How to paint walls

Step 7 TADA!

When your finished you will make the painting faerie happy if you clean up properly.
If your project is complete and you still have a fair amount of paint leftover, be sure to store the paint so you can reuse it. For best results, cover the opening of the paint can with plastic wrap and securely seal the lid by taping around the edge with a hammer. When you are sure the lid is leak-proof, turn the can upside down and store it at room temperature to avoid freezing.
If you need to get rid of extra paint and there is not a leftover paint collection or recycling program in your area, let your latex paint air dry away from children and pets. A small amount of paint in the bottom of a paint can is easily dried out by leaving the lid off. Once the paint is hard, discard the paint can with the lid off. Larger volumes of latex paint can be dried in a box with absorbent material such as shredded paper or kitty litter. Recycle the empty can with the lid off and dispose of the dried out latex paint as garbage. If the paint in the can is solidified all the way through, it may be disposed of as garbage with the lid off to prevent the build up of pressure in the can.
OH yeah, It,s time to let the cat out of the bathroom and give it a treat.

Comments

[nevinleiby]

My advice: 1) Paint selection. If painting all of the walls one particular color, pick out your favorite color. Then go at least one shade lighter. Consider a second. A brighter room looks larger and the color is usually more than noticeable. Buy quality paint. 2) Use a handle on the paint roller. Snag the handle from the broom. Place the paint tray on the floor, directly in front of you, about 4" from the wall. Practice first - the trick is to get only a little bit of paint on the roller, then roll it out a few times in the tray. Buy quality paint - it tends to be less runny/thin and will not drip nearly as easily. Pause when lifting the roller up from the tray. You can twirl the roller, but that is usually unnecessary. Start at the top and roll straight down, then back up to the top, forming a very large N. Personally, I work left to right, so it would be horizontally flipped N. Roll the entire wall vertically - you will get a much nicer product than using a ladder, etc, etc, etc. And you'll be no more likely to dump the paint than standing on a ladder with a paint tray 4' off the floor, going up, down, etc, etc, etc.

[nevinleiby]

btw..with the handle, I stand about 3 - 4 foot away from the wall, about 2' away from the paint tray. Don't overfill the paint tray (you won't slosh it all over the place) and you can just slide the tray across the floor with your opposite foot - especially on wooden floors or non-shaggy carpets.

3) if you do drip anything, relax. Immediately and carefully set down your roller in your paint tray (near the top so it doesn't "dip" into the paint at the bottom. Grab a ~3 bucket of water (should be kept handy anyway) with a sponge or washcloth. Sponge up the excess and wash it out in the sink. Then wet the carpet were the paint was, then sponge (pushing it down into the carpet) to get it out. Wring out, wash in the bucket, apply more water, sponge, wash, apply. Repeat 3-5 times until it all comes out. Just don't drop your paint bucket or paint tray...that stinks. I've gotten up lots of little accidents up without any issue. Mostly because I probably should have not fallen behind on my sleeping ;-).

4) Paint buckets and paint trays demonstrate potential. Keep them as low as possible when they have ANY paint in them. Keep both opened and unopened paint buckets on the floor. They will never fall if they are on the floor to begin with. A (former) employee never observed this simple rule of potential energy...I lost at least 1 or 2 carpets (costing me about $1500-$2000) and a few spirit levels before....=(

I have used this technique to paint many many rooms in our office building.