Priming and Painting

Most people know how to paint with brushes or rollers because it's a fairly easy process. But there are several tips and techniques we've learned to get better results and save you time and effort on your next project.

By the way, these tips and techniques apply to both primers and finish paints.

Masking With Tape

The first time saver we recommend is to mask off any adjoining surfaces you don't want to get painted. It actually takes a little more prep time, but with proper masking you can paint a little faster because you don't have to worry about making perfect strokes.

There are a variety of masking products: tapes, plastics and tape-plastic or tape-paper combos. The combination products may be a bit more expensive, but can really speed up the job.

You want to use tapes that are sticky enough to stay on during the painting process and not let paint seep under them. But you don't want tape that is so sticky that it takes off the existing paint when you pull it off. Always run a putty knife along the edge of the masking tape to guarantee a good seal and to keep paint from seeping under the tape.

Liquid Masking

Most people don't bother masking off the glass on multi-lite windows because of the time involved, so painting them usually requires a lot of care and a lot of time.

One solution we found is an acrylic latex product specially formulated for windows that primes and seals wood trim as well as masks off the glazing quickly and efficiently.

It goes over the wood as a thick, white paste which you lap over the glass, but it dries as a clear, thin sheet. After finish painting it sticks solidly to the wood but, after scoring the edge with a sharp knife, it peels away from the glass, leaving a clean, unpainted surface.

Choosing Brushes

Brushes come in many sizes to fit any kind of painting job. Brushes 3" to 4" wide are designed for walls and doors and 1/2" to 2" wide brushes for cutting in around walls and painting trim.

Most brush bristles are cut straight across, but some are cut at an angle to help get paint into tight corners and along angles.

Brushes are made with both natural (hog/ox) bristles and synthetic bristles. The natural bristle brushes work well with alkyd-based paints, but they absorb water so aren't recommended for latex paints. Synthetic bristles don't absorb water, so they work best with latex paints.

Choosing Roller Naps

Synthetic covers work well with most paints, especially latex. But natural materials like lamb's wool or mohair are more likely to produce a smooth finish if you're rolling out an alkyd-based paint.

Roller covers are manufactured with a variety of nap (fibers) depths.

• A 1/4" nap cover produces the smoothest finish, and works best on the flattest surfaces.
• A 3/8" nap cover is used most often. It doesn't produce as smooth a finish, but the longer nap forces paint into small holes and cracks which are commonplace flaws in most ceilings and walls.
• Deeper nap covers are used to fill in the spaces on rougher surfaces like ceilings and textured walls, plaster, stucco and concrete.

Boxing Finish Paint

If you're planning a big job that requires more than a single gallon of any color, you run the risk of getting slightly different shades of what's supposed to be the same color.

But you can make sure all the paint's uniform by " boxing the paint." That means pouring half a gallon of paint into an empty container, pouring another half gallon in from another can of the same color, stirring them together, pouring that mixture back into the first two gallons and stirring those together.

Do that for each gallon of that color, and they'll end up exactly the same shade.

Cutting In Before Rolling Out

Most ceilings and walls can be painted with a roller, but the roller's shape makes it hard to get into the corners and tight angles along edges.

Painters will usually start a job by cutting in along the edges with a brush, spreading a band of paint a few inches wide to cover areas the roller can't reach.

TIP: It's tempting to cut in a whole room first and then use the roller. But it's better to cut in a manageable area, then roll it. This way, you keep a wet edge (see below) and never paint over dried paint.

Keeping a Wet Edge

Painters always try to stroke or roll the paint from dry areas back into wet areas. That way, a coat of paint always blends back into itself to create a smooth, continuous layer.

That's what's called "keeping a wet edge," and it's most critical with latex paint in a warm area when the paint seems to dry seconds after you put it on. So you have to move fast under these conditions.

If you paint one area and it dries, it will often produce a lap mark at the edge of the dry paint if painted over again. It may not show when wet, but the lap mark is visible when dry.

Using Rollers

When you're rolling out a ceiling or a wall, it's nice to have an extension handle which screws into the handle of your roller and allows you to reach down without much strain. It also allows you to reach up to the ceiling without a ladder (although you'll still need a ladder for cutting in with a brush).

Besides keeping a wet edge, the only other trick with rolling out paint is to get an even coat across the whole wall or ceiling.

Work in small sections, about 4' x 2'. First, load up the roller with paint so it's full all the way around, but not dripping wet. Start high and roll up and down in the shapes of Ns and Ws. Then roll over the Ns and Ws to cover the entire surface with paint.

Finally, smooth out the section by rolling down from the top to the bottom of the section, lifting the roller off the wall after each downward stroke.

This works equally well on walls or ceilings, but if you're painting a ceiling wear a hat because there's bound to be some paint coming down off the roller.

Painting Trim

The main consideration with painting trim (and walls) is keeping a wet edge and avoiding any lap marks.

Always paint from a dry area back to a wet area. Of course, this is less critical if you're using an alkyd-based paint which dries more slowly than latex. Then your main concern is applying a smooth, even coat.

TIP: Occasionally, one or two bristles will spring out of the pack making it hard to paint neatly. Just cut those bristles off back at the handle or yank them out.

Using Sprayers

Paint sprayers are often the choice of professionals who want to lay down the smoothest finish possible. And they may be appropriate for your job, but beware of the wind direction, overspray, and cover everything that would be harmed by it, including yourself.

Many pros thin down their paint a bit so it won't clog the sprayer's nozzle. Latex paints which can't be thinned are too thick for some sprayers. Alkyd-based paints can be thinned with mineral spirits or paint thinner so those usually work best in sprayers.