Cleanup, leftover paint and solvent disposal after a painting job

Paint never goes down a storm drain, and that rule decides how every job ends. The running record carlsbad painters itavb holds shows that wash water and solvent handling take a crew nearly as long as a room of cutting in. Painters in Carlsbad, CA work knowing that street drains run to Agua Hedionda Lagoon, Batiquitos Lagoon and the ocean beyond, with no treatment on the way.

Washing latex and acrylic tools

Brushes are worked out in a bucket, combed, then rinsed in a utility sink, never at the curb or the garden hose bib. Rollers are scraped with a curved tool to push the paint back into the can before any water touches the cover. Wash water is left to settle so the solids sink, the clear water goes to the sink drain, and the sludge is dried and bagged.

Cleaning an airless sprayer

An airless sprayer is flushed with clean water until it runs clear, with the output going into a bucket and not onto the ground. The tip and filter are pulled and soaked, and the pump is left with a storage fluid so the seals do not dry out. Skipping that step is how a sprayer clogs the next morning, in the middle of a coat on a wall.

Oil based paint, enamel and solvents

Brushes used with oil based enamel are cleaned in mineral spirits, which are kept in a closed can and reused after the sediment settles out. Rags soaked in oil based product can heat up as they dry, so they are laid flat outdoors to dry fully, then sealed in a metal can with a lid. They are never balled up in a truck bed.

Leftover paint and what is saved

A small amount of leftover paint is saved in a clean can, labelled with the room, sheen and date, for touch-ups on a wall later. Latex in small amounts is dried out with an absorbent such as kitty litter and put in the trash. Larger amounts and all oil based leftovers go to a household hazardous waste collection site in San Diego County, because liquid paint does not belong in a dumpster.

Site cleanup before the crew leaves

Chips, tape and dust from sanding are swept up and bagged, and the drop cloths are shaken out over a tarp, not the lawn. A final walk around the house along the drain lines and gutters finds the wet spatters before they dry. A crew that cleans as it goes finishes with a driveway and gutters that look as they did when the work started.