Jul 22 2010
8 Things to Keep in Mind on Your Next Painting Job
Interior painting is something that many homeowners dread even though it can easily liven up a home and give it a fresh face. If you have any knowledge of what to do and how to do it efficiently, painting you home’s interior of your home won’t be too bad. Here are some basic tips and pieces of advice for your next home project involving interior decorating.
1. One day of prepping and painting an area isn’t enough. Doing this will make you feel rushed, which can lead to you doing a bad paint job. A day to prep the area for painting should be set aside. You can even do this a few days before painting id the room doesn’t see too much use. You day of preparation should include moving furniture, laying down drop clothes, taping the walls and gathering all necessary supplies in the room.
2. Damaged walls shouldn’t be painted over. Make sure to look over the room’s walls and fix any crack or holes there may be before you try to paint the room. Drywall kits and sanding will easily fix cracks and holes. So that there will be time to sand the area down and time for the drywall plaster to dry, make sure that you do it all a day before you paint.
3. Be sure to use the right brush for the right job. Go with natural bristles on your brush if you are using an oil-based paint. If the paint is water based or latex be sure to buy synthetic bristled brushes, as they will work best with this type of paint. Foam rollers will be necessary for larger painting areas. Paint around the trim and windows with smaller brushes.
4. If the professional look is what you are going for on your walls you will definitely need to use a primer before painting. Your paint will go on much smoother and you will avoid tainting the color with a previous wall color by using a primer. If your base coat color and primer color are tinted to match you may be able to avoid a second coat of base color on the walls.
5.Painter’s blue tape is best for making sure that you don’t get paint on areas such as doorway frames, trim and windows. If you don’t want paint to go in a certain area apply this tape to the surface of the area. If you don’t want paint to seep into an area be sure to apply this tape to the surface of the area. When the paint has dried, simply remove the tape from the area and don’t worry at all about any paint coming with it.
6. Mistakes may happen, and because of that make sure to have plenty of old rags around. It is highly likely that you might drop paint on the trip or that your brush may touch something it wasn’t supposed to.
7. If you want an even coat you have to make sure to paint in even strokes. You’ll need plenty of light to see when you are painting and to see spots you may have missed.
8. Future fixes and touch-ups should be done with any leftover paint you have. Left over paint should be kept for future touch-ups or fixes. Pour your left over paint in a tight lidded glass jar if you don’t want to keep a large paint can around for such a small amount of paint. The date, the room the paint was used in and its exact color should all be labeled on the jar.
You don’t have to be scared of painting the interior of your home. You will soon be on your way to changing your room’s décor if you simple follow these easy tips.
Avo Barsoumian has been in the home flooring and interior design industry for over 25 years. He is the owner of Carpet Wagon, a family owned carpet installation company in Southern California. They have a huge selection of elegant hardwood flooring, beautiful laminate flooring and plush carpeting. Searching for that perfect carpet estimate for your new home or