The data sheet plan
You read it before we order
The paint maker publishes a data sheet for every product. We send you the one for each product on your estimate, before we order it, and keep the same sheets in the job folder.
Step 1: Estimate visit
We ask who in the house is sensitive to smell, which rooms people sleep in and which rooms can be shut for a few days.
Step 2: Written estimate
It names each product by line and sheen. The data sheets come with it, not after it.
Step 3: Your questions
Joy Donaldson answers the questions the sheets raise: drying times, recoat times, the minimum temperature to apply it.
Step 4: Before we order
You approve the products. A change means a new sheet and a new line on the estimate.
Step 5: Painting days
Windows and fans as the plan says, one room at a time, and a morning message on which rooms are being painted.
Step 6: The airing
The time we wrote down, then a walk with you. You say when the room is ready.
Two documents
The product data sheet and the safety data sheet
The maker publishes both. We send both, and the difference is this.
Safety data sheet
What it answers
How to handle the product: ingredients the maker must list, handling, storage and disposal
VOC content
May appear here too, with the maker's wording
When you get it
With the written estimate, before we order
What we do with it
Plan storage and cleanup, and keep a copy in the job folder
Product data sheet
What it answers
How to use the product: coverage, drying and recoat times, the temperature to apply it at
VOC content
Often stated here, in grams per liter, in the maker's words
When you get it
With the written estimate, before we order
What we do with it
Plan the airing from the drying and recoat times
Questions to ask any painter
Five lines to look for on an estimate
Whoever you hire, ask for these in writing.
The product
Its name, its line and its sheen, for each surface, not "premium paint" alone.
The data sheet
A copy for each product, before the order.
Drying and recoat times
How long each coat needs, and what the plan does while it waits.
The airing
How long, with what, and who says the room is ready.
Older paint
What the firm does in a house built before 1978, and how it follows the rules.
About the data sheets
Do you use low-odor paint?
We use premium paint and name the product on your estimate. The maker's product data sheet says what is in it, including the VOC content the maker states and the drying and recoat times, and we send the sheet for every product before we order. If someone in your home is sensitive to smell, tell us at the visit and we choose from products you can read about, not from the front of a can. Every paint has some odor, so we plan the airing instead of promising a room with none.
Will the data sheet tell me if a product is right for my household?
It tells you what the maker says about the product. It is not medical advice, and we can't tell you what suits a particular person. Bring the sheet to your doctor if you have a health question.
What if I want a different product?
Tell us. We price it, send its sheets and put the new line on the estimate before we order anything.
Ask for the sheets first
Request an estimate and the data sheets come with it.