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Do you know why your plaster walls aren’t holding paint? Although every professional painter has their own methods and techniques for carrying out tasks, there are certain secrets of house painting that all professionals know and follow.
Sanding Comes First
To achieve a well-painted wall or wood surface, you must first make it smooth and polished. Experienced painters prioritize sanding more than painting because they spend most of their time on sanding. Sanding evens out surfaces and fills in holes and wall imperfections. It also removes wall or wood flakes.
Use appropriate sandpaper to sand the entire wall from floor to ceiling. For sanding wood, you can use a woodworking sander. It’s best to sand the wall vertically and horizontally once each. Avoid applying too much pressure during sanding.
Don’t Forget the Primer Before Painting
Before painting, professionals fill all holes and bumps with putty. However, if you paint directly onto putty, it can absorb paint moisture and make it matte. After drying, these spots will be clearly distinguished from the rest of the wall. To avoid this, professionals use a primer before painting.
Secure Trim with a Putty Knife
At the end of the painting process and after applying putty to the moldings, if you notice paint has dripped on them, it will be a hassle. To prevent paint from dripping on the moldings, painters use masking tape. But professionals have a trick; after sticking the tape, they run a putty knife over it to ensure it adheres well to the molding and prevents paint from seeping through its edges. 2 or 5 cm wide masking tape is perfect for covering edges and moldings.
These are just some of the secrets professionals keep close to their chests when it comes to painting residential and commercial spaces.
Thin the Paint
The secret to clean and invisible brush strokes lies in thinning the paint. Thinning the paint has two advantages. First, it slows down the drying speed of the paint, giving you more time for corrections. If you make corrections on dried paint, brush strokes will remain on the wall. On the other hand, thin paint shows fewer brush strokes and stains. Professionals thin the paint for painting walls, wood, cabinets, and doors.
Mark the Boundary Between the Wall and Ceiling
Usually, when painting the upper part of the walls, the ceiling also gets painted, and it’s almost impossible to draw a straight line at the top of the wall without painting the ceiling. Professionals have a simple trick. They run a screw along the perimeter of the ceiling and mark a line. When painting the edge of the wall, the brush tip sinks into this narrow groove and does not stray from the line, thus preventing the ceiling from getting painted.
Canvas Drop Cloth Instead of Plastic Sheets
Professional painters never use plastic sheets to cover surfaces when painting a house. Plastic sheets are too thin to prevent paint drips from penetrating, resulting in stains on the floor. Even if you use thick plastic, wet paint will stick to your shoes and spread everywhere. The best option is canvas drop cloths.
Canvas does not slip, and it absorbs paint well. Only when painting the ceiling, you will need a large cloth to cover the entire room. In other cases, a cloth with a width of about one meter that covers the entire length of the wall is suitable for floor protection and is easily movable.
Paint Walls One by One
You might think the simple method is to paint the entire room at once in one step. However, professionals first paint the edges of a wall, immediately roll the entire wall with a paint roller, and then move on to the next wall. This method ensures that the brush strokes and roller marks blend well.
Cover Unused Paint Bucket and Tools with a Damp Cloth to Prevent Drying.
Do Not Cover Windows, Scratch Them
Do not waste your time covering windows and protecting glass while painting. Focus on your work and don’t worry about paint drips on the glass. When the paint dries, it can be easily removed with a blade or a scraper.
Mix Paints Together
Different paint cans of the same color may vary slightly. If you use two paint cans for one wall, this difference may be noticeable. Professionals usually mix paint cans together in a larger gallon before use to eliminate this issue.
Some professionals use paint directly from the large gallon, although it is heavier and more difficult to transport, it is more suitable for working with a roller.
Mixing paints is one of the most difficult tasks in painting, and you need to have sufficient knowledge and principles of warm and cool colors to achieve your desired color by mixing them. Each color has its own specific uses that are placed in the color cycle and should be used in their proper place. In children’s painting classes, they first teach them the primary colors and make their eyes accustomed to these colors; then gradually teach them to mix several colors together. At the beginning of painting, they ask their parents for a coloring book so that children become familiar with various shapes; gradually they move on to drawing shapes, and then they teach them fixed colors like the color of green trees, the color of the sea blue, the color of the sky blue, and so on to remain in their minds.
Clean the Roller
Regardless of the price of the paint roller you buy, wash it well before the first use so that dust and dirt particles from the roller do not settle on the work during painting. The reason for the paint dripping with the roller is the same. Wash the paint roller with water and a small amount of liquid soap and move your hand up and down on the roller and vice versa to separate all excess fiber particles. There is no need to dry the roller, and you can use it immediately.
Clean the Walls
One of the painting tips is cleaning the walls from old paint; paint does not adhere well to dirty and greasy surfaces. Places such as kitchen ceilings, painted walls in children’s rooms, and around electrical switches that are touched with dirty hands do not paint well. Professionals clean these surfaces first and then proceed with painting them.
Appropriately Load the Paint Brush
Professional painters dip the paintbrush into the paint bucket, tap the edges of the bucket a few times to separate large drops of paint, and then start painting. But beginners and novices use a different method. They dip the paintbrush into the paint and then by pulling the edges of the paintbrush into the walls of the bucket, they empty more paint from the brush. Painting the paintbrush and immediately drying it does not seem very wise.
Paint Until It Doesn’t Spot
When the paintbrush is fully saturated with paint, paint may spot on the edges and corners of the work and spread. The solution to this problem is to first draw the tip of the paintbrush on the surface. When the amount of paint on the paintbrush decreases, engage more of the paintbrush and draw on the surface. Move the paintbrush in a way that the width of the paintbrush follows the path of its tip and presses the paint onto the surface. You may have to do this several times at each point to completely cover it with paint, but rest assured that the paint will not spot on the wall.