The Insider's Guide To Painting Your Home
Painting your home whether you use a professional or do it yourself can be much easier with a few tips from the pros. The reason the pros are the pros is from the experience they gain from job to job.
Let's face it nothing is perfect on any job and they are all unique to themselves, one paint may not work the same on each project, one brush may not work with different paints so let's review some tips we have gained in our painting experience.
- Buy the best paint possible, here is one area not to "cheap out" when you purchase that $20 gallon of paint and think you saved money but now have to put three, four coats of paint on you have just wasted more of your own time you could have been spending with your family.
- Cheap paint also doesn't clean easily and can be easily marked, in some cases just by putting your finger on the wall. Expect to pay at least $45 a gallon
- Use a quality caulk when working on any trim such as baseboard, door and window trim. A less expensive caulk will shrink which will result in cracks and gaps. Expect to pay at least $5 a tube for a quality caulk
- Put two coats on the wall. It just looks better, don't skip that second coat, your wall will thank you, it will be easier to clean, look more uniform and the color truer
- Buy quality roller covers and tape. If you listen to one tip this is it, a cheap roller cover may release fuzz on your brand new wall, take you longer to paint the wall and reduce the quality of the finish
- When working on hardwood floors put brown paper under the dropcloth closest to the wall your painting (you will thank me later) It will catch all the paint that will get by the dropcloth, remember do not tape anything to the hardwood floor, tape to the baseboard in case the finish of your floor is not stable. We have seen floor finishes come up with tape and it's not the fault of the tape.
- Roll out of a five-gallon bucket, it is so much easier than a pan on the floor. You will need a roller grid, a quality handle, sleeve and a poll that retracts and extends
- Sand the walls between coats, I can't stress this one enough, if your not a pro you may not see all the imperfections on your walls, simply use a sanding pole and sandpaper and sand the wall after your first coat. It will make your finish much better
These are just some of the tips we have learned over the years, by learning from experience and mistakes we can share some of this knowledge with you if you decide to paint your home yourself use them to make things easier, better and for a pro like job.
If you need help we are here to assist and give you a proposal for any of your painting needs
