Painting Tips by a Professional
Hi, I am Brad (The Painter!).
I am a professional painter for over 30 years, and I am now passing on tips and trade secrets to you.
The salespeople in TV commercials make paint edgers look great, but are they worth the money? I’ve been at this well over 30 years: here is the good and bad of the two top paint edgers, (with a look at how they stack up against a quality paintbrush).
The biggest cause of painting concrete failure (not bonding, delamination, bubbling, etc.), is poor prep. We will explained how to paint concrete floors step by step. With links to the all-important concrete prep (testing, to etch or now, cleaning, rinsing, etc).
What concrete paint to put on your floor depends on your comfort with the look and lifespan. Some customers of ours are very picky and want a perfect high-gloss epoxy and others just want a budget facelift. We also link you to every topic you need to consider: from cleaning to cleanup.
Concrete that has either been sealed or trowled to a very smooth profile is not paintable without etching. Concrete etching is done either mechanically with a grinder (several options this way) or chemically with an acid wash (two options this way).
Here are the main methods for concrete testing: several for moisture and one for alkalinity. If you have any doubt, do these tests before painting concrete. Most of these you can do yourself, but what you need a professional for is discussed as well.
Painting stained trim and painting varnished wood trim is very do-able, but the sequence is a bit time-consuming. The one “must” is deglossing, and using a quality primer. Doing it yourself will likely save you many hundreds of clams.
Thinking of painting your trim with a brush? Sit down, my friend. Let me show you the way of the Force. We FLY when we’re painting wood trim, or when we’re painting trim of any kind.
Whether you’re painting plywood walls, shelves, a shed, etc, you do have some good choices when it comes to plywood paint. Prep is key.
Learning how to touch up paint takes experience. But don’t worry, we’ll hold your hand through these steps. In decades of painting, we’ve done it a few times.
Mold resistant paint does not kill mold! But you can relax, the process of stopping mold is very do-able. A little elbow grease, a little mold killing primer (the good stuff) and you are ready to paint. Whew. I’m glad I stopped you from just painting over that mold!
For newly constructed walls, the best drywall primer is not the most expensive primer. For new walls (with no stains etc) you do not need a stain-blocker or a hole-filler. Let’s see what is the best primer for new drywall.
Yes, we know how to paint behind a toilet! Here the professional painters’ secret.
Let’s knock this puppy O-U-T. The short list of what you need: First, choices for the best basement floor paints around, then how to paint a basement floor made easy.
Painting plaster walls is not at all difficult. If your house is old, it will have plaster, sometimes called ‘horsehair plaster’ on the walls. The old workers used the tail hair from horses to mix in with the plaster to give it strength.
We’ll list the steps you will need to know how to prepare for painting drywall.
We’ll explain each step from the start of a brand new wall up to the finished product.
We will start by how to prep drywall for paint.
For re-painting walls, below you’ll find all the steps you need for preparing walls for painting, from before you start up to the finished product. We will review all the potential problems you might encounter.
We are not your normal painting company: we are giving away our secrets. I’m near retirement age, and I like blogging more than painting, so here are some room painting tips that your painter won’t tell you.
You paint the trim first, but not using a brush! Here are 3 steps and 1 awesome secret (some pros don’t even know) on how to make this quick and easy (video included).
How to Paint a Wall? Let me count the ways. Ok, here is the short version: you will see all over the internet all these people telling you how to use tape, and how to clean the walls, brush first, etc etc. Well, they clearly read the manual written by someone who read a manual, but in practice, you just jump in. It’s just not brain surgery.
My time living and working in Canada has always been great. One problem for a painter though: painters in the US mostly use a 5-gallon bucket, a screen, and a 9-inch roller frame/cage. Why is that? It’s fast man. Nobody ever stepped in a big bucket! Well, not as far as you know.
