Top painting tips
If you are going to be repainting the inside of your home the last thing you want people thinking is that you did it yourself. You want to be able to do a great paint job on your own, one that leaves your friends and family members thinking you hired a professional to paint your house. If you want a professional looking paint job, but one that is done yourself here are some tips you can follow.
Tip one:
Make sure that you have all of your tools together before you begin painting. The best thing to do is to get everything together and place it in the middle of the room. Doing this ensures that you have everything you need before you get started, and you can double check to make sure you are prepared so that you do not have to stop working in the middle of painting. The tools that you want to gather are your paint, brushes, rollers, trays, hammers, screwdrivers, drop clothes, tape, plastic wrap, plastic bags, and a ladder or step stool.
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Tip two:
Never try to get the entire job finished in just one day because you will find yourself rushing to get the job completed. What you want to do is schedule a day to get the prep work done before you start painting. The day before you plan on painting you will want to patch any holes or cracks in the wall, move the furniture out of the way, tape the doors and windows, and cover any light fixtures or other wall fixtures with plastic bags.
Tip three:
If it is possible, you will want to remove everything off the walls and move out all of the furniture. This will allow you to have a clear surface to work with, which means a smoother paint job, plus an easier time painting. If you can't get some of the furniture out you will want to place it in the middle of the room so that it is out of your way entirely as you paint. Double cover it so you do not get any paint drippings on it.
Tip four:
No matter how hard you try, you are going to end up dripping paint all over the place, which is what the drop clothes are for. To prevent any paint from getting on doorknobs or light plates you will want to remove all of the hardware in the room. Removing the hardware includes removing the hinges and doors from their locations. Put them in plastic bags and clearly mark them so you know what belongs where.
Tip five:
Make sure that you are using the right paintbrushes for the job at hand. If you are using oil-based paints, you will want to use paintbrushes with natural bristles; never use natural bristles for anything but oil-based paints because the bristles will soak up the water in water-based paints and cause the brushes to go limp. In water-based or latex paints, you can use any kind of brush, but the synthetic bristled brushes were designed for these types of paints.
Choosing the right style of brush for the job is important too. For edges, you want to choose a brush that is densely packed with bristles and tapers off to an end; wide brushes that have spilt ends are made to hold a lot of paint and to spread the paint evenly and smoothly over a large surface.
Tip six:
Choosing the right roller for the walls is just as important as using the right paintbrushes. Paint rollers that have plastic cores will last longer than ones with cardboard cores, but the core does not matter when choosing the right roller for the wall you are painting. If you are painting a smooth wall, you want to choose a flat, smooth roller, if painting a textured wall you want to use a thick and plusher roller.
