How to Paint Trim, Baseboards, and Molding ?
How to Paint Trim, Baseboards, and Molding ?
Trim is an umbrella term for any kind of finish strip applied around openings to conceal surface or angle joints and raw edges where drywall meets doorways, windows, floors, and ceilings. Baseboards are the finish strips between the floor and the wall and range in width from 3 to 18 inches. The term moldingrefers to larger and typically more ornamental finish strips. In this book, we use the term trim to apply to baseboards, moldings, and trim.
Getting any kind of trim to look perfectly smooth is no small feat. It requires a steady hand and good skills at maneuvering in tight spaces, often while kneeling (or lying) on the floor or extending your arm above your head.
Pick the right brush for the job. The principle is simple: small space, small brush. Try a tapered trim or sash brush. These brushes are small from 1.5 to 2 inches wide. Some have slant tips for sharp angles. Others have stubby handles for tight spaces. You may want to select two brushes a smaller one for the sides of trim that project from the wall and a larger one for long runs of a wider, flatter surface that don't need to be as finely controlled.
It's easier to paint trim after painting the walls because you can control small tapered brushes a lot easier than you can control a roller. And if you tape adjoining walls with painter's tape, inadvertent brush marks stay on the tape, not on the wall. Even so, you'll find some painters who do just the reverse and swear by the results.
Before you start painting your trim, follow the same steps you would to prep your walls. Make sure you clean the trim thoroughly, fill all gaps and cracks, prep with a stain-blocker if necessary, and prime and sand to a smooth finish. If you're painting the entire room, the best time to prep trim is when you're prepping walls.
1. Use blue painter's tape to tape the edges of the wall where they meet the edges of the trim. (If you just taped and primed the trim, you can skip this step.)
2. Stir the paint thoroughly with a stir stick, and then dip a third of the bristles of your 2-inch angled sash brush into the paint can. Tap both sides of the bristles on the can to shake off extra paint, and then wipe the bristles against the side of the can to make sure you get rid of excess paint. If you overload the brush, you'll lose control of the paint application.
3. Position the paint guard at the bottom edge of the ceiling molding, at the top of the baseboard, or on the wall adjacent to window and door frames. Hold the guard in your nondominant hand, using firm pressure to hold it in place.
4. Unload the paint with a stroke in one direction on the flattest, widest surface of the molding, trim, or baseboard. Press slightly just enough to flex the bristles and work slowly to ensure an even application of paint.
5. After you paint the first strip of wood, start subsequent strokes of the brush in a dry area, working toward the wet area. (This technique avoids creating lap marks.) Then raise the brush slightly and feather the edge. Feathering paint into a previously painted patch keeps the paint even and smooth from one stroke to another.
6. Reverse the direction of the brush, and lightly stroke back over the coat you just applied to set the paint.
7. Use a 11 .2-inch angled sash brush to stroke the edges or underside of the trim, baseboard, or molding that juts out from the wall. In tight spaces, switch to using a stubby handled brush.
8. If you find that an area needs more paint, simply wait until the area is dry, sand lightly, and touch it up.
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