Nine Ways to Make Your DIY Painting Look Like a Professional
Paint is the cheapest and easiest renovation you can do: it makes everything look fresh and new, hides imperfections, and is something that almost anyone can do with a reasonable level of quality.
If you just read that last part and started shaking your head because your painting projects always turn out terrible—patchy, with visible shine or brush strokes, or a final color that doesn’t seem to match what you picked out at the store—the reason probably isn’t your work ethic or the evil spirit haunting your home. The problem probably lies in your prep work. If all you do before you start applying paint to the walls is apply painter’s tape and cover the furniture, the likelihood that the final paint job will look terrible is actually quite high. Here’s everything you should consider before you dip your brush.
Consider temperature and humidity
Weather can affect the quality of the paint job. Extreme temperature or humidity may negatively affect drying time. Cooler temperatures may thicken the paint, which will extend its drying time. At higher temperatures it may dry too quickly, reducing adhesion. High humidity, which leaves moisture on the walls, will also result in poor-quality paint.
Your home is likely climate controlled, so painting the inside even in extreme weather is certainly possible—just make sure the temperature is between 50 and 90 degrees and the humidity level is between 40 and 60%.
Prepare the walls
It is generally recommended to wash the walls before painting to ensure there is no dust or dirt that could affect adhesion. While you’re at it, look out for cracks, dents, peeling tape or other imperfections and fix everything (including crayon marks or grease stains that will likely bleed through the paint if not wiped off). A small flaw that isn’t noticeable now can become a glaring problem when a fresh coat of paint brings it to the forefront.
Cleaning the walls with a dry microfiber cloth followed by warm water and a sponge is usually sufficient, unless the walls are very dirty. If you’re concerned about this, add a small amount of dishwashing liquid or trisodium phosphate (if your walls are greasy and very dirty), but avoid colored soaps, which can leave a tint.
Choose the right videos
One of the main reasons paint jobs look like crap? Lint on the cover of your roller . The nap of your roller corresponds to the thickness of the fibers. Generally speaking, the smoother the surface of your wall, the less lint the roller coating should be. Paint kitchen cabinets? Snooze 1/4 inch. Painting a brick wall? It’s best to snooze an inch or even 1 1/4 inches. Smaller fibers absorb less paint, while thicker fibers hold more paint: a pile that is too short can cause stains on rough surfaces, while a pile that is too long can add undesirable texture to smooth surfaces. Most interior paint jobs will require between 3/8″ of lint (very smooth walls) and 3/4″ of nap (textured walls such as plaster).
Apply a separate coat of primer
These days, you can buy paint and primer together, which saves a lot of time. But if your walls aren’t in perfect condition, even after cleaning and repairing, you’ll usually get much better results by applying a separate coat of primer. This step may not be 100% necessary for your walls, but taking the extra time to properly prime will ensure the best possible result.
Determine the paint undertone
Almost all paint has an undertone (base color) and a masstone (overall shade). Undertones can be subtle and difficult to discern, which is why it’s important to paint a few samples on the wall before you begin. A paint shade will interact with everything else in the room in ways that aren’t always obvious in the store. For example, you brought home beige paint, but it has a green tint, and suddenly it looks completely wrong on your walls because your wood floors have a yellow tint.
You can find out about the undertone of the paint at the store where you buy it. You can also use a color wheel to compare it to primary colors to understand their shades.
Combine several paint buckets
If you’re painting a small room and only use one can of paint, you’ll be fine. If your project is larger and you’ll be using multiple cans of the same color, you’ll want to combine all the paint into a larger bucket and mix it up, a process called ” packing .” This is a good idea because even if you bought the paint from the same store at the same time, there may be slight differences between cans. Perhaps the pigments did not disperse properly, or the mixing process was a little off. Whatever the reason, even the smallest differences between jars will be incredibly obvious when you switch to a new jar. Boxing eliminates danger.
Check your window tinting
Your windows can ruin the paint color. This is because many windows have a very subtle green tint due to the presence of iron oxide in the glass. This is usually not noticeable to the naked eye, but can give the paint a greenish tint strong enough to make it look inexplicably wrong in daylight. Placing swatches on the wall to judge color is a great idea, but make sure you paint those swatches in an area where they will receive light from your windows. Specimens that look perfect in a more shaded area can suddenly look strange when light hits them through a window.
Determine the color temperature of your lighting
Another problem with lighting is light bulbs. All the light bulbs you use in your light fixtures have a color temperature, and this can affect the appearance of your paint. Generally speaking, bulbs with a higher color temperature will lighten darker paint and dull lighter colors, and vice versa. This means that a paint color that looks stunning in daylight may suddenly look gloomy or dull at night when the lights come on. It’s best to test samples in all lighting conditions to ensure you’ve made the right choice, and replace bulbs as needed to maintain the paint.
You should also check the color rendering index (CRI) of your lamps. This is a rating from 50 to 100 that indicates how accurate the lamp’s color rendering will be. A color rendering index of 90 to 100 will show your paint as accurately as possible, reducing the chance that it will look worse when the sun goes down.
Upload your video
Finally, when painting, don’t be shy with a roller. When initially “loading” paint onto a dry coating, take your time and apply the paint deep into the pile. This may take a few minutes, so take your time – you want a nice damp roller when you hit the wall. When painting, do not roll out the roller until it is used up – recharge it often and keep the pile damp. If you wear out the roller, you’ll be left with streaks and faint marks that may or may not be covered by a second coat, and may or may not haunt you for years afterwards.