How To Paint Trim After Walls Are Painted

Painting trim is amidst the most common painting tasks that homeowners undertake, right along with walls and cabinets.

Painting your trim can completely modify the look and feel of a room, it tin can brighten the infinite or make it more elegant.

I've painted a lot of trim over my fifteen-year painting career. I've brushed out trim in homes, I've sprayed trim and I've painted the trim in countless new construction homes. I have a lot of communication that will not only brand your trim look astonishing when completed, but will speed up your painting procedure and requite you a finished product that will final for decades.

How To Paint Trim

There are a few different ways to pigment trim. Y'all can brush it after installation, you tin can spray it afterward installation or your can pre-cease the trim earlier installation (which I only recommend in very few certain circumstances).

Brushing Vs Spraying Trim

In theory, spraying your trim is always going to leave you with a better cease. It will be smoother and go out a fantastic looking finish. In new construction, I ever spray the trim, no questions asked.

In the reality of an existing abode, spraying your trim volition cause you a ton of extra work while delivering results that while better than brushing, are not significant plenty to justify the actress piece of work for 95% of the people out there, the possibility of overspray getting on areas you don't want information technology or the extra olfactory property that will exist in your dwelling house.

Also, let'due south be honest, nobody is going to get downwards on their hands and knees and look so close at your baseboard that they will exist able to tell that information technology has brush strokes in information technology. And even if you tin can see them in the trim around your doors and windows, personally, I similar the wait of brush strokes, information technology adds character.

Fifty-fifty in my own home, I chose to castor all of our trim when I painted it. Information technology looks neat and I am completely happy with it. To me, the difference betwixt spraying and brushing was not worth the extra work.

Because of all this, I am not going to exist going into detail on spraying in this article. Though nearly of the info is interchangeable for spraying and brushing, I'll only be dropping a few random spraying tips hither and there.

Painting Your Trim Index

Paints and Tools I Recommend
Time Needed To Paint Your Trim
Painting Trim Or Walls First
Stride 1: Prepping The Room
Step ii: Cleaning The Trim
Step 3: Filling Nail Holes
Step iv: Sanding The Trim
Stride five: Priming The Trim
Step 6: Caulking The Gaps
Step 7: Painting The Trim's First Meridian Coat
Step 8: Painting The Concluding Coat
Step ix: Cleanup

Painting trim requires only a few bones tools and materials.

Painter's Tape – For taping off floors and windows.
5-in-i Painter's Tool – Perfect for pressing tape, cutting tape, filling holes and other random tasks.
Drop Cloths
2.5″ Paint Castor – Want to larn everything at that place is near pigment brushes? Check out my posts All About Paint Brushes and How To Clean Your Paintbrush.
Medium, Fine, and Extra Fine Grit Sanding Sponges – Each for different stages of the trim painting process.
Shop-Vac
Caulk and Caulk Gun – For caulking gaps and cracks.
Spackling Paste – For filling smash holes in your trim.

Fourth dimension Needed To Pigment Your Trim

Painting trim can actually exist quite a time-consuming projection, specially if you are doing window and door trim. Flooring trim (baseboards) tends to be significantly faster than window and door trim due to the fact the window casing and door casing involve many surfaces, lots of caulking and more than boom holes to fill.

A typical 15×15 bedroom with 1 main door trim, closet door trim, base trim and 2 sets of window trim should take roughly 1 hr to prep, 1 hour to prime number and 2-4 hours to tiptop coat.

A typical xv×15 bedroom should then have you anywhere betwixt 4-6 hours. Once yous are experienced, 2-three bedrooms worth of trim tin hands be painted in a mean solar day.

Curious how long it takes to paint a room? Check out my commodity on How Long Information technology Takes To Paint A Room.

Estimating the Time For Your Entire Trim Painting Project

To guess your entire trim painting project, I typically plan on 1.5 hours per set of window trim, though different size windows and unlike casings require more or less time with some of the more complicated larger windows requiring 2+ hours.

For door casing and trim, assuming you are painting both sides, I recommend budgeting 1.5 hours per door trim set.

Finally, for base trim, I recommend budgeting 1 hour per 25 anxiety of trim.

Painting Trim or Walls First

This is a question I oftentimes get from friends, family unit, and visitors: "Should I pigment the walls before I pigment the trim?".

The reply is to e'er paint the trim first.

Past painting the trim offset, y'all are saving extra prep time later on and creating a surface that will be easier to tape a perfectly straight line on later.

The reason for this is that if you paint the walls last, then when y'all are painting the trim you can caulk the trim to the walls (which vastly improves the wait) and allow the trim paint to flow from the trim, over the caulk, and onto the wall.

Finally, trim pigment (enamel) dries extra difficult and this makes information technology and so you tin can tape off your trim and go a squeamish clean tape line when painting your walls later on on.

If y'all paint your walls get-go, taping the walls to paint the trim is extremely difficult and the paint is usually not about as difficult drying as trim paint, so the pigment tin can easily pull off when you pull the tape. Likewise, pulling the tape tin can lift non only the paint but also the top layer of paper from your drywall and that is a disaster!

Step one: Prepping The Room

The beginning thing you need to do with whatsoever paint job is to start with proper prep piece of work.

To prep a room for trim painting I get-go by showtime immigration out the room and prepping off the floors.

If You Take Carpet Floors

If you lot take carpeted floors, start by taking a roll of record and ripping 1′ – 3′ strips of record off the curl and tucking the inside border nether the trim but over the carpet. This is hard to do without ripping a one-3′ piece of record off the roll.

By tucking the tape under the trim but over the carpet, you are making certain there is a clean separation between the trim and rug that you can paint up to.

After y'all've done this around the entire room, add together a 2d row of 1.5″ record around the room. Subsequently this 2d row of record, it will be much easier to pull a drop cloth up to the tape where you lot are working.

Read more on how to pigment baseboards with carpet.

If You lot Have Solid Floors (wood, linoleum, tile)

For solid floors, accept your ringlet of painters tape and run a strip right where the flooring meets the trim. Take your time as a perfect line here saves a lot of cleanup fourth dimension later.

Afterward the first strip is laid downwardly, I again like to run a second strip around the room to requite me more than working space side by side to the trim (2-3″).

One time I have taped off the floor, I volition run a curlicue of 36″ rosin paper around the room instead of dragging around a drop cloth. This acts as a permanent drop cloth effectually the room and avoids the hassle of dragging around your drop and potentially smearing paint drips from your driblet textile onto the floor.

Prepping Windows and Doors

For windows, you'll want to run a strip of tape where the trim/casing ends and either meets up with vinyl on the window, glass or whatever cloth is non to be painted.

You'll also want to remove whatsoever window coverings and cranks.

For door trim, yous have two options. You can completely remove the door and hinges, or place ii strips of tape over the hinge, so outline the door hinge with a razor blade knife and cut off the excess tape and then only the hinge has tape on it when completed.

Footstep 2: Cleaning The Trim

Any quality paint job has to involve cleaning of the surface that is to be painted and trim is no exception.

If the room is a relatively make clean room, a vacuuming with a shop vac should be sufficient.

If the room is a kitchen, where grease has congenital up over the years, and so a mix of warm soapy h2o should be used to hand launder all the trim. I'one thousand not talking well-nigh an hr or ii of scrubbing, just 10 minutes or then and wipe down all the surfaces that will be painted.

Make sure to go over the surfaces a quick second fourth dimension to remove any soap residue.

Dining Room With Green Walls and Painted Trim

Stride 3: Filling Blast Holes

If you are painting your trim white (or really any other color), every hole, gap and crack is going to prove after it has been painted. All holes will evidence equally a contrasting blackness and be horribly noticeable.

I similar to fill all my nail holes with spackling paste. It is like shooting fish in a barrel to piece of work with and sands really easily.

This step should take you no more than 5-ten minutes or so in a standard room.

Practise non fill gaps between the wall and the trim with spackle or gaps between trim boards. These gaps require a flexible caulk or they volition fissure almost immediately after the task is completed. But hold off on caulking, for now, caulking is step half dozen for a reason.

If yous were painting kitchen cabinets, this is where I would talk about filling the grain of the wood to ensure the smoothest finish possible. But this is trim. Trust me, not worth the time and effort to make full the grain on your trim.

Step four: Sanding The Trim

Sanding your trim earlier painting has multiple purposes.

Kickoff, it will smooth out the boom holes that you filled with spackling paste.

Second, it smooths down the surface and helps the final product feel and look better.

Third, information technology breaks down whatever previous surfaces that may not be porous enough to allow the primer to bond as well equally it should. Sanding scuffs the surface and allows the primer to bail properly with the trim that is being painted.

For my first round of sanding, I like to employ medium dust 3M sanding sponges. The sponge foam forms nicely to the trim every bit I am sanding, keeps my hand abroad and prevents slivers, and is rough plenty to rapidly and finer prepare my surface for painting.

Subsequently you have sanded all of your trim, you'll need to one time once again shop vac everything. A great pigment job requires a flawlessly make clean piece of work surface area to prevent dust and debris from getting in your cease, so don't just vacuum off the trim, but vacuum the room.

Step 5: Priming The Trim

Later on all the work of getting your trim ready for pigment, you finally go to bust our your paintbrush!

There are lots of unlike primers that will work cracking for priming your trim. I'm non going to tell you what y'all should or shouldn't use here, merely rather give y'all a few tips.

Note On Oil vs H2o-Based Paints For Trim

If you are going to use an oil-based top coat, you should employ an oil based primer. If you are going to use a water based top coat, then you should utilize a h2o based primer (though you tin can opt to utilise an oil-based primer to help lock in stains amend then they practise non drain through into the water-based top coat).

Typically in a residential domicile, I am going to always recommend water-based paint. Oils tend to release also many VOCs and stink up your home. Oils are also harder to make clean upward since they crave paint thinner and you must properly dispose of that thinner. H2o based paint can be cleaned up in your laundry sink.

The difference in look from water to oil-based paints is becoming smaller and smaller every year as h2o-based finishes become ameliorate and improve.

When you start brushing on your primer, try to utilise long even strokes that get with the length of the trim. Effort to come down gently on the trim and lift off gently on each stroke.

The smoother your brush strokes are, the smoother your terminate will await when completed.

Your goal should exist to utilize enough primer where you are applying it thick only non thick enough to cause runs. Try to find that sweet spot.

After the primer has had aplenty time to dry 100%, you lot'll want to sand all of the trim again. You'll notice that quality paint jobs crave many different rounds of sanding!

For sanding the primer, I recommend using 3M fine grit sanding sponges. These sponges are a picayune flake finer than the medium dust I recommend using before priming and they get the primer feeling actress smoothen and ready for the next step.

Afterwards you sanding is complete, make sure to store vac all of the trim and the room to completely eliminate whatsoever dust in the surround.

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Step vi: Caulking The Gaps

Caulking the gaps in your trim vastly improves the final look of your painted trim. Gaps bear witness up as a black contrast to your white paint and the caulk makes the installation await perfect. It also allows for a razor sharp record lines when you lot go to paint your walls.

Many painters will tell you to caulk the gaps in your trim before you prime number, but I similar doing information technology afterward priming for a handful of reasons.

First, one time all of your trim is primed, the gaps stand out like a sore pollex and you tin see exactly where the caulk is needed. This saves yous fourth dimension from having to caulk areas where caulk is non needed.

Second, at this point the trim has been sanded twice and primed, your chance for slivers has reduces dramatically.

Third, the priming and sanding has made the trim very smooth and thus allows y'all to lay a very fine polish bead of caulk.

4th, the caulk is non-porus and paintable, it does not need to be primed, and then yous can top glaze correct over it without sacrificing durability, quality or expect.

How To Caulk Your Trim

I recommend using a dripless caulk gun, a wet cloth and a tube of flexible, indoor, white paintable caulk.

Cutting a very small piece off the tip of the tube of caulk and brand sure to cut it at an bending so y'all tin can lay the tip of the caulk neatly into the gap equally y'all squeeze out the caulk.

I like to run a bead of roughly 5′-10′ before stopping and going over the dewdrop with my moisture rag to smooth it out. Past running the rag over the caulk, information technology forces the caulk into the gap and leaves it looking perfectly polish.

Make sure to rinse out your rag frequently and keep it very wet.

Always start your caulking in corners as they are the almost difficult to become looking nice and clean.

You should utilise just plenty caulk to fill up the gaps, endeavor non to have any caulk coming out or over the gaps. Information technology is fine to have the caulk run up the wall just a little scrap as well.

There is no sanding or anything else needed after caulking. Requite your caulk aplenty time to dry and them motion on to top coating your trim.

Step vii: Painting The Trim's Kickoff Acme Coat

At present that all your prep, hole filling, priming, and caulking are completed, information technology's time to outset brushing on the first top coat of paint onto your trim.

At that place is no magic or amazing tips here, only brush on your pinnacle coat using long even smooth strokes. Try to once more detect that sweet spot where yous are applying plenty of top coat, only not then much that you have any runs. Avoid runs at all costs.

In that location are many different height coats that y'all tin can use for your trim that will piece of work just fine. Window and door trim volition require something a little more durable that baseboard trim though.

My personal favorites are Benjamin Moore's Satin Impervo and Sherwin William's Pro Classic enamels.

Both of these products are easy to apply, come up in water-based versions and dry out to a cute and durable finish!

Sand and Vacuum Your Top Coat

One time your starting time height coat has had fourth dimension to thoroughly dry out, and so it is time for your final round of sanding.

For this round of sanding I recommend using 3M Extra Fine sanding sponges.

I've institute that using their fine (or medium) sanding sponges can leave tiny scratches that tin can prove in the final coat. Nevertheless, the Actress Fine sponges will sand off any grit in the finish, give it a perfectly smooth finish and the scratches left in the finish are easily covered with the final meridian coat.

After sanding, brand sure to store vac the trim and the entire room so you are ready for the concluding top coat.

Pace viii: Painting The Final Coat

The terminal stride in painting your trim is likewise the easiest and quickest. Y'all've prepped, primed, caulked, first coated and now it'southward time for the final coat.

Nothing new hither, make sure yous use even strokes and that no dust or debris lands in the stop.

Yous should discover that you demand less paint and that it spreads easier likewise. This is due to the fact that the trim has a great barrier already on it and this superlative coat isn't being sucked up into the previous coats as much.

Accept your time, pay attention to detail and y'all volition accept a slap-up looking finished product.

Step 9: Cleanup

Later all of your painting is completed, cleanup is your last step. All you need to know almost cleanup is to wait until the paint has dried, but non cured.

If the pigment is dry out, you won't brand a mess while pulling tape, paper and drop cloths.

But if you wait too long (days) and have immune the paint to cure, any drips you observe that made their way onto the flooring will be drastically harder to remove. Runs in the finish will also be harder to prepare.

Painting Trim In Decision

Painting your trim, whether base trim, window trim or door trim, does require a good amount of fourth dimension. But with patience and attention to detail, information technology is a project that whatever homeowner tin can hands practise and have great results.

Got some of your trim paint on the floor or carpet? Check out my commodity on How To Remove Pigment From Nearly Whatsoever Surface.

Accept whatsoever questions or comments? Leave them below, I always brand certain to answer every question!