How To Paint Like a Pro?

[Jabba]

Sooner than later, all us married guys end up getting corralled into

[Zakk]

I used to be a renovator, and I know 2 types of painters.

[missioncontrol]

I use a paint roller

just dip the roller in the paint and then roll it on the walls

repeat process until walls of room are the same color as the paint in the bucket

[toolaa]

Deciding not to wallpaper was the first smart step in the right direction to both keep your marriage in tact as well as revitalize your house.

I have learned the hard way over the past 20 years but on our most recent home project I can honestly say I think we've got it down.

[whammoed]

this thing is great for along the ceiling.

[JackTucky]

Before you do anything, make sure you have good brushes and rollers.  Don't be too cheap here if your like most people, your time is worth more than the $3 difference in brush cost.

As I take a break from painting 2 bedrooms, bathroom and closet in my basement with my wife, I second the good quality recommendation.

I like Purdy brand.  The brush at home depot will be 2-3 times the cost of the cheap ones, but I've had these for a couple of years now.  With latex paint, they wash out in the sink with hot water, and use 'em again.

Always "cut in" first.  Use a brush to do corners where the roller won't reach.  Then try to roll over that before it dries too much.  The experts on TV say it can leave marks where the dry and wet meet.

Back to work.

Art

[psik0tik]

Thats what I do for a living I own a painting company . Don't use the wagner power anything, you wind up using way to much material and it makes a huge mess. Don't go cheap on painting supplies cause you will see a big diffrence from using a cheap roller pad and a brand name one. Tape is an iffy subject, I don't use it but ive been painting forever. Just make sure if you use tape that the tape is stuck against whatever your painting really really well or it will cause runs behind the tape and don't use the cheap tape. Other than that just take your time and don't rush it or it will look like crap.

[Bones]

To paint like a pro, first put on some fish net stockings, skanky make-up and get wasted, then apply brush strokes evenly.

[DrewKaree]

To paint like a pro, first put on some fish net stockings, skanky make-up and get wasted, then apply brush strokes evenly.

Bones, I can SOOOOOOOO picture you doing this!

Jabba, if you take the time to tape off really nice and tape drop cloths to your baseboard molding (or take the time to carefully pop them off and tape it to the bottom of the wall), you can go to any rental house (dunno if Canadian Home Depot's have a rental are in 'em) and get a paint sprayer, and like it's been said, WAGNER SUCKS!  (although I've got their HVLP and it ain't bad.....but it sure is loud as hell!)  They should have something like a Campbell-Hausfeld or some other Tim The Tool Man Taylor looking sprayer.  You'll buzz through your room, it'll look smoother, no differences in areas that you couldn't paint quick enough, no color mismatches.....way nicer. 

When you tape, you've gotta do what's called "burnishing" the edges.  All it means is to run something over the edge to really "mash" it down and kinda heat up the edge and help it stick better.  Like Zakk said, taking it off while it's still wet won't give you problems of tearing off chunks after you've let it dry.  If it DOES happen to dry and seems to be coming off unevenly, take a razor blade and cut right along the edge of the tape before pulling it off.

The good brushes save you in lots of lost bristles on your wall, and the paint generally flows off of them better, plus they're worth cleaning and re-using again and again!

If you spray, make sure you start with a small batch and OVERthin the paint at first.  You can always add more paint to make it thicker, but it's a BEEEE-YOTCH! to have to clean 'em out because you didn't thin the paint enough and now you've clogged the whole works up.  Think a bit thinner than milk.  Start from there and see how it works.  I can almost guarantee you'll like spraying as opposed to brushes or rollers.  I talked a buddy into doing it for one of his rental properties, and he went out and purchased an even nicer sprayer than he could rent because he liked it so much.

[Zakk]

I've got a Campbell-Hausfeld sprayer for my compressor, it works great, but I only like to use it outside (it'll do a garage door in 10 minutes flat, and it DOES look great!!).

HD rental department is pretty good, but I think they have a racket going.  They keep THE most expensive supplies in there (instead of the cheaper off-brand).  Still, you can rent most anything for a good price.

[dhansen]

I'm not big on gagets either but I do like this one...

http://www.geomask.com/ Just wipe down the wooden trim to remove all dust and you're good to go....

Doug

[DrewKaree]

HD rental department is pretty good, but I think they have a racket going.  They keep THE most expensive supplies in there (instead of the cheaper off-brand).  Still, you can rent most anything for a good price.

I think they do it because in a customer's mind, it gives the mythical "value" to the price being charged.  Also, I'd bet dollars to donuts they use the manufacturers with either the most liberal return policies if something breaks, or the manufacturers who offer them the best price on something to be used for rental use.

I've started to positively  HATE Home Depot because their selection, while cheap if they've got it in stock, simply doesn't compare with other stores in my area.  For example, I've got a project I wanted to do in Cherry, and I simply cannot get it at HD unless I order it, but at Menards, I can go in there and buy Cherry, Mahogany, Walnut....and if I want to order something special, if they have it, I'd bet HD doesn't.

The LACK of being able to find people to help you in a store that seems to be chock full of people when you DON'T want or care if they're around is amazing as well.  Perhaps they'd be better suited to having 2 roving employees to help in the tool corral so one could break off if a line formed as it always seems to when I'm ready to check out, and they could quickly get me out of there.

Instead, I get Bertha the snaggle-toothed wonder who only knows enough math to know how many shoes she should put on each morning and I have to TELL her why I'm giving her 23 dollars when my total is $17.85.  Hey, slapnuts, just enter in the amount of the money given to you, but NOOOOO!  Instead, this mouth-breather tells me "you gave me too much", so I've got to explain to her that I WANT a fin back (then explain what a fin is) instead of 2 bills and some change.

Woops.  I done went off on a rant there.   

[Jabba]

Thanks guys for all the tips. This time I decided to try using a edge trimmer (see pic). It worked by reducing the number of smudges, but smudges were still created none the less. Also, the works was real slow due to having to clean the good edge. Think in the end, taping it would work out better by using the "best" tape possible..

I decided to Prime te walls with a primer tinted light grey. That really seemed to help over the last time where I just used white primer. Only two coats of good paint with the tinted grey rather than the three coats I had to use with the white primer.

Question: Must one ALWAYS prime the wall before putting a differint color on the wall? I know the rule about painting over oil with latex requires primer, or painting over a glossy with an eggshell. but what about painting a eggshell over an eggshell, or a more glossy obver a less glossy? Do you still need to prime?

I think next time I will use the tape again. I used the green stuff last time that was rated good for 7 days. I think that is bull because when I pulled it off after 7 days, thats when the paint pulled off the wall. I guess the thing when using tape is to do the job in a weekend, and pull it off right away while the paint is wet. Thanks fro that tip.

Another tip I leanred is that "Spray and Shot" laundry cleaner works wonders taking latex paint droppings out of carpets. I know, I know, I should of used a drop cloth instead of the tarp I was using. Lesson learned for next time.

I also experimented with a cheapo brush versus a good brush, and never again will I be using el cheapo painting accessories. The paint definately DID come off the good paint brush much better than the el cheapo brush.

Another question I have for you experienced painters is this. I live on a lot with a septic system. This means I CANNOT (at least thats what I've read) clean the paint brushes in the house due to the possibility of ruining the septic system... Is this true? Isn't latex paint bio-degrageable? This means that I usually throw the paint brushes out after using them.

Tip: I leaned that you can store paint brushes in the freezer overnight without cleaning them. This worked out well.

Finally, I do have a compressor that I bought (used for brad nailing) and thought about using it to paint with a gravity feed paint accessory, but wouldn't that get over the whoie place? I could see my self creating a HUGE mess using that to paint.

Anyhow, I'll be tackling the next room much more educated from this thread. Thanks again for all the tips. If there are any more, keep em coming.....

[Jabba]

I'm not big on gagets either but I do like this one...

http://www.geomask.com/ Just wipe down the wooden trim to remove all dust and you're good to go....

Doug

Does it realy work as rate?  Maybe I'll look into getting this. Thanks for the tip.