Anyone planning to tackle an interior painting job would be wise to heed the Boy Scouts` motto: Be prepared.
”Good preparation can be the difference between decent and great results,” says Walt Gozdan, technical director of the Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute in Spring House, Pa. The institute is the educational and testing arm of Rohm and Haas, a supplier of raw paint materials.
In fact, Gozdan says the preparation process alone can be longer than the actual painting job itself.
”People overlook the preparation because it`s tedious and you don`t recognize any benefit from it,” he says. ”When you paint, you`re seeing a result. But preparation pays off.”
Frank Holomshek, a manager with Elston Ace Hardware in Chicago, agrees.
”By taking a few days to get ready for the job, you`ll avoid any last-minute pitfalls,” he says.
”There`s nothing worse than seeing cracks and nail holes showing up through paint after you`ve spent all that time painting,” says Gozdan. ”You wind up wasting your time without preparing.”
What follows is the professionals` advice for ensuring your paint job will go smoothly.
Take an inventory
Several days before you start painting, make sure you have enough paint and all the necessary tools.
After you`ve decided what type of paint (flat, semi-gloss, etc.) you`re going to use, determine how much you`ll need. ”There`s nothing worse than running out of paint with a few feet of wall to go,” says Keil Morek, a salesman at Southtown Paint and Wallpaper in Evergreen Park. ”Don`t try to stretch it.”
”It`s also important to buy enough paint upfront, because buying paint at different times can result in slight differences in the same color paint,” says Gozdan.
Most interior paints will list the square footage they cover on the can. Usually it`s in the range of 300 to 450 square feet, depending on the type of paint.
To determine how much paint you`ll need, determine the square footage of the room. For example, a 10-by-12-foot with an 8-foot ceiling will need 352 square feet of paint to amply cover the walls (8 x 10 x 2 + 8 x 12 x 2
352).
”Don`t worry about subtracting doors and windows unless you have an entire wall of windows or something,” says Gozdan.
Painting the ceiling will require an additional 120 square feet of paint
(10 x 12
120).
Just as important as the paint are the painting tools. Gozdan recommends the following for a one-room paint job:
– You`ll need a three- or four-inch brush for larger trim areas, such as corners, and a two-inch brush for tight areas, such as next to window trim. The experts recommend good-quality nylon or polyester bristle brushes. ”With cheaper brushes, the bristles will fall out and cling to the wall,” says Gozdan.
– Buy a good-quality roller with a synthetic nap. If you`re using a flat wall paint over a smooth wall, a 3/8-inch roller is recommended. Glossier paints require a 1/4-inch nap. A stucco wall may require a 1/2-inch roller.
Rollers are usually marketed and marked for the type of wall you will be painting, Gozdan says.
– Among the ancillary tools you can purchase is a bucket insert, which goes on top of the paint can and prevents the paint from collecting in the can`s lid groove when you wipe the brush. The inserts sell for about $2.
– If you`re a sloppy, impatient painter, the experts also recommend paint shields and/or masking tape to protect trim and glass.
The paint shields are simply pieces of plastic that you hold against an area that you want to avoid getting paint on. ”But be careful with shields so that you don`t smear the paint that collects on the shield,” says Gozdan.
Masking tape comes in a variety of sizes. ”There are several tape products that come with a lighter adhesive so they`re easier to remove,” says Morek. ”But if you use regular masking tape, adhere only the edge of the tape down closest to where the paint will be. That will make it easier to remove.” If you use regular masking tape, try to remove it as soon as you`re done painting, says Gozdan. ”If you leave the tape on the glass and the sun hits the window, the sun will bake the adhesive on and you`ll have to scrape it off,” he says.
– Dropcloths to protect carpets and furniture are also a good investment. ”Canvas dropcloths or an old blanket are better than plastic dropcloths,”
says Gozdan. ”Spilled paint doesn`t dry as fast on a plastic dropcloth and they`re slippery to walk on.”
– You`ll need a ladder, too, so be sure to determine how tall it will have to be to reach the top of walls, ceilings and staircases.
Prep the walls
If your walls require repair, and most do, try to schedule that process during daylight hours at least several days before you paint, the experts say. ”The best bet is to do wall work during the daytime because the natural light will give you a better look at the walls,” says Gozdan. ”So if you`re planning to paint on a Saturday, and you work during the week, try to repair the walls the previous weekend.”
Remove everything from the walls and look for cracks, chips and stains.
”Pay close attention to the area around corners, which get banged constantly,” says Gozdan.
Cracks and chips should be filled with a spackling compound, allowed to dry for a day and then painted with a primer.
”Priming the spackle will allow the paint that goes over the spackle to match up with the paint elsewhere,” says Holomshek. ”You want an even absorption rate over the whole wall surface. But the primer may take 24 hours to dry.”
Wooden trim that will be painted should also be inspected for flaws and repaired with a wood putty, and high- or semi-gloss painted surfaces should be sanded or covered with primer so that the new paint adheres correctly.
Stains may also have to be covered with primer. ”If you put regular paint over a water stain or a smoke stain, that stain can bleed through,”
says Gozdan. ”You may need to cover the stain with a primer that`s designed to stop staining.”
Clear out and clean
At least 12 hours or so before painting, if you can remove furniture from the room, do so. Furniture that`s too large or heavy to be moved should be covered with dropcloths.
It`s also the time to clean off the walls and ceilings to be painted. Use a mild detergent and warm water and wipe down the walls and ceiling with a sponge,” says Gozdan. ”Pay close attention to corners in and out of the room and light switches, where you tend to get a lot of greasy hand prints.”
If you have a stucco finish, vacuum-clean the walls and ceilings.
This is also the time to mask off the trim and glass, says Morek.
Remove hardware
If you`re painting the wood trim, remove all window and door locks, hooks and hardware.
”It will save you a lot of time,” Gozdan says. ”It`s too hard to paint around these things and they take a lot more time to clean up than to remove them. If you`re worried about security, you can replace locks as soon as you`re done painting.”
If you don`t have a paint can insert, you can drill or punch a few holes in the lid groove of the can so that paint that is wiped off the brush goes back into the can.
”Also, when you replace the lid and pound down on it, the paint won`t go flying all over the place,” Gozdan adds.
He also recommends pre-wetting the brushes and rollers with tap water.
”Shake them to get rid of the excess water,” he says. ”Pre-wetting them will prevent them from absorbing the initial water out of paint, which results in clumpy paint.”
Another trick is to line the roller pan with aluminum foil to make it easier to clean.
Tidy up
As soon as you`re through painting, remove the excess paint from brushes and rollers by simply painting a piece of cardboard or paper. Or, take a piece of newspaper, wrap it around the brush, and squeeze the paint out, says Gozdan.
Then, wash out the brushes with warm water and dish soap. ”Rinse the brushes thoroughly so they look like new,” says Holomshek. ”Keep rinsing them until you don`t see any more paint coming out. You want to get deep down into the base of the bristles.”
Hang the brushes up to dry and later smooth out the bristles so the brushes retain their chiseled shape. Store the brushes in their original wrappers or in a piece of newspaper and a rubber band to help keep their shape in storage. Store rollers standing up on edge to help keep the nap`s shape.
”With a little care, brushes will last a long time,” says Gozdan.
”I`ve got brushes that are probably 15 years old. Rollers don`t have as long of a life.”
If you plan on continuing your painting job the next day, Gozdan recommends not cleaning the brushes and rollers. Instead, just put them in zip-lock bags or cover them completely with aluminum foil. ”They`ll stay fresh,” he says.
Before sealing up the paint cans, lay a piece of clear plastic wrap right on top of the paint, Gozdan says. ”That prevents any air from getting to the paint, drying it out and causing it to skim,” he says. ”You can also do that to help preserve plaster and spackle.”
Spilled drops of paint that have dried can usually be removed with a mild soap and warm water. ”If you find the spill several days later, you can scrape it away carefully with a razor blade,” says Morek. ”There are also products on the market that remove old latex paint from the floor and trim. But those products can also take off the finish and dull the surface.”
