Painting advice .. gone a bit wrong

[Pete]

I painted a bedroom, using the b&q value roller, used one before came out well.

When it dried as I walked in to the bedroom you can see all of the roller marks.

Where did I go wrong ?

I have enough paint to put another coat on just wondering what to do the next coat doesn't come out like this one ?

thanks

[Dave Liquorice]

Has it fully dried, ie at least 48hrs since you finished? (assuming a house at normal temps/humidty).

I have a wall on a landing that shows roller marks in day light with the light coming through a window along the wall and looking towards the window both at shallow angles. Pretty sure that is a texture thing due to over rolling.

[Phil L]

cheap tools produce tatty results, which is why professionals always use the best they can afford.

With paint rollers (and brushes) it's usually false economy to buy cheap stuff, especially from B&Q, their 'value' range is crap of the highest order. For the price of this value roller, you could have got a fairly decent quality one from a decorator supplies. cheap ones hold hardly any paint even when fully loaded and so the tendency is to 'scrub' the wall with it in an effort to spread what little it holds further. With a quality sleeve, you should be able to cover a sq meter with each load.

Another tipo for rolling emulsion, whether it's ceilings or walls, is to not start with a fully loaded roller at the edge or at a corner - the roller has usually deposited 80% of it's paint within a few feet of it first touching the wall, this should then be 'crossed', first side-to-side, then up and down, making sure that it's evenly covered. Split each wall up into imaginary square meters and work from left to right, starting at the top, then right to left for the middle, then left to right for the bottom, making sure you overlap each segment.

When you are doing it this way, it's best to feather out the lower edge - don't have a thick line of paint, because when it dries, this part will show through - run the roller lightly over it so that when you are doing the part below, they blend in together

[Phil L]

I've done some sketches here:

[Tim Watts]

I get consistently good results with medium pile Harris roller and Dulux Endurance (which is quite thick and not prone to splattering).

[Tim Watts]

I should add - that way I roller walls is this:

1) Cut the edges in with a bevel edged 1-ish inch frame brush (Harris again)

- nice and controllable, though doesn't hold much paint so about 10" at a load;

2) Load the roller up fairly well and do a zig-zag over about 1m2, usually 1x1m but you can do tall thin rectangles if you prefer.

3) Repeat 2 until a complete vertical section of the wall is done.

4) Horizontal roller the top and bottom with a lightly loaded roller - get within 1" of the edge. 4 may be done before 2 if preferred.

5) With the now empty but still wet roller, go top to bottom in vertical strokes for a nice even finish, over coating the last section. Watch out for edge lines caused by build up on roller. If the previous section is dry due to break, or lines are apparant, run the roller back and forth at 30-45 degrees into the previous zone to blend in and take out the lines. If you are planning to rest there, do the same on the other side to feather off so the next section can be blended in easily.

6) If having a break, load roller fully and leave on tray - thick paint does not dry out easily. Ditto brushes.

HTH

Tim

[OG]

Can't comment on rollers, since I've not used them for 15 years or more, but did you thin the paint before applying it ?

I always mix in about 25% water into the paint before applying it. Yes, I know a second coat will be needed, but I know it before I start, and since the second coat is also diluted, I will be using more than 20% less than 2 coats.

[Pete]

Excellent and much needed advice guys. You've both been extremely elp, thanks for the sketches Phill.

I took your advice and went to decroators mate and picked up a harris medium pile roller and tray set. I re did the dodgy looking wall and it has come out perfect! ... Its had about 9 hours now drying so with that type of time you get a good idea how it will look once dry.

I've gotten excellent results with the b&q rollers in the past well twice. But this time one first go the roller shed loads of tiny fibres from the roller despite me giving it a good clean before hand, the room is immaculate and it could have only come off the roler, so they must have been loose and pulled when rollering. I had to gently sand it all down to remove it all beore painting and wash it down, hoover irradicate the dust as it were. Once bitten twice shy. I'll happily use the harris stuff, the cheapskate in me just peeped out with the value stuff. I fugured just roll and let the tray/roller harden up and bin it. No length cleaning times. But with a nice set you tend to be happier cleaning it up well I was.

I have to admit painting it fairly tiresome. Well the first coat but once you get in to it it goes well and it such a nice feeling wathing a room change in to a new colour and looking good again, sounds geeky I guess but I enjoyed this project.

Thanks again for the help.

[Tim Watts]

You're welcome - glad it helped. BTW Phil's sketches, whilst not exactly the way I do it, embody the basic approach I use :)