Painting your apartment or house not only brings fresh momentum into the home, but is also relatively easy and can be mastered even for beginners. Most of them even achieve decent results, but they cannot be compared with those of the professionals.
Because professional painters are not only fast and efficient, they also master the right techniques to achieve first-class results. Every professional has slightly different methods and preferences, but they all know these 10 little secrets that they don’t really want to reveal to laypeople, but make their job a lot easier.
Do you want to give your apartment that certain something? Here you will find ideas and suggestions. (Scroll down to the article.)
1. Preparation is everything
Furniture and objects that are not to be painted must be carefully masked and covered with foil. This way, paint splatters cannot cause any damage and you don’t have to laboriously scrape the paint off them at the end. Even prior sanding or other work cannot leave dust on the furniture.
2. Use painter’s fleece
Foils are suitable for protecting furniture, but not as a base when painting, as they are slippery and sometimes tear as a result of the stress. Use painter’s fleece instead. It prevents paint splashes from reaching the floor and offers you a secure stand. As long as you are not painting blankets, a relatively narrow strip that can be easily moved is often sufficient.
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3. Tinted primer paint
Before painting, holes and cracks should be repaired with filler. But so that the paint also covers them and they can no longer be seen after painting, professionals use a primer. This should be a shade similar to the actual color. This has the advantage that you do not need so many layers until the actual color reaches the desired shade and reliably covers it.
4. Attach painter’s tape
To carefully secure painter’s tape in place, use a spatula. Because there is hardly anything more discouraging than realizing after painting that, despite the laborious masking, paint has come on skirting boards, sockets or other walls.
5. Mix paint buckets together
If you need more than one paint bucket of the same color for your walls, you should pour them together in an empty bucket beforehand. Because even the same shade can differ from bucket to bucket and make your walls look stained.
6. Wash the paint rollers
New paint rollers should always be washed before first use, regardless of whether they were cheap or expensive. This will prevent small lint from settling on the wall when painting. Add a little soap and rub the rolls off with your hands. Then you can use them to paint right away, even if they are still wet.
7. Wipe off the brush
You don’t need to wipe the brush off again after dipping it into the paint. Professionals dip the brush into the paint up to half the bristle height, tap it briefly on the side of the bucket and start painting immediately. There is no point in dipping the brush into the paint and then wiping most of it off the bucket.
8. Frayed color
If you only want to paint part of a wall with color, there is a trick you can use – especially with woodchip wallpaper – to prevent the paint from “fraying” under the painter’s tape and creating a blurred color border. Apply the crepe to the desired location on the wall, but first paint the transition area between crepe and wall in the (previous) basic color of the wall. Let them dry and then paint over them with the new color of your choice. It takes a little longer because the first layer of paint has to dry out, but it’s worth it, because the first layer of paint has ironed out the unevenness in the wall surface. The next layer in the other color can no longer “run out” laterally under the crepe.
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9. Bag paint rolls
If you finish painting at the end of the day but want to continue the next day, you don’t have to laboriously wash out your paint rollers and brushes every time. It is enough to soak them with paint and then put them in a plastic bag that is sealed airtight. This way you can continue painting the next day and save yourself work.
10. Remove masking tape promptly
The masking tape with which you masked strips, sockets or door handles should be removed immediately after painting, when the paint is still slightly damp. If you only remove it when the paint is already dry, in the worst case scenario the fresh paint will come off the walls next to the tape.
In addition, it is advisable to always finish painting one wall before starting the next. This creates a seamless transition and the individual walls don’t look blotchy.
With the help of these clever tips, your next renovation will make your next renovation easy and your apartment shine in new splendor. But psst! Don’t tell the pros that you now know their secrets.
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Source: howtobuildit
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