A well done house painting project is more than being handy with a brush, and more than cleaning up afterward. There are a few things to bear in mind that the average homeowner probably never thinks of, things that can prevent frustration during the project and ensure everything turns out beautiful.
At Piedmont Professional Painters we specialize in residential painting projects. These tips are things we incorporate into every job, but we thought we’d share here to help households throughout Greensboro, Winston Salem, and High Point.
1. Determine whether your old paint was latex or oil-based.
“Just throw another coat of paint on and it’ll be fine!” Not exactly.
If you’ve lived in your home for many years and were responsible for the last coat of paint, you may remember which kind you used. But if you’ve moved into a home in the last few years, you likely have no idea what the last owner used. It’s not obvious to the naked eye, either.
There’s a fairly simple test you can perform on the surface to answer that, which again is something we do on each job and recommend it to anyone considering house painting.
Why is this step so important?
Chemically speaking, latex and oil paints don’t mix. If you had one type before and throw the other type of paint over top it, it’s likely to start peeling off before long. When you’re making the investment to re-paint your home, that’s a deal breaker.
2. Choosing the Right Color.
If you’re looking for a refresher of the same color, we can help you match the color to ensure it will not change the look of the space in a way you weren’t expecting. That said, we typically recommend you repaint an entire room and not only certain walls of the same color, since fresh paint will still look slightly different than the older paint of the other walls.
Time for a change? If you’re looking to change up the room’s tone instead, you may find that selecting a new color is challenging. Too dark and the room looks small or enveloping; too light and it can look clinical.
What matches your decor? What complements furniture and other items in the room? We can help you determine that. In fact, we have a Sherwin Williams color consultant on call we can use to lend expertise to your project. Call
3. Create A Work Flow For Your House Painting.
Where you start your house painting project matters. You don’t want to be in the middle of a project and realize it’s bigger than you thought it was — that moment where you realize you’re not going to finish when you thought. All that moved furniture and wall decor that you were sure was going to be back in place in a day or so?
Maybe not, and that’s frustrating.
Be conscious of which areas of your home will be impacted most by painting them and moving everything, and paint in an order that addresses those first. Leave yourself spots in your to-do list to stop if you need to, places that if you stopped it wouldn’t affect your life too significantly.
On top of that, here are a few other techniques you can use to make painting your house faster:
- Use primer first if you’ve covered any holes in the walls with drywall compound, caulk, or putty. Otherwise the new paint can look blotchy against the surrounding wall and stick out like a sore thumb. The primer will help ensure an even finish.
- If your rooms require several buckets of paint, mix them all together into a larger bucket. This helps ensure consistent color throughout the whole space instead of trying to get it right every successive bucket you open, and prevents you from having to go back over areas a second time to match them.
- If you’re using a roller, use long, even strokes that cover the wall’s full height. Keep the roller wet while doing this, and you can avoid lap marks from smaller strokes. You’ll spend a lot less time covering areas this way.
- Paint the trim first, then the walls and ceilings. It’s easier to tape off the edges this way, and if you do accidentally get any trim paint on the adjoining wall, you can cover it when you paint the wall next. This way you’re not doubling back to re-paint something you already worked on.
- Thick canvas drops stay in place better than plastic ones, and paint doesn’t dry as quickly on plastic drops, which creates a slip hazard.
Hope this was helpful for you on your next house painting project! If you’d like some assistance, give us a call today!
