-AN OLD PAINTER'S IDEAS.
The autumn season is coming more
and more to be recognized as a most
suitable time for housepainting. There
Is no frost deep in the wood to make
trouble for even the best job of paint
ing, and the general seasoning of the
summer has put the wood into good
condition in every way. The weather,
moreover, is more likely to be settled
for the necessary length of time to
allow all the coats to thoroughly dry, a
very important precaution. An old
and successful painter said to the
writer the other day: "House owners
would get more for their money if they
would allow their painters to take
more time, especially between coats.
Instead of allowing barely time for the
surface to get dry enough not to be
'tacky,' several days (weeks would
not be too much) should be allowed
so that the coat might set through
and through. It is inconvenient, of
course, but, if one would suffer this
slight inconvenience, it would add two
or three years to the life of the paint."
All this is assuming, of course, that
the paint used is the very best to
be had. The purest of white lead and
the purest of linseed oil unmixed with
any cheaper of the cheap mixtures.
often known as "White Lead," and oil
which has been doctored with fish oil.
benzine, corn oil or other of the
adulterants known to the trade are
used, all the precautions of the skilled
painter are useless to prevent the
cracking and peeling which make
houses unsightly in a year or so and
therefore, make painting bills too fre
quent and costly. House owner
should have his painter bring the in
gredients to the premises separately.
