The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-04-07
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsKIN, Director.
Washington, D. O.
PAINT Up!
Washington, d. O.

/ maven dlTSaOy lett d HduheTlHS dllSL
overalIs brush and bucket Of paint,
you probably will soon.
The painting urge is sood EXAM
pie of natures efficiency. You don't
feel an overwhelming desire to spruce
things up at Christmas or Fourth of
July. Maybe your subconscious mind
knows that paint freezes in winter and
dries too quickly in hot weather. Or
maybe it doesn't. Either way, spring
/ is the time when you notice that the
house looks shabby beside the rejuve-
mated lilac bush. and that the iron frog
fountain is shabby in spots.
The esthetic value Of paint Is not,
however. its most important quality.
As some one has euphoniously put it,
paint is primarily for protection.
Paint is defined as a chemical COM
| bination of materials which prevents
rust or decay. Tests show that decay
of structural material sometimes be-
gins after only twenty-four hours Of
exposure to the weather.
Manufacturers say that lack OF paint
causes greater annual property loss
than fire. Whether this claim can be
reduced to exact figures we do not
| know. Certainly houses in every com
munity fall into decay thru lack of
surface protection. and much iron ma
chinery deteriorates from the same
cause.
The situation is made worse at pres
| ent by the fact that labor is expensive
and scarce, ana~paint is from one hun
| bred to two hundred per cent higher
than bfore the war. The department
of agriculture has no influence on
paint prices, but it makes the sugges-
ton that labor is three-fourths of the
cost of a painting job and that. while
painting may be fine art, the layman
can get satisfactory results himself on
a job which presents no unusual diff
culties if he will only follow th0 rules.
The first rule, naturally Is to find
out what needs a fresh coat. Crack
ing, scaling, or an brased surface are
signs that the paint no longer protects
the material, so that moisture easily
penetrates the cracks, and decay re-
suits. With good paint materials and
careful workmanship, the outside of a
house needs renovating once in three
or four years. Life of paint on the
inside depends largely on local condi-
tons, such as care of property and the
climate.
If the outside of a house is to be
done over. it is a good idea to look
around your community. and especial
ly your neighborhood, before selecting
colors. If you live in a city brick row,
this probably does not concern you,
but for suburbanites, and jewellers in
wood, concrete and stone houses, find
ing the right color scheme ia often
difficult.
In garden cities the color and plan
of every house must be approved by a
local committee on architecture, but
in most communities no standard is re
Quired, and the desire to brighten up
the place often results IN every house
| on block taking on a different color.
The effect in these cases is more start
| ling than restful.
a good color can make an ugly resi-
dence attractive or at least inconspic-
| uous. while the wrong shade or too
many shades often ruin an otherwise
| well planned house. Brick red is, cur
iously enough, the most unobtrusive
color for a building. Green and brown
are usually good. brown being warm
er, and harmonizing better with grass
and foliage.
White is attractive for certain types
OF homes, notably the old farm house
and the colonial style. White paint
is less durable than light tint, accord
ing to chemists Of the department of
agriculture. They advise adding a lit
tie cream or buff, or a tinge of gray
to add to the life of the coat.
Some houses of the bungalow type
look well in two colors, one for the
lower part. and another color, or a
different shade of the same color, for
the upper half. This effect needs
careful planning. 1t is often abused,
SO that instead of harmonizing, the
two colors contrast wildly and the
house seems divided against itself
Materials for painting should be of
good quality, as cheap grades do not
last so long and are more difficult to
spread. Whether the wall to be coY-
cred is outside or within, the surface
should be carefully prepared before
printing. If the old coat is in fairly
good condition, and not TOO thick, il
may not be necessary to scrape it off,
but rough places where the paint has
cracked or peeled must be scraped
and sand-papered.
The surface to be coated should be
absolutely dry. free from dust and
smooth. Outdoor painting cannot be
done well on a windy or showery day.
Wind drives dust, insects, straw and
papers against the wet paint, while
rain streaks it and spells the smooth
ness. Even for indoor work, dry
weather is preferable.
The first coat of paint is more i'm
portant than the outer coat, as it fills
the pores of the wood or plaster and
prevents moisture from getting in.
This printing is best applied thin and
smooth, with special notice taken to
leave no pores of the surface material
untitled. 1t takes a week or more for
the printing to dry properly. To add
the surface coat to damp printing is
to make cracks and peeling certain,
as the under coat will continue to
contract until it is dry, and the re-
tension Will De overcome Dy
the paint cracking.
Inside painting follows practically
the same rules as outside work. The
main thing to remember is to put a
thin. smooth coat on a dry, smooth
surface. A thick coat of paint does
not. as might be supposed, have extra
wearing properties. The reason is that
the tensile strength of a thick layer is
so strong that it does not contract and
o Il NIT he ornG nh he
wood expands beneath It, it cracks I'M
der the strain. In apparent contradic-
ton to this is the fact that three or
four coats are more lasting than two.
Colors are as importaaA inside the
house as out. A scientist who made
experiments to test the effect of GER
tain colors on school children reported
that red caused temporary stimula-
ton. followed by reaction and a head
ache. The effect of blue was calmness