The instructions for painting walls are fairly simple—cutting in the edges with a brush, then filling in with a roller. With this in mind, painting a wall goes a lot more quickly when two people work together: one using a brush to cut in the corners in sections, and the other following with a roller and filling in. Tandem painters are able to eliminate any lap marks caused by applying rolled paint to an edge that’s already dried. With our help, you can go into your next painting project with confidence. We’ll show you how to prepare walls for paint, plus the wall painting techniques that promise to get the job done right. Then, prepare the room by moving small furnishings out. Push larger pieces to the room’s center and cover with plastic. Remove all wall-mount fixtures and hardware; take down curtains and artworks. Cover switch plate and outlet receptacle openings with plastic and painter’s tape. Also, consider adjusting the room’s humidity levels. When you’re painting inside your house, you don’t have to worry about rain pouring down your newly painted surface. You should, however, be mindful of the inside temperature and humidity. Interior paint goes on more easily and dries more uniformly in moderate temperatures and average humidities. Ask your supplier for the interior temperature and humidity ranges most suitable for your paint. You might need to adjust the thermostat, open windows, or add an exhaust fan to control the temperature. If the air is heavy with moisture (often the case when it’s raining outside), you might be able to reduce the humidity by turning on the air-conditioning to a low level or bringing a dehumidifier into the room. To raise the humidity in a dry room, run a humidifier. Editor’s Tip: Make sure you don’t scrape too much, making the compound level with the wall. It’s better to leave a little mound and sand it down once it’s dry to avoid shrinkage and an obvious divot in the wall. Editor’s Tip: Use a 2- to 2-1/2-inch angled brush to cut in. Any larger and it can be difficult to maneuver; any smaller and you run the risk of not covering enough surface. Editor’s Tip: The closer you can place the end of the roller to the corner of an adjacent surface, the less you’ll notice any difference between cut-in paint and rolled paint. You can get really close by pulling the roller cover slightly off the end of the roller cage and painting carefully. Generally, you’ll need to wait at least 2 hours before applying the next coat of paint. You might need to wait even longer if conditions, such as high humidity or low temperatures, slow down the drying process, if you’ve applied the paint in a thick coat, or if you’ve applied a heavily tinted paint (one with more than 8 ounces of colorant per gallon). If paint is blistering, wrinkling, or lifting, or if it has an uneven sheen, it needs to dry longer before recoating or applying a wall paint design. Normally you should wait 2 weeks or longer before cleaning the surface. Some manufacturers recommend 30 days, and the wait time is influenced by a number of factors. Gloss paints have more co-solvent to evaporate and rely on getting maximum hardness from the binder, so they require longer drying than flat paints. Your cleaning method also matters. Cleaning with a wet sponge is less demanding than with a brush and detergent. If your paint abrades, blisters, or changes its sheen or color when you try to clean it, you’ll need to wait longer.
