Painting - is it really THAT hard??

[HLAuburn]

We moved into a new house last summer, and I've been dying to paint my girls' rooms. We had the main areas of the house painted by a "professional" (and I use the term loosely!), but after that experience, DH thinks we should try it on our own.

So how hard is it? They're average size extra bedrooms, nothing real fancy about the walls. I'd like to say I'm a little artistically inclined, so I'm thinking I might do the detailed work / cutting in etc and leave the rolling to DH.

From what I've gathered, having the right brush/tools makes a big difference, but am I getting in over my head?!

 

[Aimeedyan]

It's not hard at all

You roll the paint on your roller, and roll the roller on the wall. Simple as that. We go the extra step in taping out everything because we aren't the best at cutting in with a brush.

We've painted... and painted... and repainted more times than I can count. And I've painted a few spaces with children as projects and they do great, too.

It takes time and effort and because of that, some people choose to hire it out, but I would rather paint it myself and hire out other tasks that take skill.

 

[Phil'sFrontier]

I think you could do it yourself. All you need is some basic painting tools. I would start with a few canvas drop sheets(maybe 20 bucks a piece) , a roller tray and some liners that fit in the tray.(one liner you will use for cieling paint, and so on..) For cleaning I like using a brush comb for the brushes. For the rollers I like using a multi tool which has a semi-circular concave shape to it that allows you to literally scrape the extra paint off the roller after you are done. It adds up to quite a bit of paint that is in the roller.
A few good brushes, a 2.5 or 3 inch would be good for general cutting. Do not cheap out on your brushes, get good ones, wash them and take care of them and they will last years. You might also consider a small or mini roller for cutting in corners. They are only a few bucks, and they get paint on the wall faster than a brush.
As for your normal rollers, I like to have a nice adjustable pole that screws into the roller. Depending on the finish there are different rollers. So if you have a textured cieling there is a fluffier roller than what you would use on a gyproc wall with no texture.
You might want to use tape, though I recommend just cutting in without it. The one place I find tape handy is when there is carpet down and you are trying to paint the baseboard. Painting tape is not cheap at around 5 bucks a roll so avoid it if you can and take your time cutting in.
I always recommend using a cleaner such as TSP(which is available in liquid now) to clean the walls before painting.
Also when you pick out the paint if you pick intense colours such as reds, you will be smart to get a tinted grey primer that will make those colours cover the wall much better. The reason is because those types of paints contain a clear base paint which by itself takes 5-10 coats.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

I think it's alot easier than you're thinking. I painted all 3 of our bedrooms just last week all by myself.

Like anything else, it can be a bit intimidating if you've never done it before. I was very hesitant to do it the first time but now I've painted every room in our house....some twice.

 

[kirstenb1]

OMG, piece of cake. It is a hassle, moving furniture, etc. but so easy to do yourself. Over the years, I always taped off all the trim etc. But really, if you're patient, it's easier just to use a tapered brush, and work slowly, then roll over the larger arEA.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

It's labor intensive, but not difficult.

 

[HLAuburn]

Thanks for the encouragement! I think it's the cutting in that scares me a little...I know that can mean the difference between it looking like an "amateur" painted it vs a professional. I figure with a good brush along with taping and cutting in and a good dose of patience, I can probably do it.

Thanks again!

 

[Phil'sFrontier]

quick tip if you like to use tape....first pass cutting into the tape just lightly coat the tape edge. When this dries it will kind of seal the edge between the tape and the paint. Then you can come in a second time with more paint on the brush and not have the paint bleed under the paint.

for a good quality brush look for purdy's brand brushes

 

[christineann]

I've never hired a painter. It's so easy, I painted my house a month before I had my first child so the house would be fresh for the new baby. Just put on some old clothes, turn on the radio and go for it

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

We've never hired anyone either. I have done every wall in my house on my own. One day, my DH went to work we had all white walls (what it was when we bought the house) and when he came home they were all brown. He was just so happy not to have to do it, they could have been hot pink and he wouldn't have cared. My best work is DD11 and DD9's room. 3 walls are hot pink, one is purple ad the purple wall has (not so) hidden Mickey's all over it in the hot pink. Love those walls!

 

[tasha99]

It's soooo easy! Move the furniture, tape the edges, spackle if necessary, put down drop cloths, and paint. Then after it's dry, remove the tape. I always used a roller and rolling pan since they're cheap.

 

[IDoDis]

I don't like painting, but have done it in the past. Then I found a good painter who was cheap and did excellent work. I started using him to paint rooms when we needed it. He'd do as many colors as I wanted, a stripe around the room with a different color on the bottom (DS's room) and high ceilings. I just couldn't beat paying some one $100 to do a room with 3 colors vs all of the taping off myself. He did our downstairs room with 12 foot ceilings, the hallway the nichos, the entry way and the stairs area that zig-zagged up for $200.00. It was so worth it to me. I bought the paint, but he brought everything else, so I didn't have to buy brushes, pans, drop clothes etc...

There was a plethora of out-of-work painters on Craig's List since the housing market crashed, and many of them had very decent prices.

 

[TheBigBadWolf]

Thanks for the encouragement! I think it's the cutting in that scares me a little...I know that can mean the difference between it looking like an "amateur" painted it vs a professional. I figure with a good brush along with taping and cutting in and a good dose of patience, I can probably do it.

Thanks again!

I'm very obsessive, so even though I tape off the ceilings and woodwork, I go in afterwards with a tiny artist's brush and do all the touch up work so it looks perfect. An artist's brush is perfect for touching up edges and around the trim.

One HGTV tip I use that you might find useful: I don't clean my brushes until I'm completely through painting. While the walls dry, I put my brushes in a baggie and stick them in the freezer. Then I pull them out the next day and thaw, then paint the walls with a second coat of paint. It's so much easier than cleaning the brushes every time you stop painting, and your brushes stay in perfect shape.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Get a good Purdy brush to do the cut work with. Never fill the bristles more than about 1/3 down with paint. It will go well.

It is really VERY easy to do.

 

[indimom]

I've painted every room in my house but two, some of those multiple times. I agree it's pretty easy, but here are a few tips that we learned by trial and error.


1. Be ready for a quick cleanup at all times. Keep a bucket of water and rag close at hand. Just in case you do get a drip on something like trim, you can wipe it up immediately.

2. Keep the kids away!!!!! (We ended up with a half gallon of yellow paint on creme carpet when a remote control car DS was playing with in an adjacent room came speeding in and hit the bucket. The drop cloth didn't really help with that mess since it ran right off and onto the carpet before we could breathe. We had to put furniture over the spot until we replaced the carpet. )

3. Have multiple sizes of brushes for "tight spots" as some work better than others. One of the worst locations is where you have a door or window with trim sitting very close to a corner. You don't want to be working with a two or three inch brush for a 1 or 2 inch space, and clearly a roller isn't going to work.

4. Try to work with another person, one to cut in and one to follow with the roller. We seem to get a more uniform finish that way.

6. We like those flat square cutting tools for along the ceiling. BUT, be very careful not to overload it with paint or you will make a mess anyway. Just take it slow and easy and you'll have a perfect clean line along the ceiling.

5. I think this is the most critical for a neat look. Take an exacto knife along the edge of the tape before you remove it. Sometimes the paint will stick to both the wall and the tape and you will pull it off the wall while removing the tape. Looks terrible. Then you have to go back with a tiny artists brush and touch it up. It's a pain. So, cut along the tape before you peel it off.

6. Finally, take your time.

 

[Disney Doll]

Take your time.

Don't put too much paint on the brush.

Buy good brushes/rollers and take care of the,..

Buy good paint. Professional painters we know only use Benjamin Moore. Once they used Dutch Boy at a customer's insistence and said that was OK too.

We never tape. We cut in. We have had more trouble with the tape pulling off the paint when we removed it than we did with cutting in.

Use latex paint. It's very forgiving.

Keep a bucket with water and a clean white rag close by. If you are using latex paint and get some on trim or something, it will wash right off if you do it immediately.

Wash the walls with TSP before painting. It cleans off all the wall grime and makes the paint stay better (another tip from the professional painters).

We used these tips when we painted our house 16 years ago and some of the rooms are still the original paint job and look great!

 

[mtemm]

we have painted many many rooms, never hired a professional (although we need to for our foyer since it is a 2 story one and we can't do that). prep is key. take your time and do it right, or you will regret it. I know many people who don't need to tape, but honestly I feel better when I do tape. I mostly use behr paint and love it, have used benjamin moore was well with the same results. honestly the hardest part for me is choosing colors!

good luck!!!!

 

[LuvOrlando]

If you want it done to the standards that my DH calls "RIGHT" it is

In our house the rules are:

Ceiling First - edges then fill in with a roller
Walls Next- angled Purdy Brush with the long edge side used first ever so carefully doing where the wall meets the ceiling
use the blue tape around windows & trip
angled Purdy brush around windows & trim
fill in with a roller
Trim - angled Purdy Brush again with a strip of cardboard to hold between carpet or the floor as I paint so there are no drip spots.

DH is very particular about the brushes so I go along with it. I have a 1" and a 2" Purdy Brush we take very good care of and we never skimp on the rollers because the cheap ones lose bits of lint on your walls or fall apart while a good pair can be washed & rewashed to paint an entire house.

Nothing easy about it IMHO but it's perfect when we're done.

 

[J3nn78]

I could not imagine hiring someone do to something so easy to do myself. I just painted an entire 2 story house. We painted every room before we moved in and we have cathedral ceilings too. It is just time intensive, but really, anyone can paint.

 

[Aristocath]

I've painted almost every rrom in our house at least twice in the eleven years we've been here. It is so easy and I love changing colors. My husband doesn't even help anymore since if it was up to him our entire house would be painted white!

I do not enjoy painting doors, however. You have to take those off the hinges and lay them down.