Need cut-in tips for painting


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Old 01-04-23, 01:50 AM
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Need cut-in tips for painting

My wife and I are going to paint all the rooms of our little house over the winter. I am not new to room painting, but much has changed with painting since I last did so. I was hoping to get tips from you to cut my learning curve to the most efficient way.

We will be changing the color of the walls from beige to gray. I want a clean cut-in line where the walls meet the baseboard and crown molding. I am not steady enough to cut it in by hand. In the past I had good results with those little paint pads. Now, I see people using painters tape or paint shields.

I would like to use my airless sprayer to do the walls. If I am going to have to mask off everything I was thinking of the plastic mask with painters tape already attached, however the blue tape I used in the past invariably would not yield a clean line.

I apologize for the rambling. Can someone offer their thoughts?
 
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Old 01-04-23, 02:36 AM
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While I've sprayed a lot of new construction very rarely will I spray inside an occupied home. Overspray can/will go everywhere! The time spent covering up and cleaning up always negates any time saved applying the paint. I'll sometimes use a spray shield when spraying next to a ceiling but it doesn't give a fine enough line to call it finished. Also sprayed walls almost always look better if they are back rolled.

IMO you are best off cutting in with brush, Tape can give a false sense of security [paint can seep under the tape] Personally I don't think those paint/roller pads do a nice enough job but some folks find it acceptable. I'd suggest getting a good 2" angle brush and taking your time [speed will come along as you use it]
 
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Old 01-04-23, 02:44 AM
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While I've sprayed a lot of new construction very rarely will I spray inside an occupied home. Overspray can/will go everywhere!
Good tip! I have had this sprayer for a while, but only used it once. In the past I found trying to tape everything off negated the speed benefits of spraying.

As far as the pads, it has been a while since I used them. In the past there were 2 varieties; wheels and shields. Some with both. The wheels always left ~1/16" gap unpainted. The shields allowed me to be virtually spot on, but I had to make sure to keep the shields clean of paint. Looking now it appears the only maker of these is Shur-Line. I don't see any model with the little shields.

 
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Old 01-04-23, 02:46 AM
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Take a look at green Frog Tape.
I have had good results using it.

 
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Old 01-04-23, 02:48 AM
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Take a look at green Frog Tape.
I have had good results using it.
Agreed. I used the yellow frog tape in my garage. No leakage at all.
 
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Old 01-04-23, 02:54 AM
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Thank you for the replies. It actually helps a lot in narrowing things down.

Not spraying eliminates all the taping up of plastic sheeting for overspray. That leaves me with rollers for the walls and a way to cut in at the ceiling and baseboards. The pads with wheels will leave a tiny portion unpainted, so I guess it is tape. I know without tricks the Scotch blue painters tape leaks. That leaves me with Frog Tape which I know works.

Thank you for the replies.
 
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Old 01-04-23, 04:48 AM
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When my house was under construction I painted the interior before doors, trim and flooring were installed. It went quick. I could put 25 gallons on the walls in a day including back rolling but... it wasn't worth the cleanup. Even spraying airless paint got everywhere. Luckily my house was still a construction site but just removing the overspray from the windows was enough work to offset any savings by spraying.

During COVID I repainted the main room in our house (living, dining & kitchen). It went surprisingly quick by cutting in and painting by hand. Previously I did some tests with various brands and types of painters tape and ended up not using any. A quality paint brush made cutting in pretty easy except for the odd body position you have to get into. Then the next big savings was using a good quality paint. It was noticeable how well it spread and covered and how easy it was to get a uniform finish.

If you do use tape make sure the surfaces are clean. This is especially true for the top side of base moldings and above doors. A quick wipe down was not enough to allow tape to work. I had to damp wipe a few times to get it clean enough for the painters tape to form a half way (but not perfect) seal.
 
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Old 01-04-23, 04:55 AM
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including back rolling
I don't know what this term means. Is the spray finish undesirable and you back roll to get the texture?

using a good quality paint
I am not sure I can paint trim regardless of paint quality. Most recently tried painting some trim with the same Sherwin Williams 100% acrylic trim paint my painting contractor used. I could not avoid brush strokes. Severe brush strokes. I played with Floetrol. It helped, still had issues. I may have not added enough. I came to the conclusion I would have to spray doors and trim to get a good finish.

I am OK on walls using a roller or brush, but I suck at trim. What is the difference?
 
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Old 01-04-23, 05:08 AM
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So everybody has their preferences but the one time I used SW (to save a little $) on the basement finish and was not impressed with the paint, I believe it was their best Emerald.

Last winter when some paints were in short supply I tried Benjamin More. It was ok but now that my go to paint is available Pratt Lambert has been my favorite for 30 years. Their trim paint is Redline.

As far as the ceiling cut in, I use the sure line, another tool I have used for 30 years, I can cut in a ceiling and can knock out a room with a flawless razor straight line in less time than I would spend repainting the ceiling/wall joint attempting to hand paint a cut in line.

And I also vote for not spraying, did a basement ceiling once several houses ago painting all the un-finished ceiling joists black for that industrial look. Turned out great but was the biggest mess to clean up I have ever had and I was expecting it to be bad.
 
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Old 01-04-23, 05:09 AM
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back rolling is the process of rolling the sprayed on paint. Insures a even paint job that has a better chance of being touched up - versus spray only. On exterior wood it helps to work the paint in instead of just laying on top.

Thinning the paint slightly, using a good brush and not overly brushing the paint helps to reduce/eliminate brush marks.
 
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Old 01-04-23, 05:20 AM
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I believe it was their best Emerald
That is what I was using as well. Dried really quick. The painting contractor was a friend. I asked him about it. His only advice was I had to paint faster and not over work the area. No matter what I did I got the brush strokes.

 
 

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