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How To Paint Like A Pro: Prep

Admin • October 19, 2023

Step 1. Clean the Walls

Use a broom to clear out hard-to-reach dust and cobwebs in the corners of the ceiling.
Vacuum and wipe with a dry cloth baseboards and window sills.
Remove switch and electrical plates and vent covers
Using a cloth, wipe areas to be painted with a solution of TSP and water (don’t use a detergent or fabric softener that will leave a residue) and rinse with plain water to remove any dust, dirt, and grease. Don’t skip this step, especially in heavy traffic areas like kitchens and bathrooms.

Step 2.Cover and mask

Tape the Trim
Use blue painter’s tape (not masking tape) to protect areas you don’t want your paint to get on, such as trim, molding, doorknobs, window frames, and door frames. Run long strips of tape just inside the outer edges of these areas. (The outer edges of the tape should lie exactly where the wall meets the trim, covering the parts of the trim that your roller or paintbrush might hit when you paint.)
Cover floors and furniture with a dropcloth. We prefer reusable canvas drops on floors and lightweight plastic to cover sensitive items and furniture. Re-use the plastic drops on the next area to reduce waste.
Now is the time to look for loose trim, breaks in the trim, and places where the trim has pulled away from the wall. Make any repairs, then caulk to ensure a seamless transition between trim and walls. Use an elastomeric, water based caulk. This type of caulk has tenacious adherence and will flex up to 800% before the bond breaks. Look for nail pops and nail holes that need to be repaired. No matter what you hear or see, DO NOT use toothpaste to fill nail holes! Use spackling paste and sand smooth. It is not a bad idea to spot prime these repairs before painting the entire wall.
Get your tools ready.

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Sandpaper

By Jason Taylor • August 28, 2024

Sandpaper is produced in a range of grit sizes and is used to remove material from surfaces, whether to make them smoother (for example, in painting and wood finishing), to remove a layer of material (such as old paint), or sometimes to make the surface rougher (for example, as a preparation for gluing). Choosing the right sandpaper for your project starts with understanding grit numbers. Each number represents the sandpaper's coarseness, with lower numbers being coarser and higher numbers being finer. Coarser sandpaper sands material more aggressively than finer sandpaper.

From Our Tools & Supplies Department: Let’s talk caulk and choosing the right product for your job!

August 22, 2024

WE LOVE Pro Stretch caulk ! It can stretch up to 800% its original size. That’s impressive! And it will return to within 98% of its’ original size! On a home’s exterior, high-quality caulk is critical—it locks out water, protecting homes against rot and peeling paint.

Tips and Tricks

June 17, 2024

Master the art of painting and design with tips and tricks from Perspectives Inc. in Lexington, KY. Click here to learn more about our renovation insights.

One Thing NOT To Do When Cleaning Your Deck

May 15, 2024

Painting Tips from Mary — Lexington, KY — Perspectives Inc.

How to Paint Like a Pro: Painting Techniques

By Admin • October 18, 2023

Some painters line the paint tray or bucket with a plastic liner. We love paint buckets that have a handle that fits your own size hand. Ones with a magnet built in to hold your paint brush or roller are great. We like to always prepare a roller by wetting it with water then use a brush and roller spinner or wrap in a towel to remove excess moisture. This sets up the fibers in the roller to pick up and release the paint. It also leaves water at the core so that it is easier to clean the roller. Use a light touch. Applying too much pressure on your strokes will cause the paint to ooze out of your brush or roller and drip. Don’t load the applicator with too much paint. This will result in drips and heavy lines on the walls, and you’ll risk getting the bristles of your brush caked with dried, crusty paint. Cutting in is painting the areas the roller won’t reach. We like to use a 2 1/2” angle sash brush. Brush on paint around the trim and in the corners of the walls with the brush. Extend out 2 to 3 inches from windows, doors, and moldings. ALWAYS KEEP A WET EDGE! This means do one 3’-5’ section of wall at a time not a whole room. I do the top half of the wall and then repeat with the bottom sections. Start by painting the top edge with your brush and then the corners in this section. (Keeping a wet edge is critical to avoid lap marks and “hat banding”. These occur when you cut in too far ahead of rolling the area and the cut in paint has dried.