I've been a residential painter in the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California for many years. Although I've worked in some other regions of the country, the San Gabriel Valley has its own very unique climate. Mornings can be cool and wet, yet midday and afternoons can be blistering hot! These temperature extremes do affect the application and durability of paint coatings.

Another important consideration is the mandatory phasing out of paint formulations containing petroleum-based solvents. In many areas of California it's near impossible to get once widely available oil based paints and primers.

Most painting contractors have done the switch to water-based acrylic paints and primers. However, much of this class of paint formulas doesn't have the natural adhesion of the alkyd (oil based) paints and primers, presenting a further challenge to painting contractors.

Acrylic paints have come a long way in the past few years. Improved chemistry has given us acrylic primers that are quite effective, and in some cases even better than the solvent bearing primers. Yet and still, none of the acrylic paint formulas have the slow drying times, penetration, and adhesion of the true and tried oil paints.

Given the characteristic quick drying time of water based paint, acting more like a surface film than a penetrating material, brings special considerations to painting in the San Gabriel Valley's wide climate conditions.

When doing a paint job special attention should be given to all exterior wall areas that are close to the ground. The bottom 30 inches should be prepared better than average to help the acrylic paint adhere as best it can. It should be cleaned well, scraped, sanded, and sealed with a quality primer.

Every care in preparation and painting should be given to these areas, in particular. The morning dew and moisture, together with the daily temperature swing - sometimes as much as 35 degrees - induces extra flexing and warping that only the finish of a well prepared surface will survive.

Other considerations include areas that were formerly painted with oil based paint; they should receive a coat of primer first, since straight acrylic paint will not stick to those surfaces. If you've ever seen paint that came right off with just the slightest nick of a fingernail, that's perhaps the culprit.

The "wet edge" of painting materials is deeply affected too. Wet edge is the time that a given paint will stay liquid enough to be manipulated and blended. Acrylics tend to have a much reduced wet edge, and even more so in hot days. I've seen it get so hot that half the water based paint hardened and caked-up while on the brush! Absolutely no wet edge, none!

All the items expounded within this article should give a pause to homeowners considering painting their property. You should get a painting contractor that really understands the special needs of painting in the San Gabriel Valley.

There are so many homes formerly painted with oil that now need to be prepared for acrylic paint. Unless your painting contractor can make the switch from oil to water, your new paint job will suffer. Let's face it: In many areas of California - not just the San Gabriel Valley - water based paints are in, and oil based paints are out!

Copyright D. Aloy