Painting a room, whether its walls or ceiling, is an arduous task. It is also very time-consuming with all the prep tasks you need to accomplish and the paint drying time you have to observe. Skipping these things is not a wise idea as doing so may negatively impact the quality of the paint job. In addition, this project may even take longer to finish if you do not have the right tools.
Using the right tools is just as important as having the needed know-how and skills to quickly finish painting a room. If completing this task fast is what you want, then you need to have a roller with you. Professional painters swear that this applicator can reduce painting time by almost half!
Simply rolling on your walls is not enough, though. You obviously don’t want to sacrifice aesthetics and durability for speed. This is why you need to learn paint roller techniques if want to paint a room fast and still get a professional-looking output.
Using a high-quality tool, a sleeve or roller cover in this case, is as important as knowing rolling techniques. So, please don’t purchase based on price alone. More importantly, don’t buy the cheapest one out there.
Many think they’ll save money if they buy at a bargain price, but they eventually spend more. First, a cheap roller cover rarely lasts long. You are most likely going to end up throwing it when you are done painting your room or possibly earlier if it breaks down in the middle of the project. Also, a cheap sleeve can slow you down and increase your painting time instead of reducing it. Lastly, a low-quality roller cover can mess your output, i.e., walls with lap marks and uneven paint layers.
So, it is imperative that you use a high-quality sleeve. It’s worth the money, especially if your goal is to speedily accomplish this task. Pick the shed-resistant type, preferably one with a plastic core since the cardboard types break down easily. A word of caution, though, even if you purchase a shed-resistant sleeve, it’s still possible for fibres to end up on the surface you are working on. To avoid this, get rid of loose fibres. How? Dab the sleeve with a masking or painters tape before using it.
Now, let’s talk about paint roller techniques. The first thing you need to keep in mind is that you need to properly load paint onto your roller. This seemingly simple and inconsequential step actually has a huge effect on your output. What you need to keep in mind is to not submerge your roller when loading paint. Just dip the nap then roll it on the screen or tray. Repeat the process until the sleeve is completely and evenly coated.
How do you know if you’ve properly loaded the paint? Paint should not drip off your roller when you move. Furthermore, if your sleeve is evenly covered, you do not have to exert a lot of pressure to transfer paint on the surface you are working on.
When applying paint using a roller, it is best if you work in 2 feet by 3 feet sections. Also, start rolling half a foot away from the corner, a foot above the bottom and a foot below the ceiling.
The initial goal is to smear the surface with paint in a W, X or V pattern. Then, spread the paint by rolling over the unfilled areas. For this step, you can move in any direction you want, be it horizontal or vertical. The last thing you need to do is to lay on the paint or smooth it off with long parallel strokes starting from the top all the way to the bottom. See to it that, when you start rolling on another area, the paint slightly overlaps with the previous adjacent area. Repeat the entire process for the other sections.
Remember, to avoid lap marks, the paint needs to be wet when you spread it and smooth it off. This is the reason why you have to roll in small sections instead of working on the entire wall instantly. In addition, do not apply too much pressure when rolling the paint as this could result in ridges along the roller line edges.
Also, there’s no need to reload paint when you’re in the “smoothing” stage. Only load paint again when you start working on the next section. Too much paint can result in an overly thick coat that’s bound to sag. When this happens, paint won’t adhere well to the surface and your paint job will not last long.
Undeniably, a roller is a great tool to have when you want to paint a room fast. But don’t ever think that this applicator is easy to use. You need to know the techniques on how to handle it to ensure that you achieve your goal – quickly finish your painting project without sacrificing the quality of the output.
Need to paint a room? For quick and excellent results, let our professional residential painters do the job! Call us now at 86 608 1817 / 085 139 0233!
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Image by Grzegorz Skibka from Pixabay
