painter tape

[rose]

I'm going to be painting soon.

I was going to tape the whole room first and do the trim. How many days can I keep it there, before painting, until it becomes difficult to remove?

Thanks, rose

[John Grabowski]

Maybe a day or two. I wouldn't leave it on for a long period. I sometimes use a metal strip with a plastic handle on it and just move it along the molding as I paint. I don't know what it is called, but most paint departments have it and it is around 30" long. You need to wipe it off occasionally so paint doesn't get where you don't want it.

[Joe]

l Read the label on the tape. There are differences in the types available. In general. the sooner, the better. Consider upgrading your skills, though, with a little practice. The pro painters often will do a job with nothing but a very pricey sash brush for the trim. They will 'cut in' all the edges first and then paint the walls. What amazes me, is that the better painters will use rollers from a 5 gallon bucket with a painters' knife to prepare the roller. You have to see it in action to believe it, but they do it with far less spills and dribbles than most of us working out of a roller pan. HTH

Joe

[Red Green]

Joe wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Use a 2" sash (angled) brush...a pricey one...about $10...like Wooster or Purdy. They're pricey because they hold paint which makes for longer smooth stroles with less reloading. The bristles don't flare out. Don't let it cake up by say sitting in the air when you're on breaks. When painting, I go through a LOT of plastic wrap. If I'm putting the brush down for longer than a minute or two, I just lay it in a piece of plastic wrap and fold it over to keep it frim skinning/drying.

Rarely do I tape. Only when in some obscure tight area or in an area where a mistake cannot be easily undone like around brick. Actually yesterday I was doing one of 4 identical areas where I wanted to follow a mostly straight groove where two colors meet. I tried taping the first one with regular masking tape. I did another freehand with a 1-1/2" Purdy. The taped one looked like shit. Even though I made sure I pressed the egde of the tape firmly all along and removed it right after painting, there was some minor wicking. The freehand one was fine. I fixed the taped one freehanded and did the other two freehand.

I've never used that blue painters tape. Maybe I should just try it once. Maybe it's made with something that doesn't tend to wick.

[cshenk]

"rose" wrote

Hi Rose. I'll add to what the others said.

Depends on the type of tape, the type of surface, and your weather conditions. You specify 'painters tape' but that's a big area.

Say it's hot like Arizona and you are painting metal. Remove tape immediately upon finishing room.

Say it's cool (75F or so) but damp like Seattle/Tacoma and it's a drywall surface with wood trim, remove tape next morning if not feeling like taking it off in just a few hours when the surface is fairly dry.

Say it's a wood window and the glass you need to protect, let paint dry all the way and be a little sloppy then just use a razor scraper first cutting the edge carefully (dont scratch the glass) then it comes right off. (Thin 'barely there' paint stuff is harder to get off so be a little sloppy that one time if you do hit it). Dont bother to tape. It's faster to just scrape than to tape and remove since you dont have to get in a car and come back to later scrape it. I think professionals use tape in that specific spot so they dont have to come back to scrape once it's dry enough?

You dont indicate how much experience you have, but if it's not rude to 'assume' a little, the question you ask leads to it being something you rarely do? That will also mean freehand painting might not be optimal for you. The tool they mention though with a reasonable care and some tape guides where it's an awkward spot 'just in case' works well.

I have one room I dread painting and have to do it again for the 3rd time. It's my large living room with lovely plank diagonal stained wood walls and long wood stained beams. Fireplace at one end. One wall has to be painted (plaster) and the ceiling which is a popcorn sort of look. No matter how you go about it, the ceiling is a major pain and will splatter so you have to tape plastic drops down all the wood walls then saran wrap the beams (taped) before you touch it. Carpet protected too. Plastic bag taped around ceiling fan with blades removed. My husband and I are experienced painters and it takes us both to do this and about 5 hours. The painting itself is faster at about 4 hours and the tear down after is quicker (about

1 hour).

So, expect untaping to be alot faster than taping. Sooner the better.

To have 'nightmare' done by professionals is 1,000$ in labor alone (2 people, 50$ an hour is least they will take for this job). This doesnt cover painting the one plaster wall nor the cost of materials.

Last time, we did the simpler thing for the one wall. Wallpaper. Fast and easy. Sadly renters damaged it beyond repair and then took it down and painted (a not very good job so some of the wood now has paint edges and we have to figure out how to match stains and fix that).

Now, I like to do things 'the easy way' as long as the effect is nice. I paint trim before putting it up for example if it's new stuff, then touch up in place afterwards.

I prefer to do walls before the trim since you generally have to do both anyways. You have to let the one dry completely before you can do the other unless you master the tool they mention.

For that 'tool' my Mom taught me to use old shoe boxes or any other thin but firm cardboard. I dont know if the cardboard trick is easier but I am so used to it, I have not tried the other. With it, on all but my aforementioned 'nightmare to paint' popcorn livingroom ceiling, is a breeze and I rarely tape anything. Then again, Mom made her income doing what is now called 'house flipping' now so I learned to paint out a room by the time I was 8. Thats probably not your case so ask away and folks here are really good at helping.

[ransley]

Trim is painted last so you dont have roller splatter ruining it. Either way it has to be cut in by hand and you will be better off learning without tape. Get a good brush like Purdy.

[rose]

Trim is painted last so you dont have roller splatter ruining it. Either way it has to be cut in by hand and you will be better off learning without tape. Get a good brush like Purdy.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Obviously I had things backwards. I'll roll first then do the trim by hand. Although I haven't done much painting, I went to art school as a kid so I can probably do it well enough without the tape.

thanks guys, rose

[DerbyDad03]

25g2000hsf.googlegroups.com:

ted text -

re: The taped one looked like shit. Even though I made sure I pressed the egde of the tape firmly all along...there was some minor wicking

Maybe you did this - maybe not:

When using tape, you should start with the brush on the tape and pull it towards the area you want to paint. This helps to prevent paint from being forced under any gaps between the wall and the tape.

[ransley]

If you wait and the paint has cured you can then tape walls. Id go to a pro paint only store and get their advise on their tape, etc. If humidity is high latex may not bond fully for a long long time. If you have AC you can do this rather soon, maybe a few days. Normaly a job is ceilings, walls, trim, you can reverse the walls and trim part, but wall splatter can mess up trim, especialy baseboards.

[DerbyDad03]

I don't know if this is standard practice, but if you watch the videos at this site, you'll see that the painter paints the window trim first, then the walls, then the base trim.

The base trim is done last due to the possibility of splatter/drips.

The window trim is done first so the painter can paint onto the wall with the trim paint and then come back later and cut-in the wall paint right up to the trim. Any imperfections in the junction of the wall and trim should blend in a little better.

When he paints the wall, he overlaps the wall paint onto the baseboard for the same reason.

[Slightly Graying Wolf]

... also do a very light first coat over the edge of the tape and the wall (wipe the brush on the wall away from the tape first till you get just the right amount of paint). This will make a seal at the egde of the tape bafore you hit it with the last coat then peel off the tape before it dries.

[Don & Lucille]

I don't know if this is standard practice, but if you watch the videos at this site, you'll see that the painter paints the window trim first, then the walls, then the base trim.

The base trim is done last due to the possibility of splatter/drips.

The window trim is done first so the painter can paint onto the wall with the trim paint and then come back later and cut-in the wall paint right up to the trim. Any imperfections in the junction of the wall and trim should blend in a little better.

When he paints the wall, he overlaps the wall paint onto the baseboard for the same reason.

[ransley]

Painting windows first and then walls, roller splatter can ruin the trim. Rolling latex on baseboard is rental hack work, your base then has roller stipple. Few realise trim can and always was in quality houses painted to look as if it was sprayed. Our Latexes cant do that, and only a few paints can, P&L and Ben Moore oils with Penetrol as its thinner.

[DerbyDad03]

"Don & Lucille" asked: Why wouldnt you paint the base trim same color as the walls?

Uh...preference?

Many of the rooms in my house have window/door/base trim that is not the same color as the walls.

And do you want to hear something *really* strange? In some rooms, one wall is a different color than the rest.... Oh no you di'n't!

[Red Green]

DerbyDad03 wrote in news: [e-mail]:

That particular pic yours DD? Looks very nice overall including accent wall and recessed light.

[cshenk]

"DerbyDad03" wrote

In apartments and rentals, they normally are. It's cheaper and faster to just use the same color so any sloppage will belend in, even if the trim is done in semi-gloss and the walls in a flat paint.

Homeowners though usually will go for a little more contrast as it looks much nicer.

I vary a bit on that. Quite a bit of my house is wood panel (mostly stained real wood, not the fakeish stuff) and baseboards/trim tend to be the same in those places. In the rooms with drywall or plaster (mix and match here), the baseboards are stained wood vice painted which replicates the pattern nicely.

Hehehehe! Works sometimes! I have a livingroom with 3 walls in wood (one of which also has the brick fireplace and a great wood mantle) and one wall on plaster which normally has wallpaper but currently is painted white.

In my sunroom, 2 walls are glass with dark brown 'trim' and 2 are a very light simple paneling with almost perfect matched trim of unpainted wood which one day I may paint a matching dark brown to the other side.

I peeked, looks nice!

[SteveB]

Not long. And pull it with the paint wet, or it will pull off nice big clumps of the new paint.

Steve