We purchased:
- heavy nap roller cover (for thick textured walls)
- roller
- synthetic paint brush
- paint tray
- paper drop cloth
- painter’s tape
Step 1
Prep.
Russell Bates, Benjamin Moore corporate trainer for the southeastern U.S., explained how to properly prep.
“The painting process is really a three-step process,” Bates said. “The first step is prep, and to prepare a surface for painting you should really clean it especially if it’s a kitchen or bathroom that really has residue from food, so you need to clean the walls first, with soap and water works.”
Repair any nail holes with spackling / joint compound.
Step 2
Prime.
Primer is paint that covers and drowns out old paint (especially if it’s bright), bonds to the wall and creates a surface ready to bond with your new paint.
If you repair an area, prime it first. Some paints come with a primer all in one.
And if you’re painting fresh drywall that has never been painted, make sure to prime it first!
Step 3
Tape.
There are so many purported “magical” methods and tools to make the edges look perfect... but the truth is there’s no magic. Painter’s tape (usually blue) is the best tried-and-tested way. Run the tape along the edges where the paint will stop covering the area that you don’t want painted. Make sure to push the tape flat against the wall or the paint will run behind it!
“Taping is intriguing,” Bates said. “Because many contractors are so good at the free hand [they don’t use tape]. But homeowners and people who don’t do a lot of paintings should probably tape most of the time. So the trick here is to get the tape on the surface you’re not going to paint so it keeps you from painting over that area. And then you can use that as a barrier to make sure you have an easier time cutting into the color that you’re going to paint with.”
Step 4
Paint.
You may have to paint a couple of coats (wait for the paint to dry completely in between coats!). For new drywall, Bates suggests three coats. If you’re just repainting over a wall you might get away with one coat, unless the paint color is a bright finish, then you’ll probably need two coats.
Painters often start by painting a “W” on the wall using the roller so it spreads out the paint and confines them to one section at a time. They fill in the “W” and then move onto another section by painting a new “W.”
Step 5
Pull off the tape ASAP!
“Really the trick to making painting work well is don’t let the paint sit on there long after painting!” Bates said. “So go ahead and pull it off very quickly even while the paint is wet. It’s okay to pull it off as long as you pull it off at an angle and don’t let the tape hit the wet paint. Because the longer you let the tape stay on the wall, the more likely it is to want to stick on the surface of the wall and you’re going to have to scrape it off and stuff like that!”
You just got results at home!
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