Perfect Interior House Painting Before Thanksgiving
As the weather starts to cool, two things happen to your “honey-do” list. First, you take everything that requires warm weather, and you put it on hold for the spring. Next, you add about 20 new items to prepare for the holidays, like interior house painting or learning the techniques to at least try on your own.
One of the most popular ways to get your home in tip-top shape for all your holiday parties is interior painting. A fresh coat of paint can make any room look more modern and high-end.
Before you grab some paint and get to work, though, we have some tips and interior house painting techniques to make the job easier.
Interior Painting Techniques for Your Next Project
Painting is one of those projects that everyone thinks they can do, but it takes more strategy than you realize. These tips can help.
Always Start with a Cleaning Session
As clean as your walls might look, chances are that there’s plenty of dirt and debris. Small amounts of oil from your hands and dust from the air can stick to walls even if you can’t see them.
The problem is that those particles can block your paint from bonding to your walls. If the walls are really dirty, the dirt could potentially add unwanted texture to your interior walls.
The first step for any painting job is to clean the area. A simple scrub-down won’t take long, but it can make your paint look better and possibly last longer.
Choose Your Tape Wisely
Homeowners tend to put plenty of thought into the paint they buy. When it comes to other materials, though, they buy the first things they see. Those choices will have more of an impact on your final result than you realize.
One of those underappreciated painting accessories is tape. What’s the difference between masking tap vs. painter’s tape, and why does it matter?
Masking tape and painters’ tape use different adhesives that have their own pros and cons. Some homeowners see the price difference and reach for the masking tape, but it will come back to bite you in the long run.
Painters’ tape is far better for taping off walls, trim, and other painted surfaces. It’s made to be less likely to pull off chips of paint when you remove it. It also doesn’t leave the sticky residue that masking tape tends to leave behind.
The one exception is if you’re taping off the glass. Masking tape works well on glass, so if you’re painting a window frame, mirror frame, or similar item that borders class, masking tape will be your best bet.
Never Underestimate the Primer
One of the keys to getting a great, even finish is priming your walls before you paint your walls. The primer evens out small differences in texture and color. It also helps paint cover better if you’re painting over a bright or dark color.
Primer is especially important if you have patches or holes in your wall. These materials can interact with paint in different ways, and the texture appears different. A primer will even it out so that after you paint, you can’t even tell the patch existed.
However, professional interior house painters that have a high level of product knowledge may be able to recommend specific paint products that are less likely to flash.
Mix All Your Paint Together
When you buy several cans of paint from a store, they have to mix each can on its own. While most paint shops today use computerized formulas, there can still be some slight color variation from one can to the next.
To make sure your room has a uniform color, buy a big bucket and dump in all your cans of paint so you can mix them together.
Be sure to keep at least one can, though. If you need to buy more paint, the store’s employees will need the labels on the can to mix a new can. It’s not enough to remember the name of the paint color. If it gets discontinued, the employees will need the tint formula on the can.
Painting a Full Room? Go in Order
If you’re painting an entire room, including the ceiling, walls, and trim, there’s an order you should use.
Always start with the trim first. There’s no need to tape off the walls because you’ll paint over them when you paint the walls later. After you give the trim 24 hours to dry, you can tape it off and paint the ceiling and then the walls.
This method saves you a lot of time in applying and removing the tape. However, the professionals don’t use tape for straight lines. Therefore, their process will likely be different.
Keep a Wet Edge
Have you ever seen a painted wall that has odd stroke lines? These are called lap marks, and they’re preventable.
The trick is to “keep a wet edge.” This means overlapping each stroke of your roller with the previous stroke before the previous stroke has started to dry.
You can also help your paint job to have fewer lap marks by rolling up and down the full height of your wall with each stroke.
Cut Tape, Don’t Pull It
At this point, you’ve cleaned, primed, taped, and painted. After you give the paint a few hours or more to dry, it’s time to remove the tape.
As satisfying as you expect it to be, you can’t always just pull off the tape and expect it to leave perfect lines. Instead, use a utility knife to cut through the film that the tape forms along the wall.
This prevents your tape from pulling the paint off the wall and damaging your hard work. Just be careful not to cut too deep and cut into the wall as you go.
Don’t Underestimate Painting Techniques
So many homeowners have grand dreams about how they’re going to repair and enhance their homes. When it comes down to it, though, DIY projects often don’t turn out the way you planned.
Between limited time and not knowing the right skills like these interior painting techniques, many homeowners find that they’re happier hiring a professional instead.
If you’re ready to refresh your home’s look before the holidays arrive, contact our professional home painting team.
