Painting Tips to Get Professional-Looking Walls

An affordable way to refresh any room is by painting the walls or changing up an exterior look. While painting is an easy activity, it does require practice and patience. The following tips will help achieve professional results and give you a great-looking room in no time. Anyone can be a DIY painter with these steps.

Prepare the Walls

A paint job is only as good as the surface preparation. While it is not fun, every dent, hole, crack, and other imperfection must be scraped, sanded, or filled. No matter how high quality the paint is, it will not hide an unprepared wall.

Start with Primer

Using a primer is important in any wall paint job. Primer prevents stains from showing through, allows the paint to properly adhere to the wall, and provides one-coat coverage. Professional painting services often tint the primer to ensure the topcoat will blend correctly. While many modern paints have primer already mixed in, a dedicated primer will give better results.

Use a Paint Grid

Walls are often painted with rollers, and this quickly becomes messy and cumbersome. It is easier and more economical to use a paint grid, which is a plastic or metal screen that hangs inside a five-gallon paint bucket. The bucket is filled halfway, the grid is placed inside and the roller is dipped into the grid, which allows the excess paint to be rolled off. Rollers work better and last longer, and the paint job will be even and drip free.

Get an Extension Pole

The main challenge of painting walls is height. This may require using a stepladder, which can be awkward or unsafe. A better approach is an extension pole that attaches to a standard roller. The pole can add three to 18 feet to the roller and make painting easier. Extension poles should have a metal core, including the threaded end. Plastic poles should be avoided as they can bend and be difficult to control.

Choose the Right Weather

Humidity plays a large role in wall painting. If it is raining outside or the air is otherwise very damp, the paint will take much longer to dry, extending the project. Humidity levels between 40 and 60 percent are considered ideal for interior painting. According to the Madani Group Painting and Stucco Coating, most exterior paints should be either water or oil based as they adhere better and dry more quickly.

Painting a room will change not only how it looks but also how it feels. Choosing the right color is only part of the process. Following the tips above will ensure the job goes smoothly and gives optimal results.