House Painting: 10 Tips for Painting Your New House
House Painting Tips and Guidelines
Painting is not intuitive, though it should be. Except for exterior painting, home painting is just one of those jobs that doesn’t sound hard until you give it a go. After all, most people are familiar with the process of applying paint to a flat surface. But as any professional painter will tell you, a high-quality paint job requires skill and experience.
So, what are the secrets of professional painters? How do they paint so fast without sacrificing quality? To apply a perfectly smooth coat of paint to your walls, you’ll need some practice. Every painter has a different method of painting, and you’ll never discover yours if you don’t give interior painting a go.
If you choose to go the DIY route when house painting, you will definitely benefit from the following time-saving tips, hacks, and recommendations.
1. Don’t cheap out on paint and brushes
A good quality paintbrush will last you a lifetime with proper cleaning. On the other hand, cheap brushes will make it seem as if you smeared paint on the wall with a garden rake. High-quality brushes and rollers give excellent coverage and ensure you’re not wasting time and paint on re-application. Other must-have tools and materials for your painting project, from sanding and priming to finishing touches, include:
- Paint roller extension poles
- Drop cloths
- Paint tray
- Painter’s tape
- Sandpaper
- Rags
- Putty knife
2. Conduct a visual inspection and prep the walls
Before painting a room, be sure to check the walls for any cracked, flaking, or peeling areas. Start with a smooth surface by sanding to remove burrs and rough spots. Consider getting a sanding pole to ensure you can effectively sand the walls from the baseboard up to the ceiling.
Use a tack cloth to clean the surface before painting. A clean surface helps ensure flawless results because you won’t be painting over dust or grime. Greasy spots may also need a bit of washing with soap. Be sure to rinse with clean water and let the walls dry completely before applying a coat of paint.
If you’re undertaking an exterior painting project, wash your house down before painting. Doing so gets rid of the soot, dust, and visible junk that may compromise the quality of your paint job.
3. Protect anything you don’t want painted
You don’t want to damage any of your furnishings. If you can’t relocate your furniture or décor, it’s advisable to push all your items to the center of the room and cover them with plastic sheeting. Make sure to cover your floors, shelving and cabinetry. Grab a roll of painter’s tape and apply it to anything you don’t want painted, and remove light switches and outlet covers.
4. Apply a coat of primer
After filling cracks and sanding away imperfections, it’s essential to use a primer to avoid seeing patched areas after applying the final coat of paint. A primer does a great job of concealing patched areas and ensures the finish paint coat will be more vibrant.
A primer works by sealing the original matter, preventing the paint from soaking in. As such, you’ll need fewer coats of paint. Plus, you can get primers with stain-blocking properties to cover stains and other discolorations. Most professionals will tint the primer with the color of the finish paint, as this reduces the number of topcoats they’ll need.
5. Mix your paint colors thoroughly
It’s advisable to mix your paint in one large bucket. Just mixing enough paint for one wall can lead to color inconsistencies, which might even require re-application. Use a wooden paint stick to mix the paint thoroughly to avoid the separation of ingredients.
6. Eliminate brush and lap marks with paint extender
The secret to a paint finish that’s free of noticeable brush strokes when painting the interior of your home is to mix a paint extender or paint conditioner into your paint. An extender prolongs paint drying time, which allows you to overlap without leaving lap marks. Additionally, it levels out the paint, which improves flow and eliminates brushstrokes. It also smooths out paint texture so you can salvage clotted paint.
7. Paint the trim first, then the ceiling and walls
Most DIY painters cut in all the room’s corners before filling a wall with paint. If you want a seamless look, paint from the ceiling downward and finish one wall before starting on another. Paint the trim first – you don’t have to be neat as long as you get a smooth finish on the wood.
Afterward, you can work on the ceiling before painting the walls. Doing so prevents paint drips and splatters because you’re able to paint over your mistakes as you work your way down the walls.
8. Use latex or nitrile gloves
Water-based paint is easy to clean off your hands. However, the same can’t be said for enamel or oil-based paint. Latex gloves or nitrile gloves will keep your hands clean throughout the process and ensure you can easily take breaks whenever you need them.
Chemical-resistant gloves also protect your hands from solvents and other chemicals when mixing paint or cleaning painting equipment. Some of the chemicals in paint can irritate the skin or cause an allergic reaction, so it’s best to use gloves.
9. Don’t forget ventilation
There’s nothing quite as dull as watching paint dry. You can hasten the house painting process by increasing ventilation in a room, by opening windows and using fans.
It’s also recommended to wait for dry weather to undertake a painting project, but this isn’t always possible. Humidity means drips and an extremely slow drying process. The key is to work slowly and ensure every coat of paint is dry before applying another one.
10. Let the roller do the work
Paint brushes and rollers leave completely different paint textures. Using a paintbrush along the corners and a roller everywhere else will lead to noticeably different textures. The key is to brush on the paint and roll it out before it dries.
The amount of time your project will take will depend on the size of the room and your painting technique. Be sure to budget more time than you think you’ll need for house painting, and make sure to take the preparation and cleanup processes into account.
Tampa Bay Painting Company – The Best in the Business
Tampa Bay Painting Company provides professional interior and exterior painting services in St. Petersburg. Anyone can apply a coat of paint. But not everyone is a professional painter. With our professional painting services at your service, you’re assured of quality work that’s detailed to perfection.
