f you’re preparing your home for sale or your next property needs a little love and care, there are few better solutions than a makeover with paint.
Many renovation options can be expensive and time-consuming, but painting doesn’t hit the budget too hard and can be completed in a tight timeframe.
Not only can it brighten the property, but the paint will also hide some of the bumps and scratches that always occur in a home.
Preparation is vital before you begin painting, of course, and there are also a few tricks of the trade that will help deliver a first-class result.
So, whether you’re about to put your home on the market or you want to revitalise your new home, here are eight tips to help make your painting project a great success.
Be prepared
Always use sugar soap to clean the surfaces before you begin to paint. Painter’s tape will help you to avoid hitting ceilings with a roller or accidentally brush against other surfaces. With gloss paint, consider sanding the wall and wiping it down a second time. The resulting rough surface will give the paint something to grab on to and provide the best result.
Wrong brush
If you’re using water-based paint, you need synthetic bristles on your brush. Natural bristles work best with oil-based paints. It’s tough to spread the water-based paint with natural bristles because they soak up the water that’s in the paint.
Rip it off
Tape is essential to achieve clean lines, but it can take some of the paint off when you remove it if you leave it on too long. Don’t leave the tape any longer than an hour after painting. If removal proves tricky, use a hairdryer to warm and melt the tape’s adhesive.
Be primed
Using a primer or undercoat is a great way to ensure a top-class finish. If you’re painting a light colour over a dark one, then it’s essential to avoid “show-through”. And if you’re painting new drywall or gyprock, be aware these surfaces suck up regular paint. They’ll require multiple coats without a primer and even a couple with it.
Ignoring weather
Paint hates extreme temperatures. High humidity will affect drying times, and it doesn’t dry evenly when cold. On hot days, the paint might bubble or dry too quickly and have an uneven finish.
Painting on wallpaper
Glue in wallpaper can be reactivated if you use a water-based primer and paint. Ugly bubbling is the likely outcome. The solution is to remove the wallpaper or use oil-based paint.
Minimising errors
A couple of strategies will minimise the possibility of painting where you shouldn’t. Using tape is an obvious ploy, but you should also use a brush to create a 10cm buffer of colour, so you don’t need to be pinpoint accurate with a roller.
Erase your mistakes
A damp cloth with glass cleaning solution sprayed on its surface will do an emergency clean-up job without smearing the paint.