Unfortunately, in Montreal and surrounding areas, a lot of people say they are professional painters without even owning the tools that could help them make a high-quality work. How do you know if the painter you are planning on hiring will do great work that will keep you satisfied? A good clue is asking him what tools he uses. Here is a list of professional painter’s essential tools. 

The painter’s essential tools

To be a good construction painter, it’s not enough to have a CCQ competency card, to master a few techniques and to have a lot of willpower: some tools are also essential for painters who wish to provide great work.

The spray paint gun

The spray paint gun, commonly called paint gun or paint sprayer, is the best tool for almost all exterior painting projects. It helps doing the work quickly and it gives nice results. However, the spray painting gun is very expensive: it’s sold between $2000.00 and $10,000.00 depending on te kind of gun you need, (airless or industrial), the type of paint used and the scale of the project.

The pressure washing machine

The pressure washing machine is an essential tool to paint exterior surfaces. Often, exterior walls need to be painted because they cumulate a lot of dust, old peeling paint, lime, or other dirtiness caused by acid rain. As for interior painting, it usually does not required a thorough washing of the surfaces as they often are sufficiently clean for the new paint to adhere on it. However, we do recommend to scrub the yellowish ceilings that have been exposed to cigarette smoke or darkened by another chemical substance.

The electrical grindstone

Stripping, sandblasting and scraping, are used mainly on exterior surfaces made of metal and wood. For PVC, it’s often sufficient to pressure clean thoroughly and scrape manually. We generally don’t need to sand masonry, except in the case of a major defect in the original surface.

The paint brush and roller

There are a multitude of brushes and rollers being sold in each hardware store. FinDecor buys his brushes and rollers at a Benjamin Moore retailer. I suggest you to go and ask all of your questions to a clerk. Personally, I prefer the PolyMaster angled brush of 3 inches wide. I explain you why here. For the rollers, most of the time I use 13mm thick rollers from Nour. To learn more about the different Nour rollers, click here.

Elevation equipment

Not all painters offer exterior painting services at heights. However, if you need to have a cornice, soffits, lintels, a roof or a high wall painted, having an elevating platform will be necessary. Wearing a safety harness is also mandatory all the time, and the construction helmet should be worn in certain cases.

Paint products

Obviously, an experienced painter does not use only one kind of paint, but he must know a wide array of products and know when to use which. Amongst the frequently used products, let’s mention: plaster, stucco, caulking, latex paint, acrylic paint, primer, interior paint, exterior paint, anticorrosion paint and more. There are also different kinds of sheen (flat or high-gloss) for each kind of interior paint.

Professional painters from FinDecor painting company have an excellent knowledge of the different sheens and they use only the best products available. Call upon a team of professional painters who are certified for quality results!

Dave Beaupre

Master-painter