DIY Painting Tip 1. Buy the best quality paint that your budget will allow. Not only will it apply better, but it will also last longer, be easier to clean and instead of repainting every 5 years, you will only be repainting every 10 years.
DIY Painting Tip 2. Preparation… Preparation is your key to success. Preparation is where you should be spending the most time with your project. Use quality fillers and make sure you give them plenty of time to dry and then make sure you sand them back properly, remember the higher the gloss level of your paint, the more you need to make sure that it has been sanded properly. It will all pay off in the final look, especially where you are using gloss paints.
DIY Painting Tip 3. Brushes and Rollers! Don’t buy a quality paint and then buy cheap rollers and brushes to try and save a few dollars. Cheap brushes and cheap roller covers, will make your final result look cheap. Buy the best you can afford, and if you wash them properly, they will last you for many DIY painting jobs.
DIY Painting Tip 4. Mold. If you have mold problems, which is generally only a problem in wet areas such as bathrooms and laundries. You will need to treat the walls of the room with a mold killer, or household bleach will do the trick too. Wipe down all the walls, not just the areas where there are visible mold spores. Once you are finished make sure you wipe everything down with clean water.
DIY Painting Tip 5. Not sure if you have water based or oil based paint on your walls? There is a simple test to find out. Put some methylated spirits on a cloth and rub it over the paint. If you get color on the cloth, then the paint is water based, if you don’t get any color then it is an oil based paint.
DIY Painting Tip 6. If you need to stop halfway through your painting job, then don’t waste water and time washing your brushes and rollers. You can stop your brushes and rollers from being ruined from paint drying on them. Wrap your brush or roller cover in cling wrap and put it in the fridge. When you are ready to start painting again just get it out of the fridge, unwrap the cling wrap and you are ready to go.
DIY Painting Tip 7. When looking for paint color ideas, it is really worth the extra expense to get some sample pots and paint them on your walls to see how your paint color ideas look in that room. Don’t forget to undercoat over these patches before you paint or you could end up with patches in your final finish.
DIY Painting Tip 8. When you go to the store with your paint color ideas, make sure that you know what brand of paint your colors are from. There can be 10 different colors all with the same name, but belonging to different paint companies, make sure you ask for the right one. It is also a good idea to write your color names down or take the color chart or sample potsd in with you to the paint store.
