5 of the most common interior painting mistakes
Painting the interior of a home can be the most important and cost effective way to give your home a face lift. Although many DIY painters think that painting can be easy they often run into these 5 common mistakes.
1. Pulling painters tape up AFTER the paint has dried. When you are using painters tape you want to pull the tape BEFORE the paint has time to dry, you also want to make sure you don’t pull the tape too soon when the paint is still very wet you want to find the sweet spot which is typically about 10-20 minutes after you apply the paint. If you pull the paint when the paint is too wet then the lines will not be crisp and if you pull the tape when the paint is too dry the paint will create a bridge and you will pull paint off of the wall.
2. Understanding how much paint you’ll need. Buying the right amount of paint can be tricky. Every paint can tells you how many square feet it will cover. It is important to measure the surface and see how many square feet of wall surface there is on the project you are painting. This is where it can be tricky. When you are figure out how much paint you will need keep in mind that more often than not you will need two coats. Also it is important to remember that it is better to buy too much paint than not enough.
3. When to repaint a room. Typically you should repaint interior walls every 3-5 years as paint can dull over time.
4. Clean your tools at the end of each day. When you have finished your project make sure you clean all your brushes, rollers and trays afterwards to use on a future project. If you are finished for the day and continuing the project the next day or a couple days later you can wrap your paint covered tools in painters plastic or a garbage bag. You must make sure the plastic is wrapped airtight around your tools otherwise they will dry out.
5. Don’t overload your brush. When you load your brush with paint you do not need to dip the brush in paint all the way up to the metal. You only need to dip the brush so that 1/3 of the bristles are covered in paint.
These 5 common mistakes can be easily avoided and make your next painting project go by much smoother.
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/1453284