Homeowner Forum / Construction / January 2007

No, it don't.  But there are some tricks in doing it so that a month from
now, you can look at it at an angle and not see all the roller marks.  It
all depends on what type of end product you are satisfied with.

Steve

We do a lot of our own painting on small additions and remodels but sub
it on large projects and entire houses and I would agree with Steve B.
There is a major difference noticable to an 8 year old between a wall
rolled by someone who "knows how to run a roller", and someone who just
paints a wall with a roller. Its like watching a guy who really knows
how to run a shovel. You would think any idiot can dig a ditch, but get
next to a guy who really knows how to run a shovel and he'll out dig you
two to one and he may be smaller and weaker. Ask any equipment operator
what its like having a good guy in the trench and they will tell you
there is even something to running a tool as simple as a shovel.

In our experience the two main the problems are roller marks and the
average joe is constantly trying to stretch the roller load over WAY to
large an area. This goes equally for cutting in. You often see
streaked/dry cut-ins where people try to stretch a brush load over 5'
where a typical 2 1/2" brush shouldnt go more than perhaps 12"-18" at
most. A heavily loaded roller (and I mean heavy) shouldnt cover any more
than about 5 square feet (30"x30") in our opinion. You often see people
trying to roll a 2' wide swath of an 8 foot wall with a single load. The
roller handle is flexing they are pushing so hard trying to wring all
the paint out of the roller. When we break in new guys on painting we do
a few things,
-first they look around for a roller tray and we tell them to sh*t can
the tray and use a bucket and screen. Trays are fine for a closet or
small area but they are an absolute waste of time, have to be filled
often, spill easy, are hard to move around, and make loading the roller
take longer. You need a little extra paint with a bucket and screen but
a half a gallon of paint aint squat for a nice job.
-next is not to exceed 5 sq. ft. per load. A 30" wide swath of 8' wall
should take three roller loads and perhaps a light load for laying off.
A good trick that we have found is to tell them that the rolling should
be quiet. If you hear the roller, its too dry. That seems to get them to
reload more often.
-rolling without lines is something people can usually only learn by
doing. A very soft touch, long stokes, and rolling away from the shaft
end of the frame works best for us. As was stated, there is nothing
worse than looking at an open wall in low angle low light
(morning/evening sun) and seeing those roller marks.

Some other tips we use on all our jobs are to always sand your prime
coat. This is especially true when you spray primer. Drywall is often
times hairy from sanding and still has a bit of dust on it even when you
vac. Sanding the primer with 220 (we use a Radius360 pole sande which is
invaluable) makes a world of difference.

We caulk about a 1/16" bead at all wall/trim joints and roll the paint
slightly onto the trim (ever so slightly) even with stain/urethane trim.
Another would be to untape immediately so you dont risk a ragged edge
where the paint has dried to the tape. If you do a single tape job this
can happen anyway as the prime and base coat will dry to the tape
regardless. In super primo situations we will untape after the first
finish coat, let it dry and retape just off that first coat. This gives
the best edge in a real critical/highly visible area.

Also is to ALWAYS two coat no mater what. Never listen to even the
quality mfrs who are calling some of their paints one coat. The color
depth and cleanability with a second coat is well worth the work.

Lastly is to use high quality paint. Nothing from the home center. Good
paint should be so thick your stir stick will stand up in it. Dont waste
your time saving 3 bucks a gallon at the home center.

Good Luck,
Mark