Pro Painting Tips

25 Feb Pro Painting Tips

Tint the Primer with your Topcoat

Whether you’re painting interior or exterior- priming will help ensure you get professional results. Priming will limit the number of topcoats, ensure adhesion, and leave a professional finish. This applies to all repainted surfaces/ substrates as well as raw wood and new drywall.  Primer serves three main functions: First, it blocks stains and resinous knots from bleeding through; second, it provides one-coat coverage for the paint topcoat; most importantly, it improves adhesion, which greatly reduces blisters and extends the life of the topcoat.

To extend the coverage of your topcoat, try this pro tip: Tint the primer with your finish color by mixing a small amount of topcoat paint into the primer. (Be sure the primer and topcoat are both latex-based or both oil-based.) This will greatly enhance the ability of the topcoat to hide the prepped surface completely, especially when painting a lighter topcoat over an existing darker color.

Paint with a 5 Gallon bucket/ not a paint tray

I roll paint directly from a 5-gal bucket using paint grid, which is a rectangular, rigid metal screen that hooks onto the rim of the bucket. Using 5 gallon bucket you can carry a lot more paint, less likely to spill, and when you are done  just drop the grid/ and your roller skin in the bottom of the bucket and put the lid on

Painting Techniques

Taping- if you decide to tape off be sure to knife it down after you apply it. Use a plastic putty knife and run it only the taped edge- try to strike it where the tape heats up- warming the adhesive and helping to bond it to the surface

Wet your brush before you begin- then roll it out- this will help to keep the paint from getting in the metal feral which will help extend the life of your brush

My preference is to paint the trim first because I find that I can get a sharper line when I cut in to paint the walls.
Hold the brush the narrow way (not the way you would naturally hold it) makes it easier to get a crisp line when painting trim.
Paint in long, continuous strokes

Always maintain a wet edge, once you start continue on until the wall breaks, this will minimize brush strokes and roller marks.
When painting with a brush, don’t dab the paint on or move in a short back and forth motion. You can paint with the brush left and right (or up and down) to get the paint on, but then take one long finishing stroke from the dry side and tapering off into the wet edge.

If you are using a brush to paint into a corner or piece of trim- start away from the trim or corner and pull into the edge in a curved motion this will ensure you have the right amount of paint on by the time you reach the color transition leaving you with straight lines.

Painting a room is best accomplished by first cutting in (painting along the trim, ceiling, and corners) with a brush. After that has dried, you can go in with a roller for the walls

When painting with a roller, work a three foot wide section at a time- use overlapping “W”  strokes. I typically go from the ceiling to mid wall, load more paint, and then go from the midway point down to the floor. I will then roll out the entire section one last time going from the ceiling all the way to the floor to smooth out my edges. Then I move left or right to the next section, always remembering to keep a wet edge and working from dry to wet.