03/01/2022
Have some touch-up areas in your house to be painted? Here’s something my husband wrote about the process.
“How to do touch-ups like a Pro”
We get calls all the time from people who would like us to fix imperfections and worn areas and avoid the cost of a full repaint.
Here’s the problem. A touch up will NEVER look as good as a full repaint. For that reason, I usually tell customers that we just don’t feel great about doing them. We really try to avoid them because we don’t like to deliver a paint job that doesn’t reflect our values and commitment to beautiful finishes.
However, when we have done a small touch up, while doing other work for clients they usually say.
“Wow, its not perfect, but it’s a lot better than I expected.”
That’s usually because people try to touch up walls on their own, only to be left with a patchy, blotchy result that they hate about as much if not more than before. We empathize, we have made all of the mistakes and we want to help you to avoid them. (Although, again, you should skip touchups and just let us refresh your space with new paint!) Having said that, if touch-ups are what you’re after, we want to help you do it properly for the best effect.
Here are a few things you can do to make your touch-ups look as cohesive as possible.
1. CLEAN THE AREA
Remove all loose dust from the area first with a Swiffer or similar duster. Clean the area at least four feet from the damaged portion with a clean wrung out areawith warm water and very diluted dish soap (about 1:50). Before the wall is dry, wipe down again with a clean damp rag and allow about 10 minutes to dry.
2. SAND WITH PAPER
Rub a piece of fresh computer paper about a foot from the damaged area. This should not be hard enough to remove paint or texture. The point is to break the surface enamel and to help you to avoid the look of sheen differences
3. BUY TWO DIFFERENT SAMPLES OF YOUR EXISTING PAINT (This is the big secret)
The main problem with touch ups (Besides Dirty Walls) is that the moment your paint dries, the sheen starts to dull with age. For example, if you painted your house with Alabaster from Sherwin Williams with a satin finish five years ago, a fresh dash of the same paint will look a lot shinier.
In this case, you’ll want to buy a sample of Satin Alabaster as well as a sample of Egg-Shell Alabaster. Go to Home Depot, you’ll get both samples for around $12.
Make sure you use more of the flat paint in your mix if your paint job is older.
*There is a little trial and error involved here.
4. GET ARTISTIC
Take a look at the area from as far away as possible.
How is the light hitting the wall?
Are there any blinds in the room that affect the light?
Is your drywall set vertically or horizontally?
You’ll want to determine what are permanent shadows like the ones cast by appliances, the temporary ones like the ones cast by vases, lamps or furniture and traveling shadows like the ones that are affected by the sun.
Using a foam brush (about $1) apply your mixed-sheen paint heavily to the damaged area. You should dry brush along the shadows and natural lines on your wall.
This area should be about eight inches from the damaged area.
Allow about 30 Minutes to dry.
5. APPLY THE TOP COAT
This is the secret touch
Add about ¼ distilled water to the remaining mixed paint and mix with a spoon, you’ll be able to save it by washing immediately after mixing.
Using a fresh foam brush paint a larger area and fan out.
You’ll want about an inch of the area you sanded with a piece of paper to just be dry brushed in order to blend.
Stuck or lost? Call me directly 346.233.5422 and I can walk you through your next painting project or take it off your plate entirely.
www.squaredawaypainting.com
Nate Brown
A lot of companies promise great results, but few take the time to truly develop a great process using tried and true methods as well as cutting edge techniques in-line with the market’s rapidly-improving paint tech.
