Painting is an easy and inexpensive way to update your living spaces and boost your property value. Experience is helpful, but even a beginner can get good results when painting rooms in the home. To paint like a pro, take your time and pay attention to the details.
Paint Like a Pro by Preparing the Walls
A damaged wall won’t look professional no matter how expensive the paint or how many coats are applied. Well-prepped walls are clean and smooth and free of cracks, bumps, and blemishes. Here are three tips to prepare your walls for painting.
- Clean the Walls
Use a sponge and soapy water to remove dust, cobwebs, grease, and loose drywall from the wall’s surface. Cleaning the wall helps to prevent dust and debris from transferring into the new paint job.
- Fill Holes and Cracks
Filling holes and sanding rough spots is necessary to get professional results. Use spackle to fill small gaps, cracks, and nail holes. Smooth the areas with a putty knife and then sand them once they’re dry.
- Use (Good) Tape to Paint Like a Pro
Painter’s tape keeps paint from splashing or spilling over onto window frames, baseboard trim, ceilings, and crown molding. Purchase quality painter’s tape that masks well and removes easily. Painter’s tape is available in a variety of widths depending on the area(s) you need to cover.
Brush Away From the Tape
Use a brush near the edges instead of using a paint roller. This will ensure you thoroughly cover edges and corners, the places most often missed and noticed when a job is done.
Direct your brush strokes away from tape, not toward or parallel to it. Brushing toward or parallel to the painter’s tape can push paint beneath the masked area, which makes for blemishes once the tape is removed.
Soak the Paint Roller to Paint Like a Pro
Before getting started, wash your paint roller to remove any lint and debris. Then let the roller soak in the paint for a few minutes. The roller should be saturated but not dripping paint to get the best results. Roll paint onto the wall using a wide “W” pattern to help prevent streaks and paint lines.
Remove Tape Between Coats
One way to ruin a great paint job is to remove the tape after the paint has completely dried. Waiting will either peel fresh paint off your wall or leave you with a torn edge of tape stuck beneath your hard work.
To avoid this and get professional results, remove the tape as soon as the paint is dry to the touch. It is tempting to leave the tape in place for consecutive coats but don’t. Peel the painter’s tape up and reapply before your second coat.
Veriguard Home Inspections offers inspection services to customers in northern New Jersey. Contact us to schedule an appointment.