Make Your Interior Paint Last Longer

Painting is one of the simplest and cost effective ways to change the look of your home. With a variety of colors to choose from, it is the perfect way to express your unique style and personality at a fraction of the cost of other home improvement projects. 

All homeowners want their interior paint job to last for as long as possible and avoid the possibility of the paint wearing off. What many homeowners overlook is the most vital element of a durable paint job, which is preparation. 

Here are 7 painting tips to get the most out of your hard work and keep your house looking its best:

Avoid In-Home Humidity

If you know you will be painting your home soon, do what you can to keep the humidity inside your house low. Even if the insulation in your home is great, in-home moisture can still find ways to work to ruin your paint job while you are applying a fresh coat. This is because when water accumulates behind siding, it is only a matter of time before the paint that is applied starts to peel.

Repair Damaged Surfaces

Do not make the mistake of painting over wood that has been affected by rot or insects or even scratched by careless ladder placement. You have to start with a flawlessly smooth surface to end up with perfectly painted walls or woodwork. Professional painters will always replace any damaged wood or repair it before painting. These damaged areas will only make your freshly done interior paint job look old and untidy.

Clean the Surface before Painting

The paint that you use will not stick to a dirty wall. You first have to remove any dirt, cobwebs and greasy stains from your walls in order to make your paint stay for a longer period of time. Regardless of the cleaning method that you use, rinse your walls thoroughly and gently to remove residue, which is generally all alkaline. If this is left behind, this residue can loosen the paint applied over it.

Prime, Then Paint

All professional painters know that the key to a beautifully done paint job is not buying the most exclusive paint, it is priming before you paint. They know that a single coat of primer and one coat of paint will give them a better, longer-lasting paint job than two, double coats of paint. That is primarily why you should always consider wall painting after you have primed your house walls. Priming also makes paint colors richer. Primers will hide any previous colors that have been applied on your walls, even the darkest blues and deepest reds. Tinted primers do a better job of covering the existing paint color than plain primer, so as to make your finish coat appear more vibrant. This is especially true for colors like red or orange, which could require three or more coats without a primer.

Apply Paint The Right Way

The interior paint that you put on needs to be applied at the right amount of thickness, about 4 to 5 mils (0.004 to 0.005 in.) when it is wet, which is like the thickness of a sheet of copier paper. If the paint that is applied is too thin then your dried paint will be weak. However, if the paint that is applied is too thick, it will sag and put cracks on your walls. Professional painters check the paint's wet thickness with a device called a ‘Wet-Film Thickness Gauge.’ It might seem easy to do all the corners and trim in a room, then go back to roll the walls, but don't. Pros get a seamless look by cutting in one wall, then immediately rolling it before starting the next. This allows the brushed and the rolled paint to blend together better. Do not forget to cover your paint bucket, tray or container with a moist towel when you switch between brushing and rolling to keep your paint and tools from drying out when they are not in use.

Hire The Right Pro

If you want a professional paint job done, contact SuperiorPRO. They provide your home with a beautiful paint job by thoroughly planning before painting and also suggest great room painting ideas.