Painting the trim in your home can be time consuming. This finish work can leave many feeling frustrated. If you are following the right steps as you paint your trim, you will have far more success and much less frustration. When you take your time to complete this finish work, it can have a big impact on the overall look of your home. McKay’s Painting is here to share some tips that will make your trim painting process successful.
Best Type of Paint for Trim
Before you can get started on painting your trim, it is important that you have the right paint as well as the right amount of paint first. Some people choose to paint their trim the same color as their walls, but most people will choose a different color that makes the trim in their home pop. You also need to choose the right sheen for your trim. You will likely need to clean these areas from time to time, which makes a semi-gloss or satin finish for your trim the best options. They allow you to easily clean them without causing any damage to the paint in the process. When trying to figure out how much paint you will need, a good starting place is roughly 1 gallon of paint for every 350 square feet. To figure this out for trim, you can multiply the width by the length and then divide that number by 12.
Surface Preparation for Painting Trim
While you might be tempted to simply get your paint and brush and go to town on your trim, it is extremely important that you prepare the surface properly before doing so. If there is any paint that is chipping, you need to remove it before you can have new paint adhere to the surface. You should also remove any caulking that is separating or peeling from the wall and re do it. If there are any holes in the trim, fill them and allow them ample time to dry before you start painting. Using tape to ensure that the paint won’t get on the walls while painting is going to save you time and agony during the painting process as well. It may take time to tape off these areas, but it will be well worth your time when you don’t have to get out the wall paint and do a bunch of touchup work.
Use the Right Painting Tools
Don’t be afraid to use several different brush sizes when painting trim. You may benefit from using a smaller, 1 inch brush when painting close to the walls just to make sure you don’t get trim paint on your walls. If you have taped off the surface, remove the tape before the paint fully dries to that it doesn’t remove more paint that you want it to.
Interior & Exterior Painting & More in Ventura, Ojai, Newbury Park, Westlake Village, Camarillo, Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills & Santa Barbara California
Painting trim can be tedious. If it is too much for you, you may want to leave it up to the painters at McKay’s Painting to speed up the process and deliver beautiful results. Call us today!
