The fool learns by doing a wrong while the wise learns just by observing! Home painting seems to be mundane and an everyday task but you would be surprised to know that you can definitely learn something from a paint job done wrong!
Read on to find out things you can easily avoid. While your neighbors taught you something or two about a paint job done hastily, you can show them how to do it right.
1. Not Washing the Walls
Just going by the assumption that the walls are clean, can be a big mistake. Paint adheres better to clean and smooth surfaces.
2. Taping the Edges
While your DIY neighbor might have done it with the good intentions of guarding against misstrokes, it can bring its own problems. Paint can either bleed under the tape or it can also get peeled off when the tape is removed.
3. Using Rollers Instead Of Angled Brushes
A seasoned professional will know that an angled brush can do a spectacular job for cutting around corners and angles. However, your neighbor might not have known this, thus resulting in those marks because they used the rollers!
4. Not Wiping Out the Mistakes
Sometimes it is as easy as wiping out the paint with a damp rag. Yes. Pros usually keep a damp rag with them to quickly wipe out any paint mistakes and keeping the color in a line!
5. Not Priming
If the paint job has left walls looking poor and drab, it is probably your poor neighbors knew little about primers. A primer can enhance the colors, taking them a notch up. They fill in holes, pores and cracks, creating a solid, even base for paint to go on.
6. Choosing the Wrong Color
Sometimes you enter a room and wonder what made the painter go for this so out-of-place color! Although a disastrous mistake, it can be easily avoided by doing a test swatch on a large patch of the wall. In case of yellow specifically, go for a shade lighter since yellow turns out a bit darker when it dries.
7. Skipping Surface Prep
Can you spot bumps, uneven lines and marks on the painted walls of your neighbor’s house? That is probably because they did not take time to prep the wall. As a result, the paint did not stick to dirty and greasy walls. Similarly, oxalic acid can be used to remove stains from wood. Oxalic acid is used for bleaching wood, when it gets iron stains.
8. Not Removing the Furniture
You would think it is common sense to remove furniture when painting. Well, some people think it is easier to leave it as it is and paint around it exercising a bit of caution. It is not as easy as it sounds though and you can guess best what happens next!
9. Not Dampening the Brush
When using latex paint, it is best to dampen the roller with water. Now shake the brush dry before you dip it in the paint. Dampening the brush makes it hold more paint and it also gives you a noticeably better and smoother result. When you are using oil paints, replace water with paint thinner.
10. Loading the Brush Directly From Can
Loading paint onto brush, directly from can results in a poor paint job. Why? Because, your primary paint can get contaminated with dust, flakes and what-nots from the wall. The best thing to do would be to use a clean bucket. Transfer paint in the clean bucket and dip brush in it instead. With all these tips and tricks from the wise and pros of paint, we are sure you would do an awesome job of painting your home and furniture by yourself!
