DIY Painting Tips and Tricks

Painting your home’s interior is an affordable way to refresh your space, but achieving a professional finish requires proper preparation and technique. This guide covers everything from surface preparation and choosing the right paint to expert application techniques and avoiding common mistakes.

Surface Preparation – Setting the Foundation for a Professional Finish

Proper surface prep is key to a well adhered, good looking paint finish.  Below are some professional tips for making your project look great.

Cleaning and Surface Prep 

Prior to painting, walls should be clean, dry, and dull. If you’re painting in a kitchen, or you’re painting areas where peoples hands have frequently touched the surface, there are likely to be oils that will cause problems with your new paint. These problems could range from fish-eyeing due to chemical incompatibility, discoloration of the new finish over time, in some cases even lack of proper adhesion and peeling.  Use mild soap or water-based degreaser and water to remove cooking or hand oils. Rinse with clean rags and water to remove any soap residue, then allow to thoroughly dry before painting.
On walls where oils and surface contaminants are not an issue, spot clean as necessary for any smudges, along with anything else that doesn’t belong on the wall (tape, etc.). For the bulk of walls, a good dusting with a clean, dry, lint-free rag or dust mop will do the trick.

Repairing Imperfections 

Pinholes and small gouges should be filled with a lightweight shrink-free spackling. Larger repairs should be done with lightweight joint compound or wood putty (as appropriate for the substrate).  When patching holes or large gouges in walls, don’t over build the joint compound. Start light and build in multiple coats, with each coat spread a couple inches wider than the last. Use your putty knife to pull the compound as tight and smooth as possible. Finish by sanding with a mid-grit sandpaper or sanding block (220 works well for drywall sanding). After your patch is as smooth and even as you can get it, spot prime with a quality drywall primer.  Feather your primer to the surrounding area to avoid the patch standing out. If your existing walls have a heavier texture than the patched area (they most likely will), add an additional coat of primer with a ½” nap roller cover to try to build the “stipple” of the surrounding paint. An over smooth patch in the middle of the wall will stand out, especially if you are using a satin or eg-shel sheen finish coat. After priming, If you’re painting with a non-white finish color, spot finish the area with the new paint color and sheen before applying the final finish coats of your new paint. 

Masking & Protection 

Though professional painters generally don’t use tape when cutting, for most homeowners and newer painters it’s generally recommended to use blue painters tape to mask all of the trim you’re painting around.  Just because you’ve masked, don’t think that you should just sloppily paint onto the tape. You should still make neat cuts, mainly using the tape as a safety measure.  
Cover all floors (and if painting ceilings also cover all furniture) with drop cloths prior to finish painting. 
When rolling walls, professional painters will run a 2” strip of blue tape along the top of the baseboards (sticking to the top edge, hanging out perpendicular to the wall) to protect from roller splatter speckling the baseboards. 

Choosing the Right Paint Finish

If your walls are in less than perfect condition, we recommend a high quality, washable flat paint. Flat and matte finishes “hide” wall imperfections, where higher sheen finishes make variances in your wall finish (including those “smooth” spots from recent patches) stand out to the eye.  Many people prefer the look of a satin paint, but always consider your wall quality when making that choice.
Wood trim, window & door casings, doors, etc. are commonly painted with a level higher sheen than the adjacent walls. If you used flat wall paint, consider a satin/eg-shel trim sheen. If you used a satin on your walls, consider a semi-gloss trim finish.

The Importance of Priming 

Primer is not universal. Different kinds of primers are used for different specific purposes. On glossy surfaces, bonding primer improves paint adhesion. When making drastic color changes, primers (white, or shades of gray to match depth of the new color) help to reduce the number of finish coats needed to achieve good coverage. Stain blocking primers (shellac, latex, or oil based) are designed to keep stains from bleeding through your finish paint.

When and Why You Need Primer

Priming is essential for stain blocking. Bonding primers are essential for helping paint adhere to a “shiny” or excessively smooth surface. It is also essential to stop “flashing” when painting over a porous surface. If you paint a satin topcoat directly over bare drywall or patching compound, you will end up with a “dead spot” in your finish, as the drywall will pull the sheen out of your finish paint, leaving higher sheen on most of the wall than there will be on the patched areas.
Primers are not essential, but can certainly be helpful, when performing drastic color changes. The correct primer can help to minimize the amount of finish coats needed if going from light to dark or from dark to light.

Selecting the Right Primer

Some common, high quality primers that are frequently helpful for your painting project include:

• Water and smoke stains: Bin Shellac based primer is unbeatable for these two extremely difficult stains. Nothing is more frustrating than finishing a paint job and watching an old water stain slowly reappear through your beautiful new paint.  
• Significant color changes and sealing new drywall: Sherwin-Williams PrepRite ProBlock Latex Primer is a great general use primer that can be used for blocking light stains, sealing new drywall and patches, and for providing a base coat when doing a major color change. ProBlock may be tinted to a P# shade of gray to help match the primer to the new color depth, which will lessen the amount of finish coats needed to achieve a consistent, perfect new color. 
• Bonding to a slick surface: For most residential purposes, our choice of adhesion promoting primers is Sherwin-Williams Extreme Bond Primer. 

Is It Ok to Skip Using Primer? 

Most of the time, the answer is yes. Except for the special purposes discussed above, priming a previously painted wall is not necessary. Once a wall is sealed, which happens the first time the wall is painted, you are normally not accomplishing anything (on a standard refresh/repaint) by adding primer. For 95% of repaint work, a simple spot-prime of new drywall patches is all that is needed. 
However…When dealing with potential adhesion issues, stain blocking, and sealing new drywall, it’s a step you should never skip.

Picking the Right Paint for the Job 

Without question, all paints are not created the same. Choosing high-quality paint improves coverage so you need less coats of paint, increases durability so you don’t have to repaint as often, and provides a greater finish quality so your walls look better. 

High-Quality Paint vs. Budget Paint

You may not need the highest quality of paint available, but there are few situations where we would recommend a low-quality paint. Higher quality paints are more expensive for a good reason. They are manufactured with substantially higher quality materials and are designed with advanced features that bring benefits to the user. These benefits include ease of use, added durability, improved washability, bacterial and mildew resistance, better appearance, and superior hide

Understanding VOCs & Eco-Friendly Options 

Though waterbased paints are substantially more environmentally friendly and better for indoor air-quality, traditional latex paints still contain significant amounts of VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) that leech out into the air for months or even years after application. You can choose low-VOC or zero-VOC paints for healthier indoor air quality.  These products are sometimes less user friendly than their higher VOC counterparts, making a good finish a little tougher to achieve.. But the health and environmental benefits may be worth the increased hassle.

Color Psychology & Selection 

Colors influence mood and ambiance—blue for calmness, yellow for energy, etc. Utilize color selection to create the mood and ambiance your are hoping to create in each area of your home. 
When choosing colors, it is always a good idea to take color swatches home (or even paint a sample on your walls) so you see the color in the actual lighting of your home. It can be shocking to most people how differently a color looks in different lighting.  The commercial lighting at the paint store is not the same as the lighting in your home. If you’re painting in a room with a lot of natural light, walk outside and check the color in the sunlight.

Tools & Materials for a Smooth Painting Process 

Using the right tools makes the painting process more enjoyable, easier to do, and absolutely affects the final results of your project.

Essential Interior Painting Tools Checklist 

The tools you need for every interior paint job generally include the follow:

• Brushes - A 2.5” or 3” angle sash brush is perfect for cutting in around the ceiling, door & window casings, and crown & baseboards.  You will get a better finish with less brush marks and cleaner lines using a high quality, synthetic bristle brush (Wooster and Purdy lead the race amongst professional painters) than you will with a stiff or flimsy budget brush.
• Roller frame - A high quality roller frame (Wooster and Purdy make quality frames) will roll more smoothly and hold the cover better than a budget frame, and with good cleanup will also hold up and last a homeowner a lifetime.
• Whiz (mini) rollers and frames - Whiz rollers are commonly used to bridge the brush cut areas to the rolled wall areas. After cutting in with your brush, rolling the brushlines out 5 or 6 inches into the wall with a mini-roller helps make your brush marks less visible and gives better coverage to reduce the “hat-banding” or “halo” sometimes seen around poor cuts.
• Paint trays
• Extension poles - When using an extension pole, you are applying more pressure than you would think. A well-built, sturdy extension pole will make your painting much easier and help achieve a better finish than a budget quality, flimsy extension pole.  Wooster Sherlock and Purdy PowerLock are our go-to poles.
  
• Painter’s tape - 2” blue 3M painters tape is more expensive than regular masking tape, but releases from surfaces with less damage and can be left on a surface for 7 days, versus the 1 day you can safely leave standard masking tape. It also allows less undercutting of the paint to give you cleaner lines. 3M Scotch 2093 and Scotch 2093+ are great choices.
• Drop clothes - A thick, high quality canvas drop cloth will last for years and protect your floors from mishaps and roller splatter.  Dropcloths come in all different sizes. 9’x12’ is very common for whole floor covering, but larger are also readily available), but don’t forget to have a couple 4’x15’ “runners” available to move around the walls while rolling.
• Cut pots and grids
• Ladders and or scaffold - Sturdy, safe extension ladders are easy and helpful. Cutting in of lower (8’-9’) ceilings can be done with a small rolling Perry or Baker scaffold if you prefer. For high ceilings you’ll have to work from an extension ladder (typically no more than 20’ for most vaulted ceiling houses, but know your ceiling height). Often times, these higher ceilings are a great time to bring in a Pro. Always choose a company that carries Worker’s Compensation insurance, not just liability insurance! 

All of the items above are available in budget versions and high quality versions. For multiple reasons, we’d always recommend using the best quality tools that your budget allows. With proper care, good tools can last a homeowner a lifetime, and the finish quality you get with good applicator will make the extra investment well worth it in the end.

Matching Brushes & Rollers to Your Surfaces and Paint Types

Tools for Water-Based and Oil-Based Paints

Synthetic bristle brushes and roller covers are always the choice when painting with water based paints. However, for those few times you may have reason to choose an oil-based paint, go with a natural fiber brush and roller cover.  Use the correct nap length based on wall texture (short for smooth, long for rough). 

Choose Painting Tools According to Wall Texture

For textured walls and ceilings, a ¾” nap roller cover is your best bet. For most wall surfaces, a ⅜” or ½” nap roller cover is best, The ½” is more user friendly as it holds more paint and delivers a good quality finish (when used by a skilled painter), but the ⅜” does deliver an even better finish especially when using satin or eggshell wall paints. For really smooth surfaces like level 5 finished drywall, doors and trim, or cabinets, use a ⅜” or ¼” roller cover.  The shorter the nap, the less user friendly the cover is to use. But the potential for superior finish also increases as the roller nap gets shorter.

In summary, longer nap covers are hold more paint and are more forgiving, but also leave more stipple finish. Shorter naps create a more smooth finish but are harder to work with, especially for a less experienced painter.

Proper Paint Loading Techniques 

Though it seems counter-intuitive, more people struggle with paint application due to under-loading their applicators than overloading them. When loading a brush, dip it ⅓ of the depth of the bristle into the paint, gently tap (don’t wipe against the can) off the excess, and spin the brush to stop the drip. A well loaded brush delivers a longer, cleaner cut than a dry-brushing technique. Cut pots with brush grids are really helpful to proper loading of a paintbrush. 

Similar with roller covers. It is tempting to roll off too much of the paint against the pan or grid, but you are much better served with a well loaded cover. You want to load the cover as well as you can without creating a dripping roller cover.  

Paint Like a Pro with These Application Techniques

Following professional techniques ensures a lapline free, professional quality finish. Proper techniques prevent roller marks, lap lines, skippers, and uneven coverage. 

Correct Painting Order 

If you’re painting the ceilings, start there. In general, start at the top and work down. Paint your ceilings, followed by brush-cutting in your walls, then widen and smooth the cut with a whiz-roller, and finish the walls using your 9” roller. Once the walls are painted, finish the project by brushing your trim-work and doors.

Cutting In vs. Rolling 

Very simply, brushes are for cutting and trim work only. Rollers are for large, smooth areas. Cutting in with a brush creates sharp, clean lines along ceilings, corners, and trim edges.

Use the same brush and mini-roller technique to do your inside-corners. The brush will get the tight 90o inside edge so your roller frame doesn’t drag along it, and the mini-roller will widen the corner to where your 9” can easily pick it up (go our 4 or 5” from the corner).

Maintaining a Wet Edge

It is important to maintain a wet edge everywhere possible, primarily in the middle of walls.  Though you commonly see people on HGTV painting haphazardly from the middle of a wall moving in a disorderly fashion around the room, I promise if you saw that paint job in your house you wouldn’t be happy with it. 

Start in a corner and work your way systematically around the room, working in the same direction all the way around the room until you meet back with your starting point. As you go, apply paint to the walls with your loaded roller cover in large “N” shapes, then roll sideways to evenly distribute the paint, then roll up and down to finish getting and even spread throughout the area. Finally, finish the section in all down strokes to lay the paint off the roller cover all in one direction. This greatly diminishes lap lines and increases consistency on your wall, as the roller stipple is directional. After each few feet of wall is finished in this fashion, move down the wall to keep your wet edge moving until you hit the next corner.  

If you have to stop in a room for any reason, stop in a corner, not the middle of a wall. 

Avoiding Common DIY Painting Mistakes

Avoiding these mistakes saves time, money, and frustration. Poor techniques lead to bad looking finishes.

• Skipping Surface Prep:
  The better your prep, the better chance of a great finish. Paint doesn’t hide a bad surface.
• Using Low-Quality Tools:
  One of the most common problems you see on interior paint jobs is a poor finish from “junk” in paint that happens as cheaper roller covers shed or bristles drop out of brushes and get embedded into your paint film. Additionally, cheap brushes and covers result in more brush marks and roller stipple.  
• Failing to keep a wet edge:
  Painting wet into dry in the middle of a wall, especially when not using a dead flat paint, will leave a clear demarcation line at the junction of the two paints. When someone starts in the middle of a wall or stops to take a phone call, you can see it every time. Depending on the lighting in the room, this will sometimes stand out like a sore thumb.
• Overworking the Paint:
  As paint begins to set up, which can happen very quickly in dry hot conditions, it loses it’s ability to level itself and begins having more “memory”. Get your paint spread quickly and evenly, and move down the wall as efficiently as possible to allow the paint to level and blend into itself for a smooth, attractive finish.
• Touchups:
  Touchups are so much harder than people imagine. Even great painters will struggle to get a perfect touchup. As paint ages, it gets more difficult to touch it up, but it’s even difficult on day one. The same principle that applies to keeping a wet-edge is in play here. You’re going to see your touchups, so it’s best to avoid the need as much as possible.

Cleanup & Long-Term Paint Maintenance

After finishing your work, clean your tools to as close to new as possible. Even save your roller covers. A quality cover can be used easily four or five times. If you touchup in the future, these same tools you applied the paint with are your best tools for achieving a good touch-up later.  

Also important, save your leftover paint for future maintenance. The ONLY paint you ever have a hope of achieving a near-perfect touch-up with is the paint you first used. You can go buy the same product in the same color and sheen, but it won’t be perfect. The paint store recalibrates their tint machines normally once a week, but as each week goes on and with each calibration, the tint will be slightly different from the can you first used. 

• Cleaning Brushes, Rollers & Trays: Rinse clean with warm water or appropriate solvent.
• Proper Paint Storage: Seal tightly, store in a cool, dry place, and label the can. Air causes paint to skim over. Push down a layer of plastic wrap over the top of the remaining paint in the can to keep it from skimming over as quickly and developing chunks. Paint can also be poured off into smaller storage cans or mason jars (make sure you label them with exactly what they contain including brand, color, and sheen).
• Disposing of Paint & Supplies Responsibly: Use local hazardous waste disposal sites. Your municipality likely offers a couple of disposal days per year.  To throw away, you can spread large sheets of cardboard and roll the remaining paint out in layers until it is all dried, then throw away the solid materials.

Common Questions about Painting Home Interiors

Find Success Painting Your House with These Tips

Using the information above, you should be able to produce a near professional quality finish. Use quality tools, use quality paint, do great prep work, and work carefully but quickly to maintain your wet edge and minimize roller marks.