I'm a non-professional -- call me a tinkerer -- who likes to paint: furniture, walls, inside, outside, you name it. I also like to do a good job and sometimes that's tough for an amateur. But then I found this book. It is a veritable dictionary of painting advice and trouble-shooting tips, from how to prepare old wood for painting to how to protect your fingertips as you move into the hypnotic world of a big sanding job; from discussion of stains, dyes, glazes and penetrating oils to how to paint a new fence and preserve the wood. But the real bonus for me is the writing: in a "How-To" book, Fallarino has smoothly inserted anecdotes, aphorisms, and tales of woe and triumph from his own early days as a painter that keep you reading. The result is a "Zen" feeling - a sense of the organic relationship of a worker to the work - familiar to anyone who's ever slipped into the rhythm of rolling long rows of color onto pristine walls or watched a surprising grain pattern emerge under just the right finish. Any down-side to this book? Yes. You could get so involved reading it you let your brushes dry. Of course, if you do, Fallarino tells you how to fix that, too.
Review #2
Well written. Accessible information and case studies.
I became aware of this book because I worked on the design and production of it. However, as a homeowner who has puzzled over differences between paint and stain, wondered whether I was doing a proper job and how long the finish should last, I was delighted to discover a book that held answers to all my questions, and then some. I would recommend this book to any homeowner, whether you plan to do-it-yourself or hire someone to finish your wood. The information is accessible to the layperson. The case studies illustrate well the problems you may encounter and how to solve them. Five stars!
