Hi, so you want to paint a room in your house do you?
Sure no problem, lemme help you with that.
First I’d like to state why I’m qualified to teach you.
I’ve been Painting my Whole life and drywalling. If you doubt that, ask me ANY question you want?
So first things first…
Where are you in the process?
Are you new construction or remodel or patching?
I like to keep things simple because I believe most people, like myself, it’s easier to understand simple, why complicate things right?
So lets go middle of the road which will fit the other two also.
You’re doing a remodel and here are the Instructions:
- You may want to strip down to bare studs. This may depend on whether you want to get rid of the previous layer… that maybe plaster and lathe or it maybe sheetrock(name brand). It’s a dusty job… so be prepared for the dust. Otherwise you could Laminate, meaning…. layer over your existing with 1/2 inch sheetrock (wall board). Yes if you laminate you will lose 1/2 inch of ceiling/wall space & you may have to do extensions on your outlets to come out to the finished surface but the trade off is the dust and garbage/dumpster fee. So you decide, which is it… tear out & install wallboard or laminate.(really, outside of codes, which can vary from county to county, it’s really a personal choice, one is a kwik fix, the other is asking, is there a benefit, like maybe there is mold to remove, etc.)
- Kwik note: if you tear out, you may have to shim to make sure every ceiling and wall are straight as an arrow. Otherwise there could be a hump or valley when you’re all said and done.
- By now you should have your sheetrock up and be ready to tape. Taping is a skill that has taken me several years to learn. Can you tape without year of experience? Yes, although you may find that you sand all the good mud that you just put on, away. So if you have limited time and want to hire an expert to save you the trouble, hire us 🙂 ProPaintDrywall.com Otherwise go out and buy yourself a mudpan/hawk and get your knives/trowels to do the job yourself.
- Finally to the painting stage, which is what this post started out as the title. Some homeowners think… oh I can just paint, well not if you have to build a room from scratch, not that easy. Now what you wast to do is:
Get a Quality Paint Brush, don’t skimp here. Give me a bad/cheap paint brush and even though I’ve been painting for years, I will paint like a goofball. If you want to cut in straight lines and look like a PRO then you need to have a quality paint brush. Usually a quality brush means it’s either expensive and/or it has some good weight (it’s heavy) to it.
Roller is the same way, you want a quality tools to get the job done with the least amounts of coats(saving you time) and making your job easier. It’s way easier to manipulate a good tool v.s a cheap piece of ____. Yes you hear it hear first peoples.
So you see, you need to have good quality tools, good quality material/paint(which don’t mean you have to pay an arm and a leg for the tools and material. But you don’t want to buy the cheapest thing in the store either.
Then it’s trying to cut in a straight line (where the ceiling meets the wall). Or if you want it straighter than straight…
There is one trick that you may or may not like. It is the trick that almost tricked me years ago. If I hadn’t painted the room the day before I wouldn’t have believed it. I had painted a room an off white, I believe it was called Linen White. And I would have sworn that the walls were different color than the ceiling. So what I’m saying is…
Sunlight has a LOT to do with what the color appears to be. What I’m suggesting the TRICK is, Is that you could paint a room ALL ONE Color and it may appear that the walls look a completely different color than the ceiling. At least that was my experience when I spray painted that room years ago.
Needless to say I had to admire the perfectly cut in line, because nobody had cut anything in. It was a natural transition of ONE color but seemingly 2 colors. You just gotta love it. But if you want i.e white ceiling and Dark Green walls, this trick will not work for you.
Another step is before you start painting you will want to use tape and plastic/masking paper. Maybe in the case of the remodel you will want to bring in some rosin paper and masking tape. Cover the floor and later in the game use masking tape and either paper or plastic(in combination w/the masking paper/plastic) to cover things such as fireplaces, bathroom fan motor boxes, bathtub/showers, windows, doors, etc.
You wanna cover before you start slinging mud and paint. In my experience it’s way easier to cover things up v.s have to clean or repaint them later.
You also may wanna keep your tools/materials on water…. Meaning either throw the tools in water or keep a damp cloth in a paint tray and then seal it up w/plastic & tape so the moisture/humidity don’t escape.
Pro Tip: If you want to preserve your paint for YeARS…. store your paint in the original can and tip the can UPSIDE DOWN to keep air from entering the can. This Pro Tip came from my aunt Dian. She is a wonderful lady and has a few tricks up her sleeve from all her years of painting.
So kleen the dust off the wall.. with a broom or sponge or mop or like how I do… w/a airless paint sprayer, then paint. It’s not rocket science… First the surface Has To be prepared properly…. Meaning it’s ALL ONe smooth surface. Then you can apply your precious paint. Hint: you don’t have to pay out as much for the paint if you know how to negotiate. Another subject for another blog post. Take care U’All.
Warmest Regards,
Kelly
ProPaintDrywall.com