There is no better way to freshen up the look of your home than giving it a fresh paint job. Usually, most people will find interior house painters to give the much-needed refresh to their houses. But, some homeowners are DIY masters. They want to control how their houses look after painting and they love getting their hands dirty. If you’re one of these masters, here 10 rookie mistakes to avoid when painting your house.
1. Failure to Use Painters Tape
If not keen on details, getting the painters tape around the perimeter of the surface to be painted will prove to be a challenge. Most beginners opt to use masking tape instead. However, this leads to low-quality and a messy paint job.
When using a painter’s tape consider these tips:
- Ensure that the tape is always straight
- Seal the tape very tightly along the surfaces
- Make sure to remove the tape before the paint dries completely
2. Rushed Preparation
In painting, patience is a great and rewarding virtue. Most people forget to prepare the painting surfaces. This leads to new paint failures to a large extent. You need to scrape away the old chipping paint and follow it with a thorough cleaning. For indoor painting, include vacuuming around the baseboards. On the exterior surfaces, clear away all debris and cut back branches from any bush around. If the house hasn’t been used for long, check whether wood surfaces have rotten. Painting on decaying surfaces will give very poor results.
3. Failing to Protect the Rest of the House
The first step even before you open the paint cans should be ensuring that the entire workplace is covered properly. You might not control paint splashes to unwanted areas if they remain exposed.
For thorough prep work, consider the following:
Moving all the furniture
- Removing light fixtures and electrical wall plates
- Covering the floor with a drop cloth and sealing edges with a tape
- Making a plan for kids and pets to ensure that they don’t run into the paint and cause a mess
4. Leaving Out Primer
Primer is also called an undercoat. It is used to prepare painting surfaces before the actual painting. Primer ensures that paint sticks on the surfaces easily and evenly as well as making the true color of your paint come out. Therefore, primer is the secret to a beautiful and flawless paint job. Some paints come with a pre-installed primer making it easy for the less knowledgeable. However, brand new surfaces yield better results when a traditional primer is applied first.
5. Picking the Wrong Paint
Before you choose the paint to apply to your home, consider factors like type, color, and quantity. The type of paint chosen depends on factors like the space to be painted, the item to be painted, and the surface you want to cover. For instance, indoor paint differs from outdoor paint. Once indoors, use paints that are resistant to high humidity levels in places like bathrooms and kitchen.
Wrong paint color is perhaps the worst mistake you can make when painting a home. This is a major reason to find interior house painters with expertise in this regard. You can avoid messing with colors by bringing a sample of the paint color home then test it on your wall.
You need to calculate how many gallons of paint you need to complete your project. If you run out of paint midway, the initial paint might have color variations with the painted areas.
6. Using Poor Quality Brushes
Regardless of your skill level, a low-quality brush will give you poor results. Therefore, avoid the cheap brushes. With a high-quality brush, your paint will apply better and quicker without sticking on bristles. Choose the right brush for your paint. For instance, latex paint requires a latex brush
7. Painting the ceiling Last
Always work from top to bottom. That’s because when working on ceilings, paint splatters are almost a must. Starting with the ceiling will, therefore, help you to avoid messing with other freshly painted surfaces.
8. Painting in the Wrong Weather
Avoid painting on extremely hot or freezing days. Ideally, check out the weather forecast for signs of rain or unsuitable weather for painting. It’s particularly important to be keen on exterior house painting weather to achieve the desired results.
9. Wrong Painting techniques
Some of the wrong painting mistakes to avoid include immersing the whole brush into the paint, over brushing, and leaving paint cans open.
10. Not Seeking Help from Professionals
Hiring experts to do any home improvement job yields better results than when an inexperienced homeowner attempts to do it alone. So, if your painting project is best suited for a professional, find interior house painters to do the job.
These are common mistakes to watch out for and avoid when painting your home. Once you avoid them, your home will get the look and feel you desire after painting.
