Cone Filter

Cone Filter

Painting Like a Pro â 8 Important Tips For New Painters

Painting like a pro â€“ as a professional house painter I listed the most important tips I could think of to help you in Your Own painting business. These tips will also help you out for painting your own home as well.

The longer you paint, the more tricks of the trade and professional techniques you learn, means the faster you too will become a pro. Here are 8 of the most important painting tipsâ€¦

1. EXPERTISE - Use a professional paint store to help guide you in coatings and tools. Some paint stores know a lot about spray rigs as well.

2. STANDARDIZED COLORS - Use exterior brochures that have 3-color combinations for choosing your exterior colors so your home will not look like the next neighborhood eyesore. There are also 3-color combination interior brochures for this same purpose to help you figure out those color schemes. Interior colors are not as critical as exterior colors though.

3. UNSOUND PAINT - Always prime enameled surfaces like woodwork, trim and doors. Use a latex or oil based primer that is suitable for paints and finishes. This prevents chipping and peeling.

4. BOXING YOUR GALLONS - mix your gallons together for an even color match. Boxing is what it is called for mixing all your gallons together when they have been custom mixed or are not all the same job lot in the ready colors.

This way your color match is [even] if you should run out of paint in the middle of a wall or ceiling. Even plain old white, if the job lots are different will show color variation if not boxed or blended together before use.

5. CAULK - Use silicone-fortified painterâ€™s caulk for sealing around woodwork and baseboards and also for exterior painting. Never use pure silicone. Paint will not stick to it and it separates.

6. PRIMER - On a large job when you are using a lot of a certain color, you can cut the cost of paint by using a primer on the walls first that is tinted to the finish coat color. Primer spreads further than paint and generally costs less per gallon. Be sure to use a wall primer that works with all paints and finishes.

EXAMPLE:

1 Gallon of paint â€“ average price $36. Spread rate 350 â€“ 400 square feet.

1 Gallon of primer â€“ average price $16/gal. Spread rate 400 â€“ 450 square feet.

Also, your finish coat of paint will actually go a lot further over a primed surface since it is sealed with primer now. Plus re-coat time over primer is usually just one hour instead of having to wait four hours as with paint.

7. FILTERING - just as you need to filter your paints when spraying, you need to filter your paints when rolling and brushing. This avoids having to stop and pick small paint clumps off the wall or ceiling during rolling.

It also will give you a smoother finish when enameling. I usually do not filter a fresh gallon unless I am spraying. I use the plastic washable pan filters found at the paint store for latex paints and disposable cone filters for oil base enamels.

8. COLOR CHECK â€“ I usually only buy one gallon at a time when doing custom work to make sure the customer is happy with the color. Once I have their approval I will buy more gallons (a few at a time) as I need them. Ready-mix gallons is the only exception because you can return those.