Nine Tips for Interior Painting
It is important to properly prep when painting the interior of your home or business. By taking a few additional steps, you will save yourself time and money while ensuring a quality, long lasting paint job.
Cover your floors and furniture
It is important to take the time to cover your floors and if you are unable to remove all the furniture from the room, make sure to cover it as well. Not only will this effort protect your floors and furniture from paint splatters, it will also protect from any dust particles that will result from sanding.
Thoroughly inspect and clean the surface
It is important to inspect the surface you will be painting. You want to have a perfectly smooth surface so start by looking for any areas that may need to be spackled or sanded down. If you need to sand the walls it is recommended that you sand the walls from the baseboard to the ceiling using a fine-grit sanding paper on a sanding pole. Then sand horizontally along the baseboard and ceiling. If you need to sand woodwork, use a sanding sponge to get into crevices.
Once you have a smooth surface, make sure the area you are painting is clean. Use an ordinary sponge mop to clean your ceiling and walls. Mix warm water with TSP for best results. If using TSP make sure to wear gloves and eyewear to protect yourself from the chemicals. Rinse cleaned walls with clear water and let thoroughly dry before painting.
Make sure to get the right supplies and resources
Investing in your supplies is very important to the short and long-term outcome of your paint project. The cheaper paint brushes and paint will do an extreme injustice to all your time and effort put into the project. A nice size, angled brush will result in a better look and you will be able to wash and reuse it until the bristles wear down to a nub. If you opt for a cheaper brush, not only will your paint job look sloppy but the bristles will fall out and if they dry into the wall, they will ruin your smooth surface.
Investing in more expensive paint will also pay off in the long run. You will be able to easily wash off fingerprints and buff marks without risking the paint peeling off the wall. Higher end paint will offer the best coverage and last a long time. Not only will you save in the long-run but it will also save you in time and effort as it will make the whole job go quicker and easier.
Use tinted paint
Instead of using white primer, we recommend that you use a slightly tinted base color or gray as a base coat. Tinted primer helps to avoid a flat, dull final look. If you paint directly over any patched areas, the compound will suck the moisture out of the paint. Tinted primer also does a better job of covering old paint than plain primer, so your finish coat will be more vibrant and may require less coats. This is especially important if you are covering over colors like red and orange which can require three or more coats without a primer.
Secure painters tape with a putty knife
After lining all edges with painters tape, use a putty knife to secure the tape onto any wood surfaces. If painters tape is not secure, often times the paint will bled through and you end up having to scrape paint off your woodwork. To avoid this pain-in-the-neck chore, do a thorough job of adhering the tape to any surfaces that you are lining. Using a putty knife makes this process fast and is effective.
Make sure to use painter’s tape instead of masking tape as masking tape often leaves a sticky residue that can be hard to clean off. Masking tape often buckles or gets wavy which allows the paint to run underneath it. Painter’s tape is worth the investment as it can be left on for weeks and is still able to peel away cleanly. And it stops paint from bleeding without buckling.
Finish one wall before moving to the next wall
Although it might seem more efficient and easier to roll the walls first or do all the corners and trim, and then go back and finish the wall – don’t do it. You will get a seamless look by finishing one wall at a time. It is best to do all the trim and corners first and then immediately roll the wall before moving on to the next wall. This strategy allows for the brushed and rolled paint to blend together better. Make sure to cover your paint bucket, tray, or container with a damp towel when not in use to keep your paint, brushes and containers from drying out.
Don’t tape windows
Although it seems natural to tape your windows because you will be taping around all woodwork. It’s actually easier and less time consuming to just scrape away any window paint. If you happen to get paint on the window – which is very common – just wait until the paint dries and simply scrape it off with a razor blade. The paint will peel off in seconds.
Wash rollers
No matter what quality make sure to wash your roller covers. If brand new, you want to make sure to get rid of the fuzz that inevitably will come off when you start painting. You don’t have to wait until your roller covers dry so you can wash and go. It’s recommended to wash them with water and a little bit of liquid soap. Make sure to run your hands up and down the covers to pull off any loose particles.
Paint from top to bottom
You want to make sure to paint from top to bottom. This allows you to paint over any drips or spatters as you go. Once an area starts to dry, it is best to leave it alone. You want to avoid having to repaint over any marks to avoid color streaks in the paint’s surface.