Understanding Painting Rules

4 Things You Need To Know Before You Paint Your Home

26 October 2018

Constance Cunningham

If you have a room inside of your home that you need to paint, it is helpful to know a thing or two about paint before you get started.

#1 Go with Water-Based Paint

When choosing which paint to use inside of your home, go with water-based paints instead of oil-based paints. Water based paints do not have as much of an odor to them, so you will not be trying to get rid of that paint smell from your home for weeks. Water-based paints also tend to dry faster as well, so you can use the space that you just painted sooner rather than later.

Additionally, water based paints can have a nice gloss to them, so you don't have to worry about the paint looking flat. You can also easily clean walls where you have applied water-based paint by just wiping them clean.

#2 Always Get a Little Extra Paint

A gallon of paint is usually designed to cover around 350-400 square feet of space, depending on the brand and type of paint. There are numerous paint calculators from various paint brands that you can use to figure out exactly how much paint you need.

To use a paint calculator, you will need to know the height and width of each wall that you are going to paint. It is also helpful to know the height and width of all doors and windows as well, so that space can be subtracted from the overall paint necessary if you don't want to paint those spaces.

When purchasing paint, it is smart to get about a quarter more paint than recommended. You can use this extra paint for touch-ups.

#3 Check Before Purchasing Primer

Applying a coat of primer before you paint is not always necessary. You only really need to use a primer if you are painting over a really dark color or if the walls are really stained or patched up extensively.  Other than that, you can use an all-in-one paint and primer. This is often the best way to quickly paint a room in your home.

#4 Clean The Walls

Finally, before you paint, clean the space up before you paint. You don't want to paint over dusty walls or over cobwebs. Use a duster to clean the walls or use an attachment on your vacuum cleaner. You don't need to deep clean the walls, but getting rid of visible dirt and dust is a good idea.

Contact a service, like DOUGLAS HALPERN PAINTING, for more help.

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