20 painting tips from someone who actually paints for a living
Key Takeaways
- Matte finish hides brush marks and wall imperfections. Modern matte paint is washable now.
- Mix all your cans into one bucket before you start. Colour varies between cans and you will see the difference on the wall.
- Skip the tape. A decent brush and a steady hand gives you a better line.
- Prime every patched spot or it will show through your finish coat.
- Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams cost the same or less than hardware store brands. Better pigment, fewer coats.
Most painting advice online comes from people who painted one accent wall and made a YouTube video about it.
These are things I tell homeowners before every job. Some of it is stuff I wish someone had told me when I was starting out. None of it is complicated. But skipping any of it is how paint jobs go wrong.
Picking the right finish
Use matte, durable, washable, touchup friendly
If you're painting your own place, go with matte. It hides brush marks and roller marks better than satin or semi-gloss. Your walls will look cleaner even if your technique is a bit rough. And modern matte from Benjamin Moore or Sherwin-Williams is washable now. That wasn't true ten years ago but the formulas have caught up.
Here's the other thing about matte. If your walls have dents, patches, old nail holes you filled, uneven texture, matte hides all of it. Satin and semi-gloss catch light and show every bump. Matte doesn't. (Dont use semi-gloss on walls.)
Eggshell works everywhere
Eggshell has a very slight shine and cleans up fairly easily. You can use it on any wall in the house. It sits between matte and satin. If you want one finish for everything and don't want to overthink it, eggshell is fine.
Same colour on trim and ceiling, different sheen
Most homeowners don't know this one. It's common practice to paint trim and ceiling the same colour but change the sheen. Trim in CC-40 semi-gloss, ceiling in CC-40 flat. The semi-gloss on trim catches light. The flat on the ceiling doesn't. Same colour, looks completely different.
Want the trim to stand out more? Go a shade lighter or darker than the walls. Doesn't need to be a different colour entirely. Just a shift on the same card.
Prep work
Prime every patched area
If you patched a spot and paint over it without priming, that area is going to show through the finish. It absorbs paint differently than the wall around it. You'll see it as a dull spot or a slightly off colour. Always prime patches first.
On patching materials: use real plaster. It sands smooth and barely shows through the finish. Next best is Drydex. Don't use anything else. I cannot stress this enough. Some next best thing on the market gets rock hard and is a nightmare to sand. I've wasted hours fixing patches other diy'er left behind, generally scrap it all off.
Sand between coats
Light pass with 220 grit between coats on walls and trim. Knocks down fuzz, roller stipple, and any dust that settled while the first coat dried. Gives you a noticeably smoother finish. Most people skip this step. You can always tell when they did.
Remove switch plates and plug covers
Take them off. All of them. Don't tape around them, don't paint around them. It takes two minutes with a screwdriver. Put the screws back in the plate so they don't disappear.
Technique
Cut in first, roll second
Grab a brush and cut in along all the edges first. Ceiling line, corners, around trim, around outlets. Then go back and roll the flat wall areas. Don't try to alternate between the two. Cut the whole room, then roll the whole room.
Follow the light (ceilings)
Always follow the main window in the room. That's your horizontal reference. If the room has two windows, cross roll. First coat goes vertical to the main light source window, second coat goes horizontal. This keeps roller lines from catching the light and showing through the finish on your ceiling. Ceilings are always flat finish, but roller lines still show if you go against the light with one coat. Cross roll when there are multiple windows.
The W method
Load your roller, put it on the wall, make a W. Then fill in the W rolling straight up and down. When the area is covered, backroll lightly in one direction to smooth out the texture.
Don't paint holding the roller cage in your hand. Get a stick. Even the cheapest extension pole from the hardware store works. Reaching up with the cage gives you uneven pressure and your arm will be dead by noon. The pole keeps your pressure consistent from floor to ceiling.
And don't buy weird new tools that claim to replace a brush and roller. I've seen a lot of them come and go. Twenty years and I still use the same setup every day.
Brush selection
Medium-stiff brush for cutting walls. It holds enough paint and gives you control for ceiling lines and corners. Stiff brush for trim. Stiffer bristles give you a tighter edge, which is what trim needs.
Skip the tape
I almost never tape. Steady hand, decent brush, you'll get a cleaner line than tape gives you. Tape can pull fresh paint off when you remove it, leaves residue, takes forever to apply properly.
If you absolutely need tape along a ceiling, use short 4 to 5 inch strips and adjust your extension pole so the roller can't physically reach the ceiling line. That's your safety margin.
When you do use tape, pull it off while the paint is still dry to the touch. Not tomorrow. Not after the second coat dries. Now. Wait too long and it bonds to the wall or pulls the paint off with it.
Paint handling
Box your paint
Open all your cans, pour them into a large bucket, stir. That's boxing.
Colour varies between cans. Even from the same batch, same store, mixed the same day. If you run out of one can halfway through a wall and open the next one, there's a chance you'll see the line where the colour shifted. Boxing gets rid of that completely.
It also makes your life easier if you need touch-ups months later. One batch, one colour. Match is always perfect.
Quality paint isn't more expensive
People assume Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams cost a fortune. They don't. Per gallon, they're the same price or cheaper than most hardware store brands. The difference is the pigment. Richer colour, better coverage, fewer coats. The paint stays looking good for years instead of going chalky after three.
Over the life of the job, quality paint costs less. You're just not repainting again in four years.
Latex paint dries fast on your tools
Set a brush down for fifteen minutes and the paint on the bristles starts skinning over. Wash your brushes and rollers as soon as you take a break. If you're coming back in a couple hours, wrap them tight in plastic.
Don't leave a roller sitting in the tray. It'll be crusty when you get back.
Strain old paint before you use it
That half-can sitting in your garage has dust in it. Dried flakes. Skin from the surface. Before you use it, strain it through cheesecloth, an old pair of pantyhose, anything lightweight. Pour it through into a clean bucket, a gallon at a time. Takes two minutes. Saves you from rolling chunks onto the wall.
Seal your cans
When you're done painting, seal the cans properly. Rubber mallet on the lid, or put a rag over it and tap it with a hammer. Air gets in, the paint skins over, eventually dries out. You want that leftover paint for touch-ups. A well-sealed can lasts years.
Don't pour paint down the drain
Leftover paint doesn't go down the sink. Doesn't go in the garbage. Take it to a Lowe's recycling centre or check Toronto's household hazardous waste drop-off locations. There are several across the city.
When to call someone
A single room, an accent wall, a bathroom refresh? These tips will get you there. But if you're doing a whole unit, or the walls are damaged, or you've got high ceilings, or you just don't want to spend a weekend doing it, that's what we're here for.
At Home Painters Pro we do free walk-throughs and put a fixed price in writing before any work starts. If you're in Toronto and want to talk through a project, call me at (416) 875-8706 or go to homepainterspro.ca.
Chad Caglak
Home Painters Pro, Toronto
Frequently Asked Questions
Use matte finish. It hides brush and roller marks better than any other sheen, so your DIY job looks cleaner. Modern matte paints from Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams are washable, which was not the case ten years ago. Matte also hides wall imperfections like small dents, patches, and uneven texture. If you want a slight sheen that is still forgiving, eggshell is the next best option.
Avoid tape whenever possible. A steady hand with a good brush gives you a cleaner line than tape in most cases. Tape can pull fresh paint off when removed, leaves adhesive residue, and takes time to apply. If you do use tape, especially along the ceiling, cut 4 to 5 inch strips and set your roller stick so the roller does not touch the ceiling. Remove tape as soon as the paint is dry to touch, not after it fully cures.
Paint colour varies slightly between cans, even from the same batch. If you finish one can halfway through a wall and open a new one, you may see a visible colour shift. Boxing, which is pouring several cans into a large bucket and mixing, eliminates this problem completely. It also makes touch-ups easier later because you have one consistent colour for the whole room.
Start by making a W shape on the wall with the loaded roller. Then fill in the W by rolling straight up and down. Once the area is covered, backroll lightly in one direction to smooth out any texture. Always use an extension pole or stick instead of reaching with the roller cage. Reaching causes uneven pressure and inconsistent coverage.
Yes, always. Patched or plastered areas absorb paint differently than the surrounding wall. Without primer, those spots will show through the finish as dull patches or slight colour differences. Use real plaster for patches when possible because it sands smoother and shows less than other compounds. Drydex is the next best option. Avoid products like Polyfilla because they are very difficult to sand smooth.