Like many people, I have several corners where one color of paint meets another. The most frequent kind is where the ceiling (painted flat white in my place) meets the wall (painted some other color, often with a significant contrast). I've tried to paint neat, hard, straight lines using masking tape, but as a newbie I've messed it up heroically and repeatedly, leaving ridiculous jagged edges, and I'm now on my third and fourth re-do in some cases. I'd be grateful if those wiser could review what I've learned so far from my extensive mistakes and add to my list of rules: 1. Buy the good brand of masking tape. The adhesive on the store brand from a well-known national home improvement chain doesn't hold well, and the tape tears easily on removal. Not worth the discount. 2. Make sure to press the edge of the tape down firmly, i.e. hard. The purpose of the tape is to exclude paint and it can't do that if you don't press it down hard enough to prevent gaga between the surface and the tape. Duh. 3. DO NOT OVERPAINT. It is very tempting to slap on a lot of paint when 'painting-in' the corners / edges. But a thick skin of paint is less likely to tear neatly down the edge of the tape when the tape is removed. It'll tear irregularly and paint will be pulled off the surface away from your line. 4. When pulling off the masking tape, (1) pull it off SLOWLY, not with a cavalier yank and flourish, and (2) pull the tape back 180º on itself and draw along the wall / ceiling, rather than at 90º or some other angle (which it tempting particularly with ceilings where you can't reach without the ladder). What else? I'd be particularly interested to learn whether professionals advocate removing the masking tape immediately after painting. That would seem to have the advantage that if the paint is still wet, i.e. not solidified, it can't tear. But there's practical drawback: the paint on the tape will be wet and therefore be a mess hazard: that paint is going to get on your hands at least, - no biggie, but you're going to to have to be careful that your hands and the wet-painted tape don't brush up against anything. Any more advice gratefully will be received, before I head into my fifth re-do.... sigh....

I have applied a single layer of Zinsser Oil Based Primer and want to know if one single coat should be enough ? The directions on the can says two coats. I thought I needed to use an oil based solvent primer due the darkening of several paint test spots on the wall but now believe that the darkening of the paint might be due to a bad paint match but possibly still could be due to some contaminant in the original paint. The original post can be seen here [url]http://www.doityourself.com/forum/painting-staining-all-interior-exterior-surfaces/552266-dark-spots-walls-after-application-paint-help.html[/url]