ArcaMax

Be creative in a kid’s room or playroom with a magnetic wall using a specialty magnetic primer as a base coat. The coating allows you to create a wall surface similar to your refrigerator for whatever can be held in place with a magnet. A wall in a home office is another popular place to use magnetic paint. The magnetic primer can be applied to just about any surface, including drywall, plaster, wood, metal and masonry. Then paint over it with a coat of latex paint. If you want to define the magnetic area of a wall, add a chair rail or outline it with molding.

Painting a room is the best payback for a budding do-it-yourselfer, because you can learn while doing (and cover up any mistakes) and the paint and equipment are inexpensive. Start with clean, dry walls; then tape off the area to paint and apply three thin coats of the magnetic primer, letting each application dry between coatings. Finish the job with a topcoat of latex paint on all the walls.

A painting contractor will charge $364 to paint the lower 4 feet of one wall in a 10-foot-by-12-foot room with magnetic wall primer and then paint the entire wall with latex colored paint. This includes labor and material. The materials include the magnetic primer, latex paint, painter’s tape, brush and roller. You can do it yourself for $90, the cost of the material, and save 75%. The job is so small you might have trouble finding a pro to do the job, which makes it better to do it yourself.

Pro Cost: $364 — DIY Cost: $90 — Pro time: 8.4
DIY Time: 9.5 — DIY Savings: $274 — Percent Saved: 75%

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To find more DIY project costs and to post comments and questions, visit www.diyornot.com and m.diyornot.com on smartphones.

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