More Painting Tips

My husband and I just bought a new house.  I've been calling the place "The Pit" since it needs so much work and is sucking up money in dollar repairs.

Almost the entire interior has needed painting, so I embarked on that task.  I bought paints from different stores and in different brands, and though a painter told me all paints are pretty much the same, I did not feel like they were.

I used Dutch Boy Classic One, AD Designs, ACE Royal, and Color Place.  This is what I learned.

Dutch Boy Classic One: The paint did not want to stick to former paint. I had to paint a thin coat, let it dry, and then paint over it. Most walls took three coats and a touch up to get the slightly thin spots.  I was not impressed at all. 

AD Designs:  First coat went on a little thicker than the Dutch Boy Classic, but not by much. All walls and ceilings took three coats, even dark blue.

Ace Royal: This paint went on the thickest with each area and I only needed two strong coats with a little touch up.  Of all the paints, this proved to be my favorite and the one I will buy in the future.

Color Place:  Though this paint tended to go on reasonable thick, it had issues.  I did a first coat, waited six hours, went to do a second coat, and the paint from the first coat came right off.  I had to let this paint dry a full 24 hours before I could apply a second coat.

I hope this helps all you painters out there.

Tips for Painting a Room

I just finished painting my living room!  The task proved lengthy than I thought. As always, I jumped in eagerly, and then after a couple of days was eager to be done.

I did figure out a couple of useful things though. The first one is that old towels make great tarps. They are heavy enough not to move very far when dragging ladders and foot stools over them, and they are very absorbent. They sure beat out the giant plastic tarps I bought that were hard to shift from area to area.

Secondly for some touch up on trim, my husband bought regular mini brushes from the hardware store. Upon first use they were shedding bits of fibers onto the painted wall. What worked well and didn't shed fiber were the little paintbrushes that came with the Easter egg kit I had. They were able to get into the smallest places too.

The other thing is to keep a wet rag handy, but I'm sure anyone who has painted before has figured this one out.

Happy painting!