How To Paint An Old Camper

hand dipping a paint brush into a large tin of pink paint as it drips back into the pot

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1 Sand Abroad Flaws

To utilize a perfectly smooth coat of paint to walls, ceilings, and woodwork, you must start with a perfectly polish surface. One pro told united states of america that "sander," would be a more plumbing equipment chore championship for him than "painter," since he spends and then much time pushing sandpaper.

Sanding with the appropriate annoying paper helps level out spackling chemical compound and drywall joint compound patches, flattens ridges around nail holes, and feathers out repairs to inconspicuously blend into the surrounding surface. Sanding too removes burrs and rough spots in painted wood trim, such as baseboard moldings and window and door casings. And roughing up a glossy painted surface with fine-grit sandpaper allows the new paint glaze to adhere more easily.

Use a sanding pole fitted with 220-grit sandpaper to sand the walls vertically from the baseboard up to the ceiling. Be sure to overlap each stroke slightly to keep from missing any spots. Then, sand horizontally forth the top of the baseboard molding and forth the tops of the walls at the ceiling. Don't apply also much pressure on the sanding pole or its swiveling head might flip over and impairment the wall. Plus, sandpaper tends to load upwardly (clog) when you printing down as well hard.

To sand decorative woodwork, try using a sanding sponge, which gets into crevices and easily conforms to contours.

ii Printing Record With a Putty Knife

Painter's tape is an indispensable part of every paint job, particularly when masking off wood trim. But nothing is more discouraging than peeling off the tape but to detect that paint has bled through the tape and gotten all over the trim. To avoid the pain-in-the-neck task of scraping off the errant pigment, do a thorough job of adhering the tape to the trim earlier you start painting.

Utilise the tape to the wood trim, then run a putty pocketknife over the tape to firmly press it down for a skillful seal. That'll terminate whatever pigment bleeds. And exist sure to employ truthful painter'due south tape, not masking tape. Masking tape leaves behind a sticky residue that's difficult to clean off. Plus, paint tin can crusade masking record to buckle and wrinkle, which lets paint seep beneath information technology. Painter'due south tape can exist left on for days (some types upward to ii weeks) and nevertheless peel off cleanly.

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3 Cover Furniture

When painting a room, don't bother lugging all the furniture out of the room. Instead, push all the effects to the center of the room and then cover it with plastic sheets that are taped at the lesser. This will protect the furniture from paint drips and splatters, and too from all the sanding grit.

4 Use Tinted Primer

Before the pros pigment walls, they make full holes and patch cracks with articulation chemical compound. But if you paint directly over the patched areas, the compound will suck the moisture out of the paint, giving it a apartment, tedious look—a trouble called "flashing." And those spots will look noticeably dissimilar from the rest of the wall. To avoid seeing patched areas through the finished topcoat of paint, it's of import to offset prime the walls.

Yet, instead of using white primer straight from the can, pros tint the primer with a little greyness paint or with the color of the finish pigment. Tinted primer does a improve job of concealing patched areas and covering up the quondam paint color. As a result, the end paint coat volition be more vibrant and may require fewer coats. This is peculiarly true when painting over colors like red or orange, which could require three or more topcoat coats if you don't first apply a tinted primer.

five Buy the All-time Supplies

Don't cheap out on pigment and brushes. Cheap brushes are simulated economy. Purchase the best brushes you tin afford, make clean them well, and they'll last you lot a lifetime. A $three plastic brush is going to make information technology look as if you smeared paint on the wall with a rake. And, the bristles will autumn out into the paint. Purchase Wooster or Purdy paintbrushes, which price a chip more than standard brushes, but are much more durable and employ pigment very smoothly. A quality two½-inch-wide angled sash brush is an excellent all-circular paintbrush. It's versatile and you can wash and reuse it until the bristles wear downward to a nub.

It'south also important to buy the best paint y'all tin can afford. It'll keep easy, offer the best coverage, and last a long fourth dimension. Plus, you'll be able to wash off grubby fingerprints without taking off the pigment. And the whole painting job volition go quicker and easier—and look better in the end.

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6 Eliminate Brush and Lap Marks with Paint Extender

The telltale sign that a room has been painted past a novice DIYer, not a pro, is that at that place are visible lap marks in the finished paint coat. The secret to a finish that'south free of noticeable lap marks and brush strokes is mixing a paint extender (AKA paint conditioner), such every bit Floetrol, into the paint.

This does two things:

one) Information technology slows downwardly the paint's drying time, giving you more time to pigment over only-painted areas without getting ugly lap marks, which happens when you lot use fresh pigment to dried pigment.

two) Pigment extender levels out the paint, most eliminating brushstrokes. Pros use extenders when painting drywall, woodwork, cabinets, and doors. Read the tin'south label to make up one's mind how much extender to add to your pigment, merely it's typically 8 ounces of extender per one gallon of paint. If the paint is especially thick, or if you're painting in very cold weather, more extender can be added—up to near sixteen ounces.

7 Scrape a Ridge in Textured Ceilings

When painting forth the top of a wall in a room with a textured ceiling, it'due south nearly impossible not to get paint on the ceiling bumps. Pros accept a unproblematic solution: run the tip of a slotted screwdriver effectually the perimeter of the ceiling, scraping off a little bit of the texture. The screwdriver creates a tiny ridge in the ceiling, which the tips of your paint bristles naturally glide into. Now, you can cutting in around the ceiling without getting paint onto the ceiling. And you'll never fifty-fifty observe the missing texture.

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8 Scrape (Don't Record) Windows

When painting windows, don't bother taping around the window frame and grill. That takes too long and paint usually ends upwards on the glass anyway. Try this pro play a joke on instead: as y'all pigment the window, let a little paint lap onto the glass. Once it'south dry, merely scrape information technology off with a razor scraper. Just be careful non to piece through the paint bond between the wood and glass. Otherwise, moisture can seep into the wood and cause rot.

9 Box Pigment for Consistent Color

When yous purchase two or more cans of the same color pigment, guess what? They're almost never the same verbal color. That's because paint color varies very slightly between cans. And that modest departure can exist glaringly obvious if you open a new gallon halfway through covering a wall. To ensure color consistency from start to finish, pros mix their cans of pigment into a five-gallon saucepan, a technique known every bit "boxing" pigment. Then, you can pigment directly out of the larger bucket, which eliminates the need to pour paint into a roller tray (though you should keep in mind that the heavy bucket is harder to move).

10 Finish One Wall Before Starting Some other

Most DIY painters cut in all the room corners, and then go back and curl paint onto the walls, but that's non the right fashion to paint a room. Pros become a seamless look past cutting in one wall, and then immediately rolling on the paint before the cut-in sections dry. This allows the brushed and the rolled sections to alloy together beautifully.

As well, cover your pigment bucket, tray, or container with a damp towel when switching between brushing and rolling; that'll keep your pigment and tools from drying out when not in use.

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11 Purchase an Extra Saucepan or Two

It'southward smart to have a couple of clean, empty buckets
on hand when painting because freshly shaken paint doesn't stay freshly shaken for very long. And you can't bring settled paint back to life with a stir stick solitary. And so, yous must pour paint back and forth between ii buckets until you've mixed in the solids that accept collected at the lesser of each tin. That's the best way, and really the only way, to ensure your paint is properly and thoroughly mixed. And if you accept paint in several different cans, mix those too to ensure color uniformity.

12 Launder Roller Covers

Odd as it may sound, it'south important to wash brand-new paint-roller covers earlier using them to spread paint. Pre-washing gets rid of loose bits of fuzz that inevitably come up off once you starting time painting. Wash the covers with water and a niggling bit of liquid soap, then run your hands up and downwardly the covers to pull off any loose fibers, a practice called "preconditioning." And you tin can start using the roller covers right abroad; you don't accept to wait for them to dry.

13 Apply Canvas Drop Cloths

Professional painters don't use old bed sheets as drop cloths, and neither should you. Thin sheets won't stop splatters and spills from seeping through to your floor. And don't use plastic sheeting either. While plastic does incorporate spills, the paint stays wet for way too long. And if you step in wet paint, yous'll end up tracking it throughout the business firm. Plus, moisture paint on slick plastic becomes very slippery.

Utilise what the pros use—sail driblet cloths. They're more expensive, simply canvas isn't glace, it absorbs splatters, and it's durable plenty to last a lifetime. And unless you're painting a ceiling, you don't need a jumbo-sized driblet cloth to fill the entire room. A canvas cloth that's just a few anxiety wide and runs the length of the wall is platonic for protecting the floor.

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14 Light It Upwards

Here's another painter term for y'all: "holiday." That's when you miss a spot without realizing information technology. It's easy to do, peculiarly with like colors or rooms with bad lighting. Then, get yourself a good, bright work light and use it to bank check your work, either as you go or when you end a section. Holidays typically occur around the edges of a room, where yous used a brush instead of a roller. Holidays are easy to set up when you lot're all the same working, but much more annoying after yous've cleaned up and put everything abroad.

fifteen Clean Dirty Walls With Degreaser

Paint won't bond to greasy, dirty, dusty surfaces, such every bit kitchen walls above a stove, mudrooms where kids boot off their muddy boots, or areas around light switches that get swatted past dirty hands. In those cases, use a degreaser to clean the surface prior to painting. Degreasers, which are also chosen deglossers, cut through grease and crud to allow better paint adhesion. Be certain to read the label and follow directions because this stuff is potent. And wear rubber gloves and eye protection.

16 Take Off Those Electirc Plates

This is a no-brainer. Instead of laboriously masking off or cutting around electrical outlet plates and switch plates, catch your screwdriver and take them off. Then y'all'll be able to quickly and easily paint around each electrical device without making a mess. Just be sure to go along track of all the screws, so y'all tin can put the comprehend plates back on one time the paint dries.

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17 Outset With a Loaded Brush

Pros have a "load-and-get" approach to painting. They load the bottom 1½ inch of their brush bristles with pigment and and then tap each side of the brush against the within of the tin. That knocks off heavy drips and prepares the brush for painting.

By contrast, homeowners often accept a "load-and-dump" approach: they dip the brush into the paint, then drag the loaded bristles along the sides of the container, wiping off most of the paint. The result is a castor that's as well dry and has also trivial paint.

eighteen Push Paint to Avoid Runs

When your castor is loaded with paint, it'due south easy to create drips and runs by applying also much paint in room corners or along woods trim. To avoid those issues, start brushing most i/2 inch away from the cut-in surface area. As the brush unloads pigment, move closer and slowly drag the brush along the trim or corner. Let the beard gently push the paint against the cut-in area where the walls meet. You may have to do this a couple of times to become complete coverage, but information technology'll avoid backlog pigment collecting forth woodwork and in corners.

19 Give Yourself a Good Set

In painter lingo, a "bad prepare" is when yous're in a physically bad position while painting. For case, mayhap your ladder isn't quite close enough, or you're in an awkward spot with your brush. The good news is that most bad sets can be avoided. Just climb downwards and move the ladder. Sure, it's annoying, simply it's non every bit annoying every bit falling into your paint bucket because yous were hanging off your ladder like an America'southward Cup crew fellow member. And sometimes a bad fix tin can exist resolved by moving an obstacle. If the refrigerator is forcing you into a tough painting position, terminate and scroll information technology out of the style.

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20 Bag It Up

When you're ready to quit for the day—only haven't finished painting—leave the roller cover on the roller frame, then soak the comprehend in paint. Wrap the embrace in a plastic purse to create an airtight seal. That'll go along the roller cover fresh until you return to painting the side by side day. If you can't render to painting for several days, pull the roller cover off the frame and toss it out. Then use a new roller cover the next time.

As for your brushes, rinse them clean with warm, soapy water, especially if yous're using latex paint, which is water-based. Utilize paint thinner to clean off oil-based pigment. Then rake the beard out straight with a brush comb and slip the brushes back into their original covers or wrap them in newspaper.

Ezra Dyer Senior Editor Ezra Dyer is a Motorcar and Commuter senior editor and columnist.