10 Painting Secrets the Pros Won't Tell You

The difference between a neat professional paint job and a bad one lies not only in the painting style and technique used but also in some really unique secrets that only the pros know about.

Read on for tips on how to apply those secrets on your next house painting Anaheim, CA project:

Sand Away Flaws

Start by sanding away any bumps, patches, or rough spots on the wall, until all you’re left with is a smooth surface that’ll make it easier for the paint to adhere. It’s recommended to use fine grit sanding paper for this part of the job, which can be placed on a sanding pole to reach the upper walls near the ceiling and baseboard.

Protect the Furniture

If you don’t have the extra hands to help you get the furniture out of the room, rather push everything to the center and then cover it up with plastic sheeting, which should be secured with tape at the bottom.  

Use Tinted Primer

While most people use white primer to prepare their walls for paint, professionals actually prefer tinted primer as it not only covers the previous Anaheim painters job more efficiently but will lead to using fewer coats of paint in general.

Press Tape with a Putty Knife

To prevent paint from bleeding through the tape you’ve placed to cover your woodwork, press it down with a putty knife to make sure that it stays put. Blue tape is a preferred choice over masking tape because it doesn’t leave any sticky residue behind like masking tape does. Even if you leave it on for long periods of time, it comes off totally clean.

Use Paint Extender to Eliminate Lap Marks

If you want your paint job to have that smooth finish without any brush or lap marks, pour some paint extender into the paint before you start. Adding the extender will lengthen the time it takes for the paint to dry, thus giving you the chance to overlap brush strokes without having to worry about unsightly brush lap marks. The paint extender will come with instructions on how much you should add to the paint as well.

Scrape a Ridge in Textured Ceilings

Want to smoothly paint along the ceiling edge without getting any paint on the actual ceiling? A good trick to use for this is to create a ridge with a small screwdriver along the edge where the ceiling meets the wall so that the paint has somewhere to go instead of creating bumps on the ceiling.

Use Canvas Drop Cloths

Canvas cloth is much thicker than your normal bed sheets and is quicker to dry than plastic. This makes it more efficient at protecting your floor and the bottoms of your shoes from paint spills.

One Wall at a Time

Instead of trimming and doing the corners in one room and then moving to another, rather finish one wall completely so that the paint blends seamlessly together, and then move to another wall.

Scrape the Windows

While most people place tape on the windows to protect them from paint splashes, professionals will actually leave the windows bare and allow the paint to splash onto the glass, and then once dry, use a razor blade to scrape it clean off.     

Box Paint for Consistent Color

Sometimes, the paint color differs from one can to another even if the labeling says that it’s the same. This might ruin your painter Anaheim, CA job midway through because it’ll break the color consistency that you’re trying to create. One way to avoid this is to pour all the paint from the different cans into one 5-liter bucket, mix it all together to get a consistent color, and start painting!