Painting rooms and the Chameleons...

[Julirs]

I am dreading painting, but I know it needs to be done. I have to do ceilings and walls in the rooms where the chameleons are.

It is way too hot to move the herd outside, so I will have to move them room to room. This is going to be insane with the huge Mellers cages, the crested geckos tanks, the 2-40 gallon breeders with the Beardies, and 9 other cages in one room, and the rack of 4 cages, and Leon's huge 24X24X48 in the dining room as well as the bird.

Any suggestions? Are there some better paints to use than others that have less fumes?

 

[Miss Lily]

Paints with low or zero 'VOC' (Volatile Organic Compounds) are the ones to look for. Sounds like a mammoth task! Do you really need to paint that room?! Found this info on the 'net, in case you're interested: http://www.epa.gov/iedweb00/voc.html I tend to stick with B&Q's own brand paint (I know you don't have B&Q in the US though) as it doesn't tend to smell too bad!

 

[Julirs]

I wish I did not, but we had a roof leak and an AC leak in that room-and just got a new roof, so those ugly stains just are not working for me!

 

[Rocky]

Ask the people where ever you buy the paint. They should be able to help. Although, I dont think you will get anything that you can paint with them in the same room.

 

[FroggtheCham]

They do sell low fume/smell latex for sure. We used it for our house. In the bathrooms and basement, we used this paint but the mildew resistant version. I find this works well in rooms with higher humidity . That project sucks. Good luck and I hope it goes quickly!!

 

[Julirs]

I cannot express how much I dread painting. I am cleaning furniture right now, and I think painting is a million times less fun!

I certainly won't have them in the same room, just want to be able to de-fume and get them back where they need to be ASAP.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Paints with low or zero 'VOC' (Volatile Organic Compounds)

Ditto this. I always use Zero VOC paints now and it does make a huge difference.

Painting sucks at the best of time. having to move cages in order to do it = UGLY And I'm so glad Im not you LOL

 

[Vegas Chad]

We just got done (watching Darci roll over a few of my goof spots as I type) every darn wall in our new house and though it sucks it looks way better. We used Bear something or other, and the fumes put off by it were not bad at all. We have a few chameleons over here and they have been unbothered by the paint. We don’t keep them in the same room that we are painting in but keeping the fans on and the window open had dried the paint super quickly.


Edit... We have a ton of extra yellow paint so I still have to go paint the reptile areas yellow on the ceiling, or at least a big circle.

 

[Killjoy]

Hi julris, ya know when it's all done i'm sure the room will look good and all the enclosures will be cleaned up and fresh so think of that while you paint. You definately need to get latex( water based ) paints and go with high quality( expensive ) the better the paint the less coats you will have to do. Lots of ventilation! A really good first coat, And in about a day and a half you shouldn't have too many fumes left. Also get one of those big window fans pointed outward and force out the air. Good luck. Post a follow up for us please. Thanks

 

[draetish]

You know, you could always cover the walls with a nice paneling like the kind that looks like tongue and groove.

 

[Killjoy]

Good thought Donna. Ya know wallpaper doesn't look so bad these days either and the glue is odor free. You just gotta get the wallpaper with the glue built in. All you gotta do is wet the back and apply.

 

[Elizadolots]

If only she didn't have ceiling stains....that would be a great answer. In fact, maybe it is...

I guess it depends on the ceiling. I have that old school acoustical texture...which sucks and ultimately needs to be removed. Paint is pretty much the only way to go with that. But, it's not really necessary to repaint the whole ceiling. It's just necessary to cover the stain edge and blend it so there's no visible edge. If it were me (and, it will never be me...we have Cathedral ceilings and there is no way I'm going up there!) I would use an art acrylic paint and a 1 inch brush to make that stain edge vanish...the fact is, the human eye won't really note the subtle change in color from ivory to white...it was that big brown "edge" that made the stain visible.

It wouldn't be worth the effort if it were not for the fact there are a bunch of cages that need moving...if I weigh "controlled, careful blending" against moving all the cages...well...it seems like something I'd consider.

 

[luevelvet]

Hey Julirs,

We've done this a few times and have used Freshaire paints from Home Depot.

Also, if there's a window in the room, you can also employ a window fan for a few hours after painting. It may waste a little AC energy but I think it's worth it.

Luis

 

[laurie]

I am so sorry you have to do this. We had to take all the chameleons out while we put in wood floors (I wanted tile) and painted the room. I spent half of my time manually misting. I ran a fan to bring air into the room and another in the window to take it out. The complete exchange of air got the smell out quickly.

 

[andy123]

If only she didn't have ceiling stains....that would be a great answer. In fact, maybe it is...

I guess it depends on the ceiling. I have that old school acoustical texture...which sucks and ultimately needs to be removed. Paint is pretty much the only way to go with that. But, it's not really necessary to repaint the whole ceiling. It's just necessary to cover the stain edge and blend it so there's no visible edge. If it were me (and, it will never be me...we have Cathedral ceilings and there is no way I'm going up there!) I would use an art acrylic paint and a 1 inch brush to make that stain edge vanish...the fact is, the human eye won't really note the subtle change in color from ivory to white...it was that big brown "edge" that made the stain visible.

we have these great looking square polystyrene tiles you can stick to the ceiling and they have different pattern/textures on them they look great in there and helps keep some warmth in the room they dont really look like polystyrene tbh, and they look great in the room as its plain and simple and just makes it look abit better, but they worked great as they were easy to cut so fit together snug and saved painting it
(ignore me and the lizard in this pic) but you can see them in this picture

 

[Julirs]

Thanks for all of the suggestions, but paint will be the only thing that will work, anything else would really not blend in with the rest of the house. Luckily one whole wall of that room is sliding glass doors so airing it out will not be an issue-bar any hurricanes that may come this way!
Of course there are popcorn ceilings-but I am the master at fixing and painting those things unfortunately.
I will just have to move all of the chams into the other rooms for a day or so. I don't have a misting system, so hand misting won't be out of the ordinary.
Andy-I love your waterdragon!

 

[andy123]

Andy-I love your waterdragon!

awww thanks, we aint got them no more, they went friday, we're having there cage to move our large adult male carpet python into and we're getting a pair of desert iguanas

 

[Julirs]

OK-visuals for you all...AC leak stain and place where Hubby put his foot through the ceiling investigating the leak...I am leaving the border that compliments the picture my Mom painted and going with a solid color that will compliment the picture and the furniture.

A shot of the cages, the geckos, the beardies...

And the other side with the sliding glass doors...

Oh-I am so dreading this!

 

[FroggtheCham]

We'll all be here for you to give you some moral support!! Or maybe it's sanity support????....something like that!

 

[laurie]

Hey those terrariums are a pain, so you can sell them to me - shipping is also a pain but then I would have them. One less thing for you to worry about, you know I am only thinking of you.