GET ROLLING ON YOUR NEXT PAINTING PROJECT
Planning and preparation are the keys to getting this relatively simple job right
You know me — I’m a huge advocate for hiring the right pro for the job. Because I’ve seen what can go wrong when homeowners decide to DIY their own electrical setups, structure, or plumbing: it can quickly morph into a disaster.
That said, we live in the age of DIY, and I know how expensive upgrades and renovations can get. Where I think you CAN get away with Diying your home is cosmetic upgrades, like painting. If you mess up anything with projects like these, you might have to live with an eyesore here and there, but typically, you’re not going to be compromising your structure.
Are you ready to tackle your next paint job? Before you order the pizza and invite some friends over, make sure you know what you’re doing.
Here are my tips to paint it right.
PREPPING THE PAINTING AREA
I often say that planning for a project can take as long, or longer, than the renovation itself. That stands true even when a job may seem smaller, like painting. Doing the proper prep work is the key difference between a paint job that looks like it was done by a pro — or an amateur.
Give your baseboards a good dusting by running a damp cloth over them. Do you need to wash all your walls? For bathrooms and kitchens where you might see grease or grime buildup, you’ll want to. If you live in a smoker’s home, nicotine can build up on walls, so you’ll want to give them a scrub. In smokefree bedrooms, and other low-activity areas, you can probably get away with skipping it.
What else do you need to do before making your first brush stroke?
You’ll need to make any small repairs to your drywall or plaster. Even if you’ve only hung a couple of photos in the room, you’ll want to fill in those nail holes. Give the area a light sanding before you use your filling compound — and again when the compound dries.
Finally — and I can’t stress this enough — use a proper drop cloth to protect your furniture and flooring in case of a spill. When paint starts splashing around, some old newspapers aren’t going to cut it, believe me.
PRIME CONDITIONS TO PAINT
Now, you want your painted walls to have a nice smooth finish, but did you know the best way to get paint to adhere to a surface is to make it rough and uneven? This lets the paint latch on to the microscopic grooves created and hold on to it tight.
Sure, you could sand an entire wall, but that can take forever. This is when we would bring out the primer — a paint that seals to the surface and creates the right texture for your paint to stick.
When is primer a must-use item? When you’re painting over an oil-based paint with a latex paint, painting a lighter shade over darker, transitioning from high to low sheens, or if you’re painting drywall, raw wood, or metal surfaces.
It’s reasons like these I don’t like using products that combine paint and primer. Why? Well, when you’re priming, you’re sealing the surface and preparing it so the paint can adhere.
Not all primers are meant for the same function. Some are meant to suppress stains or mould. There are tinted primers that make finished paint shades appear more saturated. In some cases, using a tinted primer may save you the need to apply multiple coats of paint on your walls to get the true colour — in other words, saving you a lot of extra work.
Start your painting project by using a brush to go around the edges of the ceiling and baseboards. Unless you’ve got the steady hand of an artist, put some painter’s tape over your baseboards, ceiling edges and power outlets.
Using your roller, apply paint from top to bottom. Once it has started to dry, leave it alone; by painting over it again, you could leave marks and streaks.
Once the entire wall is dry, assess if you need to add another coat.
Hopefully you’ve got a nice long brush to save your back some pain!