Depending on the surface you are dealing with, there are simple application techniques you can follow to achieve a professionally finish looking work. Let us study the steps one by one.
- Use professional-quality painting equipment. Rather than buying cheaper items, it’s better to invest in quality materials, something that can last for longer period. Having a quality roller is a good start. Next, make sure you buy a wooden handle (also known as an extension pole) of around 1.2 meters (48-inches), which must be screwed on the roller to give you extended reach and better control while painting.
Never buy cheap sleeves (also called roller covers) or any brand that you can simply throw away after using. That will only disappoint you in the end. Rather, invest in a sturdy sleeve. For semi-gloss paint, you should use .63cm (1/4 inch) nap, while 1.2cm (1/2 inch) nap is ideal for flatter, interior paint. For tough areas, such as the ceiling, a 1.9cm (3/4 inch) nap is enough. - Use a large bucket with bucket screen for bigger areas. Many pros use at least a 5-gallon bucket rather than a mere paint tray for working on wider surfaces. In their experience, the bucket screen makes it a lot easier to load and reload the sleeve. Once you have become fatigued from painting, you can just cover the bucket with an old towel and rest for a while. In this way, the paint will not easily dry out.
- Use a paint tray for smaller areas. A roller tray or paint tray can still be useful. You can use it for painting small spaces like your bedroom. Loading your tray with 1 gallon of paint can be enough to finish the job without worry. Just be careful not to step on it while working. Also, roller trays can be made easier to clean by just using a tray liner.
- Prepare the roller. You are not supposed to dip the sleeve directly into the paint bucket or roller tray. For better painting results, you have to dampen it first with a little amount of solvent for alkyd, or with water for latex. After loading the sleeve, roll it on slowly so that the paint will not drip while painting.
- Paint the edges. Before getting started on the larger part of the wall, it is best to paint the edges first. Note that your roller cannot easily reach tight edges. This is why you have to paint the moldings and the rest of the inside corners first.
- Paint the interior of the wall. Generally, when painting the rest of the wall, your strokes can either be like a letter “M” or “N”, although sweeping strokes are also very workable. Start a few inches from below, applying lighter pressure at first. Just make sure that you flatten the ridges as you move along.
You need to blend and smooth the paint after coating the entire wall surface. This time, do not reload the sleeve. Just roll it from the floor area going upwards, exerting much lighter pressure. At the corners, roll the sleeve as close as possible, without touching the adjacent surface. - Clean the painting equipment. Use a putty knife or roller-scraping tool to need to remove any excess paint from the roller. When washing the roller, you should use powder detergent and warm water to remove paint residue. Rinse it thoroughly. If you have paint-brush spinner, that can make cleaning a lot easier.
