What brand of paint should I use?
There are so many brands and brand lines of paint on the market today for interior painting. Where do you start on this confusing journey? You can take this project on yourself, or you can hire a professional painter. Either way, there are many factors that should be considered and researched. How well does the paint cover the previous paint? How smooth is the finish? How well does it hold up over time? Does the room get a lot of natural light and require a more fade resistant paint? Are you painting a bathroom or room that will require mildew resistant paint due to the moisture? Will you need stain resistant paint for this interior painting project due to the possibility of grease or water based stains? These are all important questions to answer when doing your research.
When researching paint brands, a good place to look is Consumer Reports. Consumer Reports is a non-biased resource that does extensive testing in labs to fairly compare brands and brand lines. As of January 2021, Consumer Reports listed the following 3 paints for interior painting as the highest rated for “Hiding” and “Staining”. “Hiding” means how well a paint covers dark colors, specifically in one coat. “Staining” means how well a paint resists tough oil and water based stains.
Consumer Reports top 3 paints for Hiding and Staining:
#1 Behr Marquee (Home Depot)
#2 HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams Showcase (Lowe’s)
#3 Behr Ultra (Home Depot)
How should I apply my paint?
There are many opinions out there on the order in which to complete an interior painting project. In our professional opinion, when painting a room’s ceiling, walls, and baseboards/trim, it is most efficient to paint the baseboards/trim first. Then, mask those areas off after giving sufficient time to dry (ideally overnight). Next, move on to the ceiling, and finally paint the walls. The reason for choosing this order for your interior painting project is because painting a ceiling or a wall can cause splatters and/or drips to occur on the baseboards/trim. This disturbs the smooth texture of these areas and will be evident even after a coat of paint. Further, it’s easier and faster to tape off the trim than to tape off the walls, and you definitely don’t want to do both!
The first task with interior painting is to clean and prep your walls. Scrape any loose or peeling paint and fill any holes or cracks, making sure to sand the areas smooth. The walls will need to be wiped down after all the filling, scraping, and sanding. If it’s an area with grease and/or lots of fingerprints or stains, it may be a good idea to use a mild detergent to clean the walls prior to paint.
The next step with interior painting is to paint the trim. You don’t have to worry about any paint that accidentally gets on the walls because you will be covering that later when you paint the walls. The most important thing when painting trim, is creating a smooth finish on the wood.
The next order of business with interior painting is “Cutting in”. This involves painting all corners and edges along baseboards, crown moulding, and around doors & windows. First, mask off the freshly painted and dried baseboards and any other areas you do not want the wall color to touch. A good painter’s tape is critical for any interior painting project! You do not want to use plain masking tape because it does not remove easily, and many times you will be left with a mess of smaller splintered off pieces of tape. Plain masking tape also can allow the paint to bleed under, and/or it will pull up the fresh paint when removed. After testing different brands/types of painters tape, Consumer Reports ranks “Frog Tape – Delicate Surface (yellow container)” painter’s tape as its favorite. They report it as best for leaving sharp lines and easiest to remove for interior painting projects. Instead of a brush or roller, another tool to use for “cutting in” is a “Paint Edger”. If directions are followed closely, the Paint Edger tool can save time and money by eliminating the need to mask off areas. After all edges and corners are “cut in”, it’s time to roll!
Using a paint roller to apply paint to walls is instantly gratifying! In order to have a successful interior painting “rolling session”, saturate your roller. You’ll want to pull a thick film of paint onto the sloped section of your paint tray and roll the roller several times up and down to force the paint into the nap of the roller. Roll a couple more times until the paint is just about to drip off the roller when held up. Next, work in 2’x2’ sections during this interior painting project and follow the these steps:
Step 1) SMEAR the paint in a “Z” pattern to get the paint laid in the area.
Step 2) SPREAD the paint using up and down or side to side motions to cover the entire 2’x2’ section – it doesn’t matter which direction you roll because you will smooth in the next step.
Step 3) SMOOTH over the paint in the 2’x2’ section by doing single roller passes from top to bottom.
Step 4) Start on the next 2’x2’ section until you’ve completed the room!
For some, interior painting is a fun adventure. However, if you don’t have the time or patience to commit to a project like this, hiring a professional painter is a great alternative!
