Paint Like the pros

Tips & Tricks To Paint Like The Pros 

October 2, 2023

So you want to paint a room or two in your house but you don’t want to make a mess, ruin furniture, or make the space look like a preschooler painted it? Our painters here at Jerry Enos have years of experience under our belts and have seen it all in terms of DIY paint jobs gone wrong. If you are adamant about painting on your own, here are some of our tips to help you get the outcome you desire without making a huge mistake in the process. 

Remove Everything From the Room 

This may seem like an obvious tip but you would be amazed at the number of homeowners who take a chance with furniture by leaving it in the room. Not only can drips happen (and they do – even to the professionals) but the furniture could seriously get in the way of doing the job efficiently and professionally.

So, remove as much furniture as much as possible. Unless something is nailed to the wall or the floor, get it out of there to avoid accidents and to give yourself room to work. 

Fix Unsightly Wall Flaws 

It can be tempting to just paint over a stain, nail hole or uneven wall. Unfortunately, paint can’t fix the flaws in a wall. That’s why professionals make it a priority to fix the flaws by using stain-covering primer, filling the holes with putty, and sanding down uneven parts to make the surface look as smooth as silk. 

Use Tinted Primer 

Painting a room a darker color or trying to cover previously used paint? A tinted primer may be the way to go to reduce the number of coats and ensure that the paint is evenly distributed on the surface. Tinted primer does a better job of concealing patched areas and covering up the old paint color. 

Clean Up Drips and Accidents ASAP 

Once a professional painter notices a drip, a run, or a glob of paint they immediately clean it up by using a wet brush or a damp cloth they keep nearby. The longer a mistake is allowed to dry, the more difficult it will be to repair it. A drip that is allowed to completely dry will need to be scraped off, sanded down and a new coat of paint placed over it. That’s a lot of work for a small mistake. Catch those drips or roller marks fast for an easy fix. 

Buy Quality Paint and Equipment

Using high-quality paints, brushes and rollers won’t guarantee a perfect paint project but it will help your paint last longer, go on smoother, and present well. Choosing cheaper paints may cause it to not adhere well in the drying process. Additionally, cheap rollers and brushes tend to shed and cause bristles and roller naps to get stuck in the paint. You get what you pay for is the lesson here. 

Box Your Paint 

If your space is large, you may need more than one gallon of paint to cover all the surfaces. A technique used by professionals to ensure the consistency of the color of the paint is to “Box the Paint.” This means combining two or more gallons of paint in a larger five-gallon tub in order to apply the same shade of paint that may vary by the gallon. 

Check out our weekly blogs to find out more tips and tricks used by our professional painters and make sure your paint project turns out aesthetically pleasing. 

 

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