Daily Tip: Taping

Alright so below I have an example of incorrect and correct taping. The room was originally teal and we painted it pink. This is a spot between two window frames. The left side was done correctly and the right was not. What you have to remember when taping off your trim is to hang your tape back on your trim a little establishing a new line. If you try to put it exactly where the dividing line is between wall and trim then you may run into the problem of crooked lines from the previous painters. This was the case here. On the other hand if you have freshly painted the trim recently and have gone onto the wall with that paint then in this case you would be ok to place the tape on the dividing line between wall and trim. 

Quick Tip : Colors with a deep base

Typically when a color is dark it's important to use a dark primer. Most stores recommend gray. The store rep should tell you this, but sometimes you get a new employee that does not know or they are just not paying attention. For this reason it's good for you to be prepared before your purchase. 

From the pictures above you can see a good example of a dark color blue that needed a gray primer applied first. These walls took three coats. Without the gray it could have easily took 4 or 5. 

Daily tip: rolling techniques

There are several ways you can roll a wall when it comes to painting. The difference is there are few that can make it look good when you are done. Look at how below you have things in the way making it difficult to roll with a roller full of paint. 

So what you want to do is spread it out in the middle and then come back and fill it in. That will stop a thick bead of paint from building up at the top and bottom of where you are rolling at. 

Now here is another scenario. Have you ever watched HGTV when they have a show involving painting? Well sometimes you may see them with the roller going every which way. Maybe you have even done this at home. It just needs to get covered up right? Well you get what you see below which is incorrect. This can lead to lines in the paint and areas being thicker than others etc... 

Here is the correct way. Use complete strokes and go all the way up and all the way down. Stay a little to the right from where you just rolled and work back to the left filling that short gap in. Repeat. 

Below is how it should look when done correctly. 

Daily tip

Always spot prime your wall repairs if using any paint that has a sheen. That would be semi-gloss, eggshell, matte, or satin finish. Just find yourself a small whizz roller, I do not recommend using a brush in the middle of walls to prime. The brush strokes show later making for an ugly paint job. 

Be careful! If using a quick mix powdered joint compound for repairs you need to use the appropriate primer! If in doubt ask the store where you are getting your paints.  Not just any primer or flat paint will stick to that stuff. On the other hand if using a pre mixed joint compound no issues should arise with adhesion. 

It's so easy you can teach your wife to do it!

Some painting tips....

So first things first when starting a painting project, you should always establish what us painters call a shop area as seen below. Simply an area to put all of your equipment. It's good to be a little organized. Us professionals are working in people's houses where they live, so it is very important for us to clean up periodically throughout the day and especially at the end of the day. 

In the next picture below you can see some very wide areas where I have cut in with my brush and mini roller. This is necessary so when the big roller is used there is no problem with having to try and get very close to the edges. We don't want to bump anything we are not painting. 

Now I'm going to show you the difference between my paint job and a less experienced painter. Below you see where I have brushed on some paint next to some trim. This is satisfactory by my standards. The difference is if you are working with any paint that has a shine to it you should use a mini roller to eliminate as much of the brush strokes as possible or they will show up which can look ugly to some. 

To avoid this happening you can either roll very close to the edge with the big roller, which as I said before can be problematic. Or you can use a mini roller like I do which is easier to control. To use this method you have to get all the excess paint off the roller like I have below. 

Then proceed to work it in

Now lets talk about using your brush to cut in. If you are simply dipping it and putting the brush directly against the edge of the trim you have taped off this would be incorrect. What you need to do is similar to what I showed you above with the mini roller. Get all the excess paint off the brush by first wiping it on the sides of your bucket and then spread the paint a little above the area. 

Proceed to work it in. 

At this point you may be asking yourself why can't you just mush it in since there is blue tape? Well you can actually, but you are taking more of a risk of the paint seeping through the tape. This is why I try to pretend the tape is not there. For me the tape is for splatters of the roller, not because I can't free hand cutting in next to the trim. I have done jobs where I mushed the paint up on the tape and it seeped through, but other times it has not seeped through. A lot of times it depends on what tape you use and who is doing the taping. We use 3m blue tape. 

Another trick of the trade is using these mini rollers in corners of walls. It eliminates the need of a brush and saves a ton of time. Don't forget you need to make sure it is one with the fibers on the end though. 

Since this was a hallway we have some handrails. It can save you some time, prep materials, and effort by just taking them off. If you have already thought this far ahead, then I have another tip for you. Don't take it off from the wall. Leave the bracket on the wall and take it off from underneath the handrail. This is because a lot of times the screws won't go back in and tighten up sometimes or other times the drywall will actually come off with the rail making for even more patchwork. 

Ok last lesson for today. If for instance you have a corner where there is two colors that meet from different rooms. Typically you should once again get the excess paint off your brush close to the edge. 

Proceed to pull the paint towards the edge. Now you don't have to worry much about the paint wrapping around the corner. If some does go around the edge keep a damp cloth with you to wipe it. This is much more efficient than taping the other side you don't want to get paint on. Take one more pass with your mini roller and done a nice crisp dividing line between rooms. I hope at least one of these tips helped!!! Happy painting!!

Painting Weems & Plath

Ahh so remember I promised from an earlier entry I'd show the finished product of this building? Now it is all done! I wasn't just gonna leave it looking like that. 

                After power washing

For painting this establishment which consists of brick and wood first we scraped all the peeling paint. This process took two people half a day to do.  We then applied seal grip latex primer tinted to the finish color for the entire area to be painted. This gave us the adhesion needed for the top coat of paint and sealed down all of the rest of the peeling areas. The finish coat of paint was a Pittsburgh paints product called "Timeless" and we usually get it in a satin finish for exteriors. As you can see here below we had to brush down every single groove between each board. This is very time consuming, but a necessary step to a great finished product. Just in case you were wondering we didn't have anything to do with painting the white letters. We only removed them so they could get new ones. 

                     After Painting

Painting a master bedroom

  Here we have a room in an area that had not been painted since the house was built. In this case the home owners only wanted the walls painted. The color they selected was called "macadamia". The brand of paint used was Sherwin Williams Cashmere, and the sheen was flat. Below I have some before, during, and after shots of the project. 

                      BEFORE

                    DURING

                          AFTER

                     BEFORE

We don't skip any steps as you can see everything gets covered up with plastic. 

                      DURING

                         AFTER

 The ceilings in this room are about 15 ft at the highest point. I had to use an 8 ft ladder. With me being 6ft tall I just barely reached!

A painters best friend can sometimes be blue tape. Some corners are just too tight, and even us professionals need a little help. 

Another satisfied customer! You know you did good when you are all done doing something for someone and they give you brownies. Mmm mmm.