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Trim Painting Tips
Painting the trim can be very time consuming, pretty hard at times and it gives no room for mistakes. When it comes to trim painting, slow and steady will always win the race, because if you go fast and furious, you may actually end up starting your painting all over again, this time, taking the slower approach! So you can save yourself the pain of double work by just painting the trim slowly, since it involves paying lots of attention to details.
Here are some tips to help you with your trim painting:
- The first step towards painting trims like a professional painter is to get the right, top quality paint and painting tools. Get a rubber handled trim brush since you will use a set of completely different tools for trim painting, the rubber handle brush
will allow the handle to bend with your slow steady strokes, thereby preventing cramps in your hands.
Also, you need to match your paint to the right brush or roller. Most times, water-based paints need synthetic bristles that won’t absorb water and swell, while oil-based and alkyd paints should be applied with natural bristles that eliminate brush marks. - Fill any holes or imperfections with spackle, wait for it to dry, and then lightly sand the patches. If you have a crack, you must first widen it slightly before spackling or the spackle will just sit on top.
- Always keep some damp clean paint rags around. Since it is most likely that you can't avoid mistakes, your damp rag will come in handy whenever one occurs.
- Never tape to do your edging. It will take you less time if you can do a careful job with a brush. If you use a tape, sometimes it pulls up part of your new paint job when you pull it off. It is obvious that you don't want excess paint getting into already painted surfaces. More reason why you need to use a brush. Remember you have to slow and careful, but not too slow so that your hands won’t start to tremble. And if you feel you can't be as careful as not to make mistakes, you can use a tape, but make sure it is a painter's tape. It is usually colored blue or green and always marked as such. Remove the tape as soon as the paint is dry.
- Stir the paint and pour it into a roller tray or small bowl. Do not paint straight from the can.
- Start from the top down to the bottom. Trims along the ceiling should be done first, then the ones at the upper portion of the window should follow, after which you slowly work your way down. Paint windows from the top down, leaving the sill for last. For baseboard and molding, start in a corner and paint in a straight line, following the length of the wood. To make the trim stand out, use a higher sheen than what was used on the walls.
In order to be organized, make sure all tools and supplies are properly stored and clearly marked. Nothing worst that spending a long time looking for things you'll need to do the job.