8 Mistakes To Avoid When Painting Your Home Or Office

You can change the internal as well as external look of your home or office by giving them a fresh coat of paint. Though anyone including professional painters can make mistakes while painting any building but if it is done by a professional contactor then you can ask him to amend it at his cost. But if you are painting your home or office yourself then these mistakes can create problem for you as painting a building is not as easy as it seems to be. You can avoid these mistakes if you know about them in advance. Brief information about the mistakes to be avoided while painting your home or office is provided in this write-up to help you in this regard.

Painting without preparing the surface properly:
One of the most common mistakes committed by the homeowners while painting their home or office is that they start painting the surface without preparing it properly. You have to prepare the surface to be painted by peeling and removing the flaking layers of old paint or scraping the glossy surfaces before applying the coat of new paint so that it can stick well to it and provide the best coverage.

Painting on soiled surface:
Another common mistake people usually make is they start painting on the walls and ceiling of their home or office without removing dirt and dust from them. You must wash them before starting painting on them even if they look clean or do not need cleaning. When you clean the surface before applying new layer of paint then the paint will stay on and give better look for long. You may not get the best results if the surface has even minute dust particles on it.

Not covering the fixtures:
People usually do not remember to cover up the fixtures like light fixtures and door knobs etc. before starting painting on walls, ceiling or doors and windows of their home or office. It can damage their original look as the splotches of paint can affect the looks of your door knobs and the plates fixed on your walls. Removing these stains will be another time consuming job for you.

Not using tape:
Professional painters usually use tape to cover the edges of your door frames, window sills along with various other places having edges to be kept clean. But most of the DIY painters forget to use tape to cover these edges due to their inexperience in this regard. So you can avoid this mistake if you know it before starting painting your home or office.

Painting on a wet surface:
If you have washed the walls and ceiling of your home or office to remove dust and dirt from them then it is important to let them dry before you start painting them. You should give them enough time to dry completely. You should give more than usual time to dry if the weather is humid. If you start painting wet surfaces then neither your paint will give proper coverage nor will the paint stay on the surface for long. It will start blistering and peeling off the surface as soon as it will dry under the layer of paint.

Painting the ceiling at last:
It is another common mistake committed by non-professional painters. If you have decided to paint walls as well as ceiling of your home or office then you should start with your ceiling at first. If you paint your walls prior to the ceiling then your newly painted walls will be destroyed with the paint dripping from the ceiling while painting it.

Not using primer:
Whether you are painting on the walls and ceiling or the doors and windows of your home or office it is necessary to use primer before applying the coat of new paint on them. You can provide a sound surface to the new paint to stay there and improve its looks for long by using primer. While using primer you will have to scrape away the old layer of paint and stains etc. to give the surface a fresh look. If you are changing the shade of your paint even then it is necessary to use primer to remove the old paint, especially when it is a darker shade.

Painting on rotten or damaged surfaces:
Whether you are painting on walls or wood it the surface is damaged or rotten then the layer of fresh paint can never improve its looks. You will have to repair remove the damaged plaster or piece of rotten wood and replace it with fresh plaster or piece of new wood before painting it. You can also use certain compound to patch up these imperfections but without making an effort in this regard you can never get the desired results even after spending a lot on painting your home or office. If you are using a compound to amend the surfaces then you should give it enough time to dry up completely before painting it.

Though the mistakes discussed above are the most common but another most common mistake committed by DIY painters while painting their home or office is that they do not use proper tools due to their inexperience in this regard. Professional painters use various types of paint brushes as well as rollers where and when required as they know about their use on the basis of their experience but non-professional painters may complete all the painting work even with the same paint brush, what to say of using rollers and other types of brushes. You must know the worth of using different types of paint brushes and rollers while painting your home or office as the use of proper tools can make a great difference in the looks of your property as well as in the coverage of your paint.

So if you avoid all of the mistakes discussed in this write-up when painting your home of office then you can easily complete the work within your home renovation budget.