People make foolish mistakes for all sorts of reasons. Maybe it’s because they are uneducated or unable to reason. Maybe it’s because they don’t feel the need to do it right the first time or it costs too much money to do it right the first time. Or perhaps maybe it’s just because they don’t know any better. No matter what your reasoning is behind making foolish paint mistakes, I can assure you that I am here to help you; not tell you how wrong you were or what you did to mess it up. Instead, I want to start all over again at the beginning with some of the most foolish or biggest mistakes when it comes to house painting. Hopefully some of these mistakes can be fixed and you can go on to painting your house the right way, the first time around, so you can really enjoy the beauty of your talents!
Buying Low Cost Paint
Hey, don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with buying paint that is on sale or that you have a deal or a coupon with. But, if you are straight up going to a store and specifically looking form the cheapest no name paint you can find, you are making a big mistake! Low cost paint tends to mean its also low quality. Believe it or not, people that make the mistake of buying low cost paint don’t really WANT to see why this is wrong. First off, low cost paint can be harder to apply. Second off, usually the viscosity of the paint is watery like, this means that you are going to have to waste more time and more money painting coat after coat when you could have just bought the better paint and used one or two coats. Lastly, low cost paints use low cost materials. That beautiful egg shell white you picked out, could be placed on the wall and instead of the color you thought it was, it might be mildew green or canary yellow. The point to paint: Don’t bother with the low cost crap. It’s not worth it. Even if you want to look at cost alone, a cheap can might cost you $5 per gallon. On the other hand, something like Behr might cost you $10 a gallon. You need 2 gallons for the better paint because it coats better = $20. But, you need 5 coats of the cheap stuff because you need to keep going over the wall again and again = $25. Sure, that might not seem like a lot, but considering all the walls you need to paint, it DOES add up!
Low Quality Painting Tools and Accessories
I’ve been on the end of this mistake once or twice when I was a youngin’. I figured, okay it’s the paint that really matters right? I mean, who cares if I bought a cheap brush, roller, sheet to cover the floor and a cheap pan for the paint. It’s not going to actually effect the paint on the walls, right? Wrong! I don’t expect you to go out and buy a $50 brush and one of those $100 exclusive rollers and pans, but the quality of your tools does matter. Buying a cheap paint brush, for example, might seem like it’s not a big deal. But, the problem with this is that the bristles on the brush are going to be cheap which means one of two things; 1- The bristles are going to easily come off into the wall which is super messy and incredibly annoying or 2- the paint is either going to not stick to the bristles or its going to soak right into the bristles. Either or, you are stuck with a mess and a half. Same thing goes for rollers – those little fuzzy pieces can go all over your brand new painted wall. You have to pick those out before it dries and it’s a big pain in the butt! Make sure you buy proper and quality tools, including drop cloths and plastic sheeting since these are what will keep your floors paint free.
Not Preparing Your Walls Ahead Of Time
Actually, that title should be changed to not preparing any surface ahead of time. It doesn’t matter if you are painting drywall, masonry brick, wood or anything else. You absolutely need to prepare the wall ahead of time. This means that if the wall has wallpaper glue on it you need to remove that glue. If you are adding a primer on the surface, do it 24 hours before you are going to paint to allow it to dry adequately. If you are not using a primer, please consider otherwise. Primers are available to allow for fewer coats and allow the paint to stick/adhere to the surface better! Your walls and other surfaces should also be free of any dirt, dust, grime, oil, etc. You might need to use some elbow grease for things like wood and masonry brick to get off any stains, dirt or grime, but I can assure you that this will lead to a better painting surface!