Painting Pros Share Their Secrets

There’s no easier or more impactful way to freshen up a living space than by giving a room a fresh coat of paint. Whether you want to refresh the existing paint, or choose a completely new color or texture for your walls, painting will bring new life to any space. We’ve compiled the best painting advice from a variety of professional painters. Hopefully, these tips will lead to a beautiful finished project that you can enjoy for years to come. Happy painting!

Protect all of your furnishings

If you’re repairing drywall before repainting a room, make sure you take out every piece of furniture before you begin. Many try to cover up the big pieces of furniture with drop cloths, but when it comes to drywall, you want everything cleared out. Chris Span, of Span’s Quality Painting in Alabama, says, “Take everything out. Drywall dust goes everywhere.” Span also recommends buying quality drop cloths, like canvas or paper-backed plastic. Plastic sheeting is often too slippery and the paint easily slides off the material, and paint will quickly soak through any lightweight fabrics like bed-sheets.

Make your paint work for you

If you find that your paint is drying too fast once applied to the walls, don’t fret. You can mix in additives like Floetrol for latex paints and Penetrol for alkyds, to give it more workability. “Adding a few ounces per gallon slows drying time and makes the paint more workable,” says Mark Dixon, a home painter out of Montana.

Painting from the top down

The experts at Behr and Benjamin Moore told DIY Network their biggest tip to avoiding streaks or drip marks. “Use your roller to apply paint from the ceiling downward. Amateurs often have telltale drips and spatters at the end of a paint job, but pros paint right over their mistakes as they work their way down the wall.”

Keep the weather in mind

The pros at Behr and Benjamin Moore also noted that it’s important to take your area’s climate into account when getting ready for a painting job. “Humidity means drips and slow drying, so avoid painting on a rainy day. If you must paint when it’s humid, take your time — and take advantage of slow-drying paint to correct your errors before moving on to the next coat. But don’t overwork, or it will show when you’re finished.”

Touch up the right way

Painting touch ups are a necessity due to the normal wear and tear of everyday life. The experts at Purdy Painting shared their tips on the best way to touch up paint. “To achieve acceptable touch-up results, it’s important to apply touch-up paint using the same painting technique as the original application, and if possible, to avoid having any difference in sheen or texture. Be sure to use paint from the original batch and under similar temperature and humidity conditions as well.” Do you have any additional tips and tricks you think we should add to our list? Tell us about it on our Facebook page! Image Credit Flickr