Is your bathroom the colour of a witch’s wart?  Does your living room look as dingy as a ghosts’ bedsheet?  If your homes’ interior makes you moan like Frankenstein, it may be time to consider a fresh coat of paint! October is the perfect month to tackle an overdue paint project, and boy, do we have a treat for you! Here are our top painting tricks for the trick or treat season:

Before You Start

It is very important to start with a well-prepared surface before the first stroke of paint is applied.  The following are tips to correctly prepare your walls:

• Hands can leave behind grease and grime prints that can affect the outcome of a fresh coat of paint. Wash all high traffic areas of your wall with an all-purpose, heavy duty cleaner such as T.S.P. (Trisodium Phosphate Powder) and water before painting.
• Have you ever noticed clusters of tiny black dots on your walls? These spots are feces left behind by flies and spiders.  Make sure all spots are scrubbed clean before painting.
• Primer is important. If you are painting over a dark colour, stains and odors, or a current oil-based or glossy finish, then priming is the best preparation you can do to ensure a flawless finish after painting.  Using a primer will also save you time and money from having to apply multiple coats of paint to ensure an even tone or to cover any pre-existing issues.

During Painting

Now that the proper preparation has taken place, it is time to pop the top off your paint can and get started with the real transformation:

• Is there anything more frustrating than peeling back a strip of painter’s tape after a laborious painting project, only to reveal the paint colour has seeped through onto the baseboard or trim? To avoid this, use FROGTAPE® brand Delicate Surface Painter’s Tape and use a damp cloth to wet the edge of the tape, activating the chemical reaction in the tape to create a seal.
• Rollers can lift the paper fibres on the drywall surface and leave behind flecks of fiber that can result in bumps on a freshly painted surface. Avoid this by sanding the wall between coats.
• VIDEO: Before brandishing a paint brush, it is important to learn how to properly load the brush with paint and handle it. *Hint* never dip your brush into a full can of paint.  Watch this see proper techniques.

After You’re Done

Proper cleanup is just as important as preparation when it comes to painting.

• VIDEO: To ensure your brushes remain soft and usable for your next project, you must clean them properly…and then clean them again. Watch this
• Sometimes life happens and you need to take a break before a painting project is complete. To store saturated rollers and brushes, wrap them tightly in tinfoil and tape the ends.  Forget the old wives’ tale of freezing rollers and brushes – this method is an unnecessary and ineffective storage solution.

This Halloween season, forget the candy corn and give yourself a treat that will last for years to come!  Contact Refined Painting today for more tips and tricks to tackle your next painting project.