can't get all the cooking grace off.
That stuff will bind to anything.
Sherwin-Williams sells that product, don't they?
It's literally called.
38:00
It's like Sherwin-Williams bonding.
Primer, how do we use?
Yeah, the one we use is Valspar, which is a subset of Sherwin-Williams.
That's just the one we've used in the past, but I think Sherwin-Williams has one.
We just haven't tried it.
But it says it bonds to glass.
I've never tried that.
38:16
But so it bonds to like a lot of stuff and it just forms that layer, like chemically bonds to it, and then your paint can easily bond to that.
So it's great if you're like painting old furniture or doing other things like that.
Like it's a good way to have it and it kind of like grips the paint.
38:35
I don't know.
I like makeup.
So like makeup primer fills in your pores and it like makes the smooth surface, but it's also slightly like tacky.
So it keeps your makeup on your face, and that's kind of what the bonding primer does.
Yeah, if you have a spot that's like either looking kind of wonky or it just like paint will not look the same in this one spot that it does on the rest of your walls, it's probably because you need a different type of primer in that area.
39:02
But the only thing about shellac based primer that makes it absolutely terrible is that it smells so bad.
It has very high VOC's and it's almost like it's getting you high in kind of like terrible.
39:19
Rancid that's a great description.
It has like a very organic bad smell as.
Opposed to sulfur.
In chemical, well, you know they make synthetic shellac, but actual shellac is made from shells.
Oh, my gosh, Shells.
I know that you guys say it's very organic, but it smells like straight vodka.
39:38
Like almost not distilled at all vodka that's just like super potatoes.
Yeah.
Exactly.
So that's a very organic smell.
That's what I smell to me.
To me, like I just hope alcohol doesn't smell organic in any, it just smells like chemical.
39:54
Yeah, it does, but.
Shellac has the unique privilege.
Recognition as the worst combination of chemical smell and like rotted.
Organic smell.
Instead of alcohol smelling like most oil paints, it smells fermented.
40:12
Yeah, that's maybe a good.
Anyway, that's a long way to say it smells bad, so use it.
Maybe.
Use it when you should, but don't use it when you don't need to.
Yes, that's really expensive.
It is.
Kind of unfairly expensive, but it has a very specific use and it's hard to not use it when you need to.
40:33
It's hard to get the results.
Yeah.
And of course actually goes quite a long way.
It does really doing.
Yeah.
So if you're like kind of testing the water, a lot of pink comes in quart sizes, but specifically a lot of primer comes in quarter.
Sizes.
So it's kind of a low investment for you to kind of try out different.
40:52
Ones, yeah, it is.
It's very liquidy and stuff.
Oh yeah.
Shellac is like super drippy.
It's like.
Milk.
It is, yeah.
It's like putting milk on your walls.
It sounds very strange, but yeah, it's like exact.
Yeah, so use drop clothes when you're using it.
Yeah, it's also because it's such a great primer.
41:09
It's hard to get off of anything and you get it on your clothes if you get it.
It will not come off.
Sometimes if you get it on like sealed floors, like latex paint, you can just kind of scrape off or even peel up this stuff.
Yeah, clean it up.
As it's wet.
41:24
Yeah, exactly.
Wet is the way to go and it dries very, very quickly, which is another reason some people really like it.
The last paint prep thing I have is caulking.
I thought we were going to talk about painters tape, but that's OK.
Caulking.
I'm like waiting to pounce on you when you talk about the dreaded.
41:44
That is pain or non step we do.
That's a non step.
This is the last actual.
OK, then can I tell them about not to do that?
OK, you.
Can tell them about it.
Caulking basically is like fixing all the little shadows in your room.
42:02
So if you look around at your trim and you see like a dark spot between your trim and your wall, it's probably because there's a gap that hasn't been filled with caulk.
And all you need is a caulk tube and a caulk gun, which you can get caulk guns for like maybe a couple bucks.
42:23
Some of them are more expensive, but the tubes of caulk that we use are like $1.60 or something.
We use Alex DAP and it's paintable.
You have to make sure that if you're doing this, you get a paintable.
We'll do a whole separate episode on.
Cock fails.
42:39
Yes, we will.
But if you get something that's paintable and that usually also means that it's water soluble yeah.
So it's super easy.
It doesn't even matter how good at an application you do.
I always like to cut it at an angle, put it in my cock gun and just kind of squeeze out and pull.
43:02
Or you can like push the cock gun in the crevice that you need it.
But if you aren't that good at it, because it takes a small, a small amount of practice, you can take your finger, wipe off any excess, and then you grab a wet microfiber or a wet rag or something and you can go over it.
43:19
And if you have a bucket with you, especially if you're new, you can rinse your microfiber or your rag out and get the extra stuff out.
Yeah.
When we first started, we used baby wipes.
We.
Did we?
Didn't even?
I don't, yeah.
Yeah, and I used.
Those So my sister Phyllis came and she was helping me paint and she used a wet washcloth and I was like well that would be a lot less waste we.
43:41
Went through, so we're gonna have these.
Dying piles of baby wipes.
I mean they aren't great and if you have like if your kids are grown up and you have a lot of baby.
Wipes leftover.
I mean, that's all you got, but you might easily be able to find a rag and some water.
43:58
Yeah, more readily available to.
Even if you have old shirts like we've caught up.
Shirts, yeah, T-shirts and stuff, but those are great.
And then when you go to paint your walls, all the little gaps will be filled and it'll look super seamless.
44:14
There are a few things including like couple episodes ago, you heard me like do a monologue on my Milwaukee fastback knife because there's a few things that I am like, well, there's a lot of things I'm passionate about.
Yeah, I was going to say a few.
A lot. 1 of them is painter's tape.
44:29
So as when Jim and I first got married, we use painter's tape.
We thought that's what you do.
You put painter's tape on your trim and then you paint painter's tape, right?
Paint.
And then you do that and then you pull the painter's tape off and then you have a perfect line.
It's a lie.
It's a lie.
44:47
It's such a lie because OK, in theory it would work.
In reality it does not work.
You always pull the tape off and the paint has squished under the paint, under the tape at some point and by then your paint is dry.
So it's really hard to get off.
45:03
Whereas if you're using latex paint and you're cutting freehand without using tape, if you get it on the trim, you just wipe it off immediately.
So I have tried the blue painters tape, the other blue painters tape, the third blue painters tape, the green painters tape, the yellow painters tape, the kind, the purple painters tape, the kind that says you wet the edge and it will sprank a perfect seal.
45:28
That is also a lie.
So I am here on team cut without painters tape.
Now there is one specific reason I will use painters tape and that is if you have unpainted wood trim that is open grain because if you get paint in the grains of wood you cannot get it off.
45:46
So the purpose of the tape isn't to make a clean line, it's just to keep oopses off of the wood trim.
Other than that, don't do it.
Use it for getting the fluffs off your roller.
Yeah, use it for it might.
Take a little practice.
But it will take practice.
Something that I think is the most helpful when it comes to cutting a clean line is being able to get a good amount of paint on your brush.
46:11
And then you want to avoid the drippies.
Yeah.
So if you're cutting downward, especially like coming from the top of the ceiling all the way down, you might have enough paint on your brush to get all the way down there.
But the way you're holding it is probably the handle is angled towards you and the bristles are pointed up, and the paint that's like in the reservoir of your brush is going to drip down instead of into the wall.
46:38
Yeah, it's going to be on your hands, your clothes, your floor, your ladder.
Yeah.
You know, the other trick that I really learned as someone who's only 5 foot 4 inches is that if you're cutting, it's a lot easier to cut if it's close to you.
So if you're standing on the floor and trying to reach like and tip toes, it's going to be really hard to also maintain like control of your brush and your body at the same time.
47:00
So having, I mean, something as simple as having a step stool when you're cutting at the ceiling or like beside your window trim, it really gives you a lot more control with your brush.
For me, I I will be like I've stopped breathing.
And I don't.
Realize like because I don't, I want to just like cut a clean line and I'll be like after I do a line.
47:18
So don't do that.
But I would start with your baseboard.
There's cutting usually to do at the top between your walls and your ceilings.
But starting at like your door trim or your baseboard trim is great because you have like a nice steady place to sit.
47:35
You can have all the things around you if you need.
You can have the big full paint can you can have your brush, you can have like a rag next to you.
You don't have to worry about that.
And then you can not have to walk around or anything like that.
You can just take your paint and go along and that, that's a lot easier to kind of get the hang of it.
47:58
After a little bit you'll start to get it.
But if you start up above your head, you might get frustrated.
Yeah, and you'll probably get drippies on you.
And last episode you talked about paint, the kinds of paintbrushes and recommended like for latex paint that you use synthetic bristles.
48:15
And we had said we like the angled top of the brush for cutting an angled brush is really helpful.
It makes the work easier.
And also why not to buy a cheap brush when you're trying to cut a clean line is it will have it's like when your hair has frayed ends, like even if it's synthetic, like the natural hair ones will definitely do that.
48:35
But if you use a synthetic brush that's inexpensive, like 2 or $3, it's going to have like crazy hairs sticking out the side of it.
And then when you're trying to cut your nice clean line, you've got like 1 crazy eyebrow out putting paint on your trim.
So there are good reasons to invest in like a 12 to $15 paintbrush and then take care of it.
48:55
And then you don't have to buy more paintbrushes.
And if you would like to see a video of us cutting I'll want Clean Line, let us know and we'll post it on.
Our Facebook, TikTok, it's like Instagram.
Super satisfying.
It's so satisfying.
We're not really talking about tips that much this episode, but a couple of tips I have is 1.
49:14
If you're cutting in, grab a cup of some kind of disposable cup or even a cup that you can wash out and use again if you want.
But I love to use a cup because I don't like to bend down every time I have to because that gets hard on after like a whole room.
49:32
And if say you have like a medium quality brush and you can only go, I don't know, 25 inches.
Per day you fill?
Yeah.
Then you're going and you're bending down depending on how how big your room is.
49:48
Like even if I was just doing this wall, that would be like a lot of 30 bend downs and then you know, that gets uncomfortable after a while.
So having a little cup with you and you can refill it.
We used, we started using a Turkey baster to like suck the paint up and then put it in your cup so you don't have to like.
50:08
Make a mess.
You make a mess.
My other tip is if you have hard to reach places, our favorite thing in the world is paintbrush on a stick, like many things.
In life, Oh my gosh.
It is amazing because it is so simple and it is exactly what it sounds like.
50:25
It is a paintbrush on a stick and we've used this in many occasions.
If you don't have a stairway ladder, this is a great yeah.
Cuz for a lot of you, you're going to have open stairwells where you can like look over the edge.
And so if you were to stand at the bottom of the stairs, the ceiling is 15 feet above your head or sometimes 20.
50:46
Yeah.
So how do you, if you don't have like we own a heavy duty ladder that the legs are adjustable independently.
So you can put it on a set of stairs and reach something like that.
But most households, it's like a $300 ladder.
So most.
Household.
Plus it's very cumbersome to keep.
Yeah, it is.
51:01
They weigh like 75 lbs.
Like they're super safe, but most households are not going to have that kind of ladder.
So like you said, and we use the extension pole from Purdy that's intended for the roller arm.
Yeah.
And we just, we use the very specific blue tape that we don't use on anything dreaded and we go and we get it.
51:27
I like to do it pretty tight, me to end a kind of a lot of tape to be honest.
And then I always like to do it with a friend because I put the paint in the paint roller thing.
And then you dip it because it's far away from you now.
So it's not as easy to get it into a cup or something.
51:43
So I always have whoever is with me help, like dip it on both besides get enough but not too much that it's going to drip because I have to like fling it up somewhere basically.
And then you just take it and you just go slowly and it takes a long time, but you know what?
Then you don't have to get a ladder.
52:00
And something that would probably take you $300 and still like an hour and a half of your time is going to take you an hour and a half of your time to do that.
And then maybe.
Have a stake on standby that has the ceiling pane on it.
Yeah.
Just in case you touch the ceiling.
52:18
I mean I.
Haven't ever done matter in particular but that.
Is that is a tip that I just don't want anybody to forget about because that's important.
It's going to be hard in the episodes because we're like, what about this?
Remember, we learned this and it made this so much easier.
52:34
And what about this?
We can't pack it all into one, and you wouldn't listen anyway if we did.
So we're going to have to spread that out.
But we're really excited to bring this to you.
And if we haven't said it before, we might have said it in another episode.
The whole purpose of this podcast is to overtime generate enough of a community that we can have revenue to incubate in person classes.
52:57
And we want to do community classes would be something like 4 to six weeks, once a night, like once a week for a couple of hours.
And you learn like the basics of caring for your home, but also like weekend academies, which I can think, I keep thinking backsplash tile because you could go like all day on a Saturday, half a day on a Sunday and go home and do your own backsplash.
53:16
Like you have enough knowledge.
And then an apprenticeship Academy where women have a very direct pathway into the kind of construction work we do, which is very, very specifically in.
Finnish oriented.
Yeah, it's really handy, is the correct term for what we do.
53:34
We can paint, we can install cabinets, we do sinks, we do faucets.
We will do your honey do list will change the light bulbs that you don't want to get on the ladder to change.
And we do, you know, we do all of these things that aren't, you know, pouring a foundation, that aren't framing a new house, that aren't plumbing, HVAC and electrical like this is a very specific niche that women, I think are uniquely suited to do.
53:54
Yeah, I agree.
And there aren't hard for women to get into the fields.
Like one of our crew members was saying, I've been trying to get into the trades for years and she's in her 30s.
And she was like, this is the first place that would hire a hire me.
Yeah.
And that's because that a lot of people don't want to hire women in the trades, which in like a rational standpoint kind of makes sense because like men are on average like bigger, stronger.
54:22
They have like that body build for like slopping lumber and like doing this hard labor for hours and hours.
But there's like modern technology that makes that thing that not so prevalent.
And then there's also things like in somebody's home, especially with a lot of customer cares that women are uniquely suited for that.
54:43
We, I don't think a lot of like owners have switched their mentality to being like, I should take it opportunity to train this woman because she will give me something that a man couldn't.
She'll round out the team, yes, the same as Jace, who is the only man that works on our team, absolutely rounds out our team with experience, background, skills, bodybuild, lots of things that he brings to the team.
55:07
So we're passionate about offering women a pathway into the trades in this unique kind of niche pocket of awesomeness.
Something we love to do, truly.
To do Yeah.
So if you wanna learn how to find us, Emily is gonna tell you.
So if you have any questions about this episode or anything, we have a Facebook group called How to Handyman, which is kind of where this whole thing started percolating in our heads.
55:33
And you can join that group by just searching How to Handyman on Facebook.
It's like a community.
Yeah.
And you can ask free questions.
We occasionally pop stuff in there, and then we'll post about the podcast in there and ask questions, ask about what do you want us related to the coming episodes.
55:48
Yeah.
And then if you want to just follow us on social media and become your own handyman, you can follow us at How to Handyman.
And then if you want to see what our business is like and what we do for clients at My Handyman is what we where other people's handyman beautiful.
56:07
Galleries that's so fun to look at.
You can check out our website, myhandyman.com has both how to Handyman and my Handyman content.
And we, if you want us to be your handyman and you're in the greater Lansing area in Michigan, we would love to be your handyman love.
56:23
To And that's the way we did it, baby.
Thanks for joining us we.
Can't wait to see you next time.
