Painting tips you need to know

If you want a professional-looking paint job, do what the expert painters do. 

1. Wait for dry weather 

Humidity means dripping and drying slowly so avoid painting on a rainy day. If you have to paint, paint when it’s humid, take your time and use slow drying paint to fix our mistakes before moving on to the next coat. But do not overwork, because when you’re done it will show.

2. Cover furniture

If you cannot move furniture out of a room, move all of it to the center of the room and wrap and cover it with plastic sheets that are taped at the bottom. This will not only protect your furniture from paint drips and splatters, but also from all the dust from sanding.

3. Take off the switch plates 

This is straightforward, instead of laboriously taping or cutting around your switch plates, grab your screwdriver and take them off. Then you will have the perfect coverage around the plate without any mess.

Tape the handle of your paint bucket upwards. This stops any drips from coming off your paint brush.

4. Start with a loaded brush 

Local painters take a ‘load and go’ approach to painting. They load the bottom parts of their brushes with paint, tap each side against the inside of their containers to knock off the heavy drips, and then start painting. However, homeowners often take a ‘load and dump’ approach of dragging the loaded brush along the sides of their containers and wiping most of the paint. It is not healthy for the brushes to be dunked in the paint and then being wiped off.

Trim the pesky edges off of your paint rollers to avoid creating tracks.

5. Let the roller do the work and bag it up when you finish

Current new roller paints roll off easy, so there is no need to use pressure. Use the extension pole to reach the maximum amount of area with the least effort and without straining your back. 

When you’re ready to call it a day, you can soak your roller in paint and then wrap it in a plastic bag so it’s airtight. If you’re returning to the job the next day, it will work fine. If it is going to take a while then you can still put the roller on but remove it carefully without covering yourself in paint.

Use aluminium foil to cover objects you don't wish to paint. 

6. Paint from top to bottom 

Using your roller to spread paint downwards from the ceiling after you have cut in the edges at the ceiling and baseboard using a knife. Amateurs often have telltale drips and splatters at the end of a paint job, but as they work their way down the wall, pros paint straight over their errors. When an area starts drying, it is best to leave it alone. Going back on it may leave marks and colour streaks on the paint surface.

7. Buy high quality equipment

You definitely don't want to pinch pennies on the paint application if you are splurging on great paint. Effective brushes and roller covers offer outstanding coverage so you don't waste time and paint on re-application, and the high-end painter's tape is the real deal when it comes to sealing out drips and blurs.

8. Light it up 

Not having proper lighting might raise a ‘holiday’. It is a spot which a painter misses to paint. Its easy to do, especially when using similar colours. So get yourself a work light and keep checking your work, after finishing a section. The most likely around the edges, where you use a brush instead of a roller. Holidays are easy to fix when you’re still on the job, but much more annoying after you’ve finished painting for the day.

9. Finish one wall before starting another

To do all of the corners and trim in a room may seem easy, then go back to roll the walls, but don't. Pros get a seamless look by cutting it in one wall, then rolling it immediately before starting the next one. It allows better matching between the brushed and the rolled material.

When alternating between brushing and rolling, cover your paint bowl, tray, or tub with a damp towel to prevent your paint and equipment from drying out while not in use.

10. Sand away flaws

Clean the walls from the baseboard to the ceiling onto a sanding pole with fine-grit sanding paper. Then sand along the baseboard and ceiling, horizontally. Don't put any pressure on the sanding stick, or the head will flip over the wall and damage it. To get into crevices, clean woodwork with a sanding sponge. 

All this is essential to make a smooth surface to paint on. 

These tips will make painting for you easier, if not contact our local painter.