Cheers

Martin Dunn left this whisky display looking in great shape against the hessian backdrop. 



The background to this project is that the wall covering came with no instructions, but it did have a selvedge. Despite the manufacturer's assurance that butt joining would be fine! Martin went with his instinct and overlapped and spliced each joint. Perfect result as ever from a very accomplished wallpapering specialist and one of Staffordshire's finest - fill in the blanks.


Furniture painter in Cheshire

Jason Walker has been battling away, and with his trusty team-mates, the two Matts, continues to paint the NW better.  This was a transformed pine dresser.



They recently completed another Smallbone kitchen too. A not unfamiliar request within Traditional Painter. 

 
Paint Magic.

Look out for the upcoming Golden Tips Furniture Painting newsletter in the Autumn.

The author of the Paint Magic book, Jocasta Innes, lived in Spitalfields. This is a photo we have added to a recent blog, with permission from The Gentle Author who writes about all things in that area of London.



There will be a few tips on recreating stonework in the newsletter.  A time and a place, and all that!
 

Reviews keep rolling in

Paul Barber is relaxing in Cornwall, as we speak, bathing in the sunshine of a neat review. 




Not to be outdone, his protégé, Paul Barber the younger, also in Northants, recently completed work for the MD of Jackson Homes and received a nice letter of thanks. (Just to be clear, when it refers to "both Pauls", the elder Paul's contribution was to carry in the ladders!)

Both Pauls,
 
Many thanks for all your help this summer the house looks magnificent and should do so for a few more years to come! Good luck with future projects and I look forward to seeing you both either at home or on site in the future.

Lee Simone in Yorkshire had a few words of praise heaped on him too.



It is quite reassuring when the reviews go beyond the one-liners you see on Yell and the like. When someone takes the trouble to put pen to paper, it means a lot.

There are some eye-opening statistics here about consumer reviews. Best not fake them, it comes back to haunt the faker.


A kitchen to turn a head or two



Russ Pike worked a few days on this kitchen for Osborne's of Ilkestone. 

Russ has also been pushed to the limit manning the phone lines for Traditional Painter in my absence. August is not a quiet month. Much appreciated.

Customer Service
If there were ever a problem, Traditional Painters would get it sorted professionally and in a timely manner. It is just common courtesy and common business sense too.

Referring back to the review information above, 95% of customers who have a problem will return to do business, if the issue is dealt with correctly. Not that hard, is it!


Mark Nash continues to blaze a trail

Mark is the king of customer service, and here is an example of his standard of work. He is very efficient, clean and thorough when he paints, reinforcing what you see online and hear on the phone and read in his quotes. No bluffers here! 



Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire based, Chris Graham is no slouch with handling enquiries either, and has a handle on painting fitted furniture too.



Light reading

A reader asked me about the drying times of alkyd based paint with reference to over coating Sadolin Classic. If you want to go way deeper than simple "oxidation" this is a tome and a half to peruse.


Show time for the painting geeks!

November comes around but once a year, but it seems to come very quickly, and November in Coventry means the Paint Show.



If you want to take a stroll around, you will meet many of the Trade Corner companies supplying the products we rely on, and recommend.

You will likely discover new gems too. Trollull were a mystery till last November. How could such a tried and proven company have got under the radar for so long!

MyPaintBrush will be there at the show on Stand 63, Fox paint brushes at the ready. (The unsolicited reviews and feedback on this brush just get better!) You will meet some Traditional Painters in Coventry too. It's once a year, and central, and not just interesting for trade. 


Repairing wooden sash windows

Russell Woodland Traditional Painter for Essex and East side of London has been undertaking a very interesting restoration project. The previous attempts to restore the windows came to this! 



Russell will be taking them back to bare wood, as in no paint left on the wood, repair and reinstate with linseed paint. By the time he has finished with this project, he will have a portfolio of priceless product and technical information to share.  

  
More spraying information coming soon from Ron Taylor

Ron Taylor is planning a useful video, to provide insights into spraying interior and exterior woodwork.


DIY Decorator of the Month competition

We are awaiting a selection of projects, mainly furniture painting, from keen DIY readers. Judging results will be announced shortly.

Over August, more than 12000 people found our definitive page on painting pine furniture. They also saw a new video from Kevin Mapstone on how he degreases previously painted woodwork using Fluxaf Pro Clean.



To enter DIY Decorator of the Month post your project on the forum.


A new sander for September

Hallmark Fraulo are very up on the latest in abrasives and sanding.

They have mentioned a new lightweight sander from Festool coming next month.

Keep your hands away from your wallets - only joking.

It looks a beast.




Speedy Lincrusta customer service

We like the products, the innovation and the attitude to customer service of the Trade Corner companies. I saw first hand how efficient Lincrusta are. An enquiry for restoration work came in, and straight back out from Mr Lincrusta with a checklist for all the the relevant information the customer needs for a solution.

None of this "tomorrow or next week will do" mindset that blights the decorating trade

Ireland innovator at work

Adam in Ireland is not one to stand still, and like all craftsmen is pushing for better and more efficient finishes and raising the bar 

* Graft fillers and a * 4" Picasso, * Fox roller sleeve and the Clean and Go, to name but 4 products that have made life better

So now he has quick-drying intermixable coloured wood filler for furniture repairs. 4" Picasso for laying off oil (nice one) the Fox velvet flock sleeve with its capacity to hold lots of paint and lay it down smooth; and Adam has been using the Clean and Go for - reasons I will leave to him to explain. It is smart thinking.

Any friends interested in what we get up to here? Orgetfay Google, send them to the sidebar on our FaceBook page.

Thanks.

It links through to this page. 


 

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Some changes will be appearing on the website gradually over the coming months. One step will be the collation of all discussions on the Traditional Painter site. We have several thousand comments, many questions, emailed requests for information, forum threads... Currently these useful resources are spread all over the site, but will soon be found under one very slick roof.

If you have a friend who is into the sort of things we cover,  please forward this newsletter to them by email. 

Watch out for more case studies on the blog, and see what we get up to via FaceBook and Twitter

- What are the * before a link all about?

Short answer 

* equals win-win for readers and Traditional Painter.

Longer answer - 

If you click on a * link and go through to MypaintBrush's store, for instance, and you decide to make a purchase, you will pay the same competitive price as all other visitors to their store. The difference is, we make a small commission for referring you to the MPB site . 

We only put a * link to products we recommend and rate highly.

 So, if you want to help us fund Traditional Painter, so that we can maintain the high standards of information on the site and keep the Newsletter bubbling along for your pleasure, please make purchases through these * links!

(If you are a bit of a meany, just copy the link, knock off the tracker number bit and go through to the MPB site - that way we don't get a penny for pointing you in the right direction :) )