Everyone is looking for tips, and life hacks when it comes to managing their home. Indeed, house painting in Danville isn’t bereft of interior painting tips that every DIY painter can benefit from learning. Custom Painting, Inc. has the experience and expertise to do your interior painting.
The following lists some tips that will enable a faster but more efficient paint job:
Purchase brushes and rollers of good quality.
Painting is a cost-effective way of updating and enhancing the look of your interiors without having to commit to expensive renovations. However, you don’t have to buy cheap but inferior materials to save more money. Cheap, low-quality brushes may not hold as much paint as expected and leave ugly brush marks. Inexpensive but inferior roller covers may leave lint and fuzz on the walls. You will waste good paint if the tools are cheap but poorly made.
Instead of buying these cheap but inferior tools, invest in high-quality but reasonably priced brushes and roller covers to get the best results. They are more reliable and last longer. In the end, your surface finish will look much better.
Buy quality paints.
When you see one paint advertised and another paint that’s five times the price, what is the difference besides the price? Quality.
Usually, cheap paints are builder’s grade paints with fewer solids than higher-quality paints. Solids are what make the paints create a good build and a thick formulation that gives the paint a solid and uniform coating when applied. Premium paints also require fewer coats than cheap but inferior paints. Thus, even though premium paints are usually more expensive than inferior paints, they will save you more money in the long run.
Use a modified stirrer for the paint.
Drill holes in your wooden stirrer to help stir the paint more evenly. The holes in the stirrer act as an aerator to allow the paint to mix more evenly.
Use the right primer.
Use a water-based primer to paint new, previously unpainted drywall. It functions as a sealer for porous surfaces that would otherwise soak the topcoat. A primer also helps hide surface imperfections and provides a neutral base before applying color.
Keep a wet edge to prevent overlap marks.
The last thing you’ll ever want to see is ugly overlap marks. Always maintain a wet edge as you paint and work away from that wet edge to avoid them. Glossier paints (satin, eggshell, semi-gloss, and glossy) are more prone to making overlap marks. Therefore, you have to pay close attention to keep a wet edge. But if you’re using flat or matte paint, there’s little possibility of creating overlap marks.
Clean up mistakes while they’re still wet.
Accidents happen. Should an errant brushstroke touch down on the wall, don’t panic. It should be pretty easy to clean as long as the paint is still wet. Use a clean damp cloth to wipe the wet paint off the surface. Make sure to clump the excess cloth up your palm to avoid touching the wet baseboard.
Use painter’s tape.
Painter’s tape is made explicitly for painting materials and structures. Compared to other adhesives, painter’s tape is usually low stick to allow for an easier removal while peeling off primer or existing paint. Painter’s tape usually comes in the standard blue color (that’s why it’s also called blue tape), but it is also available in other colors.
Many DIY painters choose other adhesive tapes, most especially masking tape, as they are the cheaper option. But although painter’s tape is more expensive, it is well worth the cost. It is usually easier to remove and doesn’t shrink, especially when using latex (water-based paints). You can use painter’s tape as much as you need to the edge of all surfaces you don’t want to be painted, like the junction between walls and ceilings.
Don’t want to clean brushes and rollers? Wrap them. You have to deal with cleaning up at the end of your painting day. But one of the things that most DIY usually dread is the cleaning and washing paintbrushes and rollers. They’re difficult to clean, especially rollers.
If you know you’ll be returning to work the next day, you can preserve your brush or rollers by either of these two steps:
- Freeze them – To preserve your brush or roller for the next day’s job, wrap them in a plastic bag and put them in the freezer. When you take them out the next day, allow enough time for them to thaw before using them again.
- Wrap them only – If you don’t like the idea of placing brushes or rollers around food, wrap them in a plastic bag and leave them at room temperature. Do your best to ensure that the plastic is airtight to preserve the brush or roller for the rest of the day.
While painting between coats, double-check the surface before applying the next coat. Use any source of light – a lighter, flashlight, or your phone – to check the surface for paint drips or blobs, roller flecks, or any flaws.
Before tackling a house painting in Danville project, find out if you can DIY it or have a professional do it. Sometimes, painting projects are best left to the pros like the team at Custom Painting, Inc. Contact us today by calling (925) 866-9610 to set up a free consultation to discuss your painting needs.