With any painting project, it’s crucial of course to use the best paints you can find for the job. This is especially true for exterior paints, which are constantly exposed to the elements and take a more significant beating than interior paints. But, aside from the quality of the paint itself, the quality of the many other materials that go into painting are also extremely important. Let’s look at a few of the equipment and other materials that go into a great paint job and how their quality affects the job overall.
Wall Preparation
Before you go around patching holes and cracks in any surface, you have to make sure it’s clean. Then you have to make sure you’re using the right product in the right situation. Some spackles and caulks can show through a paint coat. The main attribute you have to worry about for these products is freshness. Using old, stiff, dried caulk and spackle can lead to many problems down the road, and is not nearly as easy to use as fresh caulk or spackle.
Primer
You could fold primer into ‘wall preparation’ because it’s meant to cover up bare spots on a wall. Painters call primer their best friend because it covers and protects imperfections in the walls themselves and helps the paint shine. As with anything, the quality of primer you put on your wall will determine how well it performs. And as with anything pertaining to paint and
painting products, you have to find the proper type of primer for your situation. Grease or water stains, for example, need to be sealed with the right type of primer, while brand new, fresh drywall needs primer that will seal the surface. To get the best performance out of your primer, get high-quality options meant for specific uses and use them accordingly.
Brushes and Rollers
Rollers come in two parts: the roller frame and the cover. The cover is what is covered in paint (it also covers the wall with paint). The best way to make sure you have the right, high quality roller is to get a frame that will work for most or all of your jobs, then change out the covers as needed. For your walls, a nine-inch roller frame will usually do the trick. There are four-and- a-half- inch frames available as well for smaller jobs. The covers are a bit trickier because they come in different fabrics. Use natural fabric for oil paint, synthetic material for water-based and latex paints, and a foam roller cover for high gloss paints. You’ll also want to spring for ‘non-shed’ roller covers as well to minimize drippings and mess.
Brushes
The best thing you can do for any kind of paint brush to keep its quality as high as possible is to clean them after every use. Dried paint can build up in a brush and cause streaks of bygone colors to appear in your brand-new coat. Stiff paint brushes are also much more difficult to use in general. Dawn dishwashing detergent works the best for getting stubborn paint out of brushes.
In order to complete all of your touch-ups, you’ll probably need a few different sizes of brushes. Start with a two-inch brush for trim and a two-and- a-half- inch brush for walls. Some painters prefer an angled brush cut for easy application. The quality of the products you use to paint your interior or exterior makes a big difference in the finished job. You should also pay attention to which specific products work the best for your unique painting situation.