How To Paint – The 10 Most Common Painting Mistakes and How To Avoid Them

Knowing how to paint is more than just dipping yourfreshened up with a fresh coat of white. It also
brush or rolling it on. I see people making the samemakes cutting in along the top of the walls a lot
mistakes over and over again. I also am guilty ofeasier also when painting the walls.
making these very same mistakes myself until I
became a painter by trade.5. Creating Patches or Streaks…
All the Time I See People Do Things Like…One of the drawbacks of using latex paint is it is
notorious for leaving patches and streaks. Using
1. Using Cheap Quality Paint…lower-grade paints only make it worse. If you ever
With today’s economy and all, it seems thattake an angular look down the sides of people’s
there is a growing trend for people to do their ownwalls you will see patchy areas. You can even see
panting, yet they will buy paint for their homewhere they rolled in an irregular fashion. Using a
without really thinking about what they are reallyquality wall primer underneath the finish coat that
getting for their money.works with all paint finishes helps a lot.
2. Using Spackle Instead Of Using What The Wall Is6. Not Knowing How To Properly Paint a Door…
Made Out Of (Drywall Compound)…People usually don’t cut in the sides and edges
Everyone uses this thing called spackle. Sure it isof doors properly either. When it comes to recessed
lightweight, fast drying, and sands easy on smallerdoors they don’t always brush out the door with
areas but it also leaves sheen or flashing marks underthe grain or the way the door was put together.
flat paint. If you have ever tried to fix a tape seamThey don’t use primer first for converting alkyd
on a ceiling using spackle you will soon become ato latex or for even re-painting alkyd over alkyd. The
believer in drywall compound.end result is paint failure in the form of peeling or
chipping.
3. Not Using Primer…
If you ever go to commercial places (public7. Painting Over Electrical Sockets and Covers…
bathrooms is a good example) many times you willOld sockets and the covers can be replaced with
see that the metal entry door was repainted andnew modern-looking white ones. This looks really nice
that the new paint is peeling off in the areas wherewhen re-painting a room and wanting to do a
hands push on the door a lot as well as other places.complete job.
The door was originally painted with an alkyd enamel
finish and some employee of the store was told to8. Crude Cut-in Lines Along the Ceiling Edge…
re-paint it. So they were given latex paint to use andMost people don’t cut in good at the top of the
now you have a peeling, unsound finish.ceiling and it looks bad. Using the right paintbrush plus
I see cupboards and cabinets done wrong in homestaking your time helps.
all the time and there is peeling paint on them which9. Only Using One Coat - Applying only one coat can
lasts for years. This peeling paint even gets on thingscause fade-through as well as skipped areas.
like plates and dishes and sticks to them due to
static cling.10. Screw Up a Professional Paint Job in a Nice
Home…
4. Not Painting the Ceilings…Many times someone will move into a home that was
Sometimes I will do an estimate to paint severalpreviously painted by a professional painter. Not
rooms in someone’s home and they want theknowing anything about enamels, people can quickly
walls painted but not the ceilings. Even though thescrew up the woodwork, windows and doors as well
ceilings are white they still look dingy and should beas the walls.