Guest Post: Mountain Air Interiors
Today’s guest post is from another one of our favourite industry partners: Lindsay Shumyla of Mountain Air Interiors. We love having him take care of our client’s painting and wallpaper installing needs and they are always happy with the results.
Lindsay offers both painting and wallpaper installation services. He’s been painting for 23 years and installing wallpaper for 10! He’s a wealth of experience and knowledge so I thought it was only fitting to have him answer a few questions and pass along some of that expertise to us all.
Q: What got you into painting and installing wallpaper?
A: A friend of mine was a journeyman painter and needed help with the work he had. So I trained under him for about 5 years and learned a lot! He was very particular and fussy about the quality of his painting, took a lot of pride in his work and passed that on to me. With wallpapering, I saw a need in the industry to add this skill to what we offer, as wallpaper was making a strong comeback around 10 years ago - especially for areas such as feature walls in bedrooms, stairwells, living rooms and powder rooms.
Q: Why is it better to paint walls with higher quality paint, like those from Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams?
A: It is definitely true that you get what you pay for and paint is no exception. A high quality paint will handle wear and tear much better, the application will be better and the coverage will be greater - especially with bolder colours.
Q: If there is one tip you could give to a homeowner who wants to try painting their own space, what would it be?
A: Patience and use the right equipment. And don’t use a roller without a pole - you will hate painting and it will literally hurt your arms.
Feature Wall Paint at our Belgravia project. Photo by Darren Lebeuf.
Q: Do you prefer painting dark colours or light colours?
A: There are challenges to each… for both the issue is always coverage. The trend years ago was everything off white. Then you saw the industry change to earth tones and much darker colours. Now the trend in new homes and in renovations is back to off whites again. A good quality paint, such as AURA from Benjamin Moore, will be better at coverage in dark or bold colours than other paints since it has more solid content in it. The challenge with turning those dark walls into off whites now is, more often than not, it takes a primer coat plus two top coats of finish paint. I always make sure to explain that to the customer beforehand in my estimates.
Q: Is there a colour you’re tired of painting?
A: Not really. There hasn’t been one colour that a lot of people are stuck on.
Q: If you could only paint with one brand and line of paint, which would it be?
A: That’s a tough question since I haven’t tried every single brand out there. What I use the most is Benjamin Moore, Sherwin Williams and Dulux. But I have also tried BEHR, Cloverdale, Pittsburgh and Farrow and Ball.
Q: What paint trend do you never want to see again?
A: Dark colours throughout a whole home. Dark feature walls are great, but not dark on every single wall. It’s too gloomy.
Q: Do you prefer spraying over using a roller / brush?
A: The nature of my job lends itself to a roller and brush. Although the finish that spraying leaves behind can be superior to some, it’s usually most practical for me to brush and roll things - and it looks great too!
Paint & Wallpaper Install at our Keswick project.
Q: Feature walls, yay or nay?
A: DEFINITELY YAY… in paint or wall covering!
Q: What’s your preference between traditional, pre-pasted and peel and stick wallpaper and why?
A: I prefer traditional paper. It’s straightforward and what you see is what you get.
With pre-pasted, you need a sponge or spray bottle to help activate the adhesive that’s already on the paper. Some even require you to submerge that roll for a few seconds in water to do the same activation. These methods, to me, can be ineffective and very messy. After some trial and error on our side, we’ve decided to apply our own adhesive to the product anyway since this makes for a superior job.
Peel and stick are often marketed as easier for the DIY person to install. I have found this to be the exact opposite. The peel and stick has to be applied to the wall with no margin of error and it has to be aligned properly from the beginning. With traditional paper, you can move it around on the wall and into place as needed, so it’s MUCH more forgiving.
As a side point, traditional paper can come in two forms - paste the wall or paste the paper. With pasting the wall the install is more straightforward and quicker. With pasting the paper, each drop of paper has to be pasted and then folded over onto itself and set aside for a predetermined time period (usually 3-10 min) before applying it to the wall. As you can imagine, there is much more planning involved on each job since you can’t leave it in the folded state longer than the specified time period, or it will get mushy or start gluing itself together. Generally, this type of paper has a higher installation cost for this reason.
Wallpaper install at our Strathcona County project. Photo by Darren Lebeuf.
Q: If there is one tip you could give to a homeowner who wants to try putting up wallpaper on their own, what would it be?
A: Don’t… hire a professional! There is more to installing paper than you realize, such as proper adhesive according to the type of paper and proper handling of the product as to sheen and weight. Proper symmetry is vital for a professional looking job too. Not to mention that papers come in different matches and therefore require you to order different amounts for a particular job… random, straight, drop and half drop matches. Figuring out the proper placement of kill points as you engineer a room makes all the difference too. Relief cuts around fireplaces, windows and bathroom vanity profiles takes skill and experience. The techniques for installation and smoothing differ with each paper and if you use the wrong technique you can damage the product, and some rolls are over $1000 each.
Q: What’s your favourite room to wallpaper and is it the same as your favourite room to have wallpaper in?
A: I do enjoy installing feature walls in bedrooms. They make such a difference in the look of the room. Although seeing a powder room with high end paper all throughout is hard to beat, it makes the space feel so cozy.
Q: Is it true that higher quality wallpapers will also be easier to remove when the time comes?
A: Generally speaking, yes. But not always. The prep work done at install has a greater influence on the removal overall. Our high quality installations always include the application of a wallpaper primer prior to installing the paper. Not all installers out there do this due to the time and extra cost. But it’s vital since it makes for a more consistent, non porous surface to install on. It also provides a better barrier between the adhesive / paper and the drywall. When it comes to removal this factor makes it way easier to have a clean removal that rarely damages the drywall underneath.
Q: What’s the best aspect about working on projects with designers?
A: Working with the right designer is very uplifting… it feels good to share their vision and have an opportunity to have a part in making that vision a reality. Also seeing how happy the end result makes the homeowner is very satisfying.
Paint & Wallpaper Install at our King Edward Park project.
Q: If you could only choose to paint or install wallpaper for the rest of your career, which would you choose?
A: I think if I HAD to choose at this point, I would pick wallpaper. The variety in papers is so great and I get to work with my wife, Tara, when we install it. We make a great team.
Q: What colours would we find on the walls of your own home?
A: At the moment, I have different shades of blue in my home office and some creams and off whites.
Huge thanks to Lindsay for taking time out to answer all of our questions so that we could share them with you! If you want to reach out to Lindsay for your painting and wallcovering needs, you can head to his website Mountain Air Interiors.