Wall Painting – DIY Interior Wall Painting Tips

The five biggest mistakes people make painting walls!!
Painting walls tends to be easier than ceilings, they're more accessible and it's a matter of just pulling furniture away from the walls and covering the floor and your away. Even though painting walls is cleaner cut, mistakes can still be made.  Here are the five biggest ones when you're painting walls for your interior wall painting project.

• Lack or too little preparation.  What I refer to is filling cracks and holes prior to painting. Your prep work is vital in determining the outcome and finished product of any job your doing. When it comes to painting, remember 95% is prep and 5% is finish work. You stick to that rule and you can't possibly go wrong. OK!
• Putting too much filler or Spackle on the walls.  I've seen some people and been to rescue missions where people have got this wrong and it looks like either a couple of things have happened, firstly it has looked like they stood back and threw it at the walls from a distance or their two year old child got into the room while they were getting coffee and had a plaster party. In which case I've spent hours sanding and getting the walls back to a decent surface to work with. There really is no need to over fill your walls, take your time relax have some fun throw some filler or Spackle at someone enjoy the process of preparing your walls and you say “yeah right whatever". But seriously now just a couple of light skims if you don't get it the first time do a second skim it will save hours of backbreaking work trust me.
• Failure to stir your paint and strain it through a stocking to remove bits of foreign junk and stuff.  Just because it's a new tin of paint and they've shook it up in the shop doesn't mean it's clean and doesn't mean it's stirred well. Make it a practice every time you open a tin of paint new or old to do these two important things and your walls won't look like the surface of the moon and have bits of alien material on them.
• Painting walls with the wrong technique. When applying paint to walls GET A ROLLER OR EXTENSION POLE. Don't roll it by hand, you need nice long strokes from the ceiling to the floor and you won't need to work from a stepladder everything can be reached from standing. You need to put plenty on and lay it back off into the wet edge. This method allows you to keep flowing and moving without a break in your coat, allowing for a nice even consistent coat of paint...... oh and don't forget to second coat. A nice build on the wall makes for better cleaning and if you had to fill your walls prior to first coat it stops bad flashing or patchiness in the final product.
• Tool mistake, a cheap and nasty roller sleeve. Try not to go for synthetic or sponge sleeves, although the synthetic sleeve can be used if you have no other option.  The problem with these sleeves is they just can't get enough paint on and when you’re talking walls you need good flow and plenty sliding on. What you need is! and I swear by them, they are the only ones I use and have done for years  THE SHEEP SKIN OR LAMBS WOOL ROLLER COVER. I personally prefer the later one myself lambskin or lambswool.  It leaves me with a nice smooth finish even if I really lay the coat on heavy. Sheepskin sleeves are a bit coarser which probably makes them better for things like brickwork or rough surfaces. I use them mainly for rendered brickwork where I can put plenty on.  They take a bit to load up at first but once loaded they're smooth and easy to use. Try both synthetic and lambswool, I guarantee you'll go to the lambswool cover, they wash out a whole tonne easier and once cleaned out properly will last you years and years.  You can't beat natural fibre products when it comes to painting walls

Well that is all the wall painting tips I have for you today for your DIY painting project.  Until next time.

..........Happy painting folks.............Wayne.....the painter ........