Expert Tips for Norwood Room Painting

Are you planning a Norwood room painting project? There is a lot to think about when it comes to changing the look of any space in your home, and even a simple touch-up can have so many key considerations that it feels overwhelming. Fortunately, the experts at Mr. Handyman of Central Eastern Norfolk County & S. Shore are always happy to help with Norwood room painting.

Whether you need a Norwood handyman who will ensure you have pristine, perfect white walls, or you want some extra info before you consider whether it's time to add an accent wall to an area in your home, our team is here to meet your needs.

The knowledgeable, skilled home improvement experts at Mr. Handyman of Central Eastern Norfolk County & S. Shore will always ensure that your home improvement projects go smoothly and provide the functional, beautiful results that you need. From Norwood room painting projects for any part of your interior, to exterior improvements that help boost curb appeal, we have a wide range of tips to help you get great results for every part of your home.

Fix Ceiling and Wall Damage

Before any Norwood room painting project, it's important to make sure that the area you plan to target with a new splash of color is actually ready for that makeover. Before you get started on your painting job, make sure that all walls or parts of your ceiling that you're planning to target with a fresh coat don't have any existing damage. If there are dents, holes, or even small imperfections, they'll ruin the final appearance of your new walls and ceiling, and they could even become more obvious, depending on which type of finish you pick.

Completing tasks like drywall repair and ceiling repair might seem like a chore, especially when you're ready to get started with your brush or roller, but it's important to get those basic repairs done first to ensure that the final results of your Norwood room painting project aren't ruined because of a hole, dent or scratch that you missed.

Repair or Replace Crown Molding and Baseboards

When you're taking a close look at your walls and ceiling, extend that inspection to your crown molding and baseboards. Both types of trim often suffer from gradual wear and damage over time. Much like your walls and ceiling, any imperfections on your trim will get locked in permanently if you cover them with a fresh coat of paint.

In some cases, it's possible to repair trim, especially if the damage is minor, but if the damage is quite severe, or if there are marks, scratches and other types of damage covering multiple sections of your trim, replacement often makes the most sense. If you're not sure whether the damage you're looking at can be fixed, or if replacement would be more cost-effective, feel free to ask your local handyman. We can take a look at your trim and provide the advice you need to make the right choice for projects like crown molding installation and repair in Norwood.

Protect Your Furniture and Flooring

As you're completing the necessary preparation for your Norwood room painting project, don't forget to move or cover your furniture and flooring. It's best to move as much furniture as you can into another area, so that it's fully out of the way. However, for larger furniture or awkward pieces that might be difficult to move, you can push everything into the center of the room and cover it all with a sheet or drop cloth. You should also cover your floor with a drop cloth or sheet, as well as any nearby counters, cabinets or other large structures. No matter how careful you or your professional painter are, splatters will happen. Using drop cloths and protective sheets is the best way to protect everything that can't be moved out of the way. Plus, they make clean-up much easier!

Tape Off Trim and Corners

Any trim in the room that you're not planning to paint should be taped off, as well as any corners that touch nearby walls or ceilings where you don't want new color. Make sure that you use painter's tape, and not masking tape or another alternative that could leave sticky residue behind or let paint seep through.

Pro Taping Tip:

While you're taping off any trim, run a putty knife overtop once the tape is applied. This helps create a strong seal that prevents any bleeding.

Test Your Paint Colors

You might already have an idea of what your dream color is, but in real life, it might not look how it does in your imagination. That's why it's important to test colors before you actually get started with your Norwood room painting project. When it comes to touching up the appearance of a room, there are few feelings worse than choosing a color, covering the walls and then realizing that you don't like the way it looks.

There are many ways to test colors. Some companies and manufacturers have a virtual room painter tool that lets you upload a photo of the space you're working in to see how different colors look, but that will only give you a general idea.

The best ways to test your color are to visit a Norwood hardware store or paint store and pick up some color swatches or paint samples. Sticking those swatches on your wall, or coating it directly with different samples, will give the best idea of how your room will look once that color covers the entire area.

Pro Color Tip:

It can be overwhelming to see all the different shades, tones and finishes that are available for a Norwood painting project, but there are many questions you can answer to help you narrow down your choices. All the following questions will help you narrow down your choices and pick a color that looks beautiful while meeting all your needs.

Do you want a warm or cool color?
Do you want the space to be brighter or darker?
Do you need a neutral look that will have broader appeal for home buyers?
Do you want a look that will match, or contrast with, the existing trim and furniture?

Choose a Gray Primer

Many primers are white, but lots of pros in Norwood will tint their primer with a touch of gray, or purchase a gray primer. Gray primers cover existing imperfections much better than white primers, and they also do a better job of covering up the existing color on your walls, which will boost the vibrancy of your new wall color and could also reduce the coats required to get the results you want.

Buy More Than You Need

When you're buying materials for a home improvement project, it's always better to buy more than you think you need. Whether you're getting tiles for a tile installation project, vinyl planks for flooring installation, or paint for Norwood room painting, you'll be glad that you have that extra material around when the time comes to use it—and the time will come, sooner or later.

It might not come during the initial project—although it's not impossible that you might need more than you think for the multiple coats required to get a pristine finish. Often, that extra material comes most in handy when you have to do repairs later. When scuffs, scratches or other repairs leave you with patches of unpainted walls, you'll be happy that you have that extra paint ready to coat the area and hide the repairs.

For room painting projects, the general recommendation is to buy one gallon of paint for every 400 square feet—but it's best to use a paint calculator to get a more precise number. When you have the final amount you need for your room's square footage, add an extra 10% to account for any unexpected needs.

DIY Painting Tips

All the tips above are useful for anyone planning a Norwood room painting project, but the following tips are reserved for the confident few with all the time, tools, and skill required to get great results for their project themselves.

Of course, the easiest way to get guaranteed, beautiful results is to call your local handyman for professional room painting service in Norwood, MA. However, if you'd rather pick up the brush or roller yourself, the following tips will help you get professional looking results—and, if you do end up making a mistake, or if you decide you'd rather leave it to a pro after all, you can always call your local pros at Mr. Handyman of Central - Eastern Norfolk County and S. Shore for help.

Box Paint

It's not uncommon for individual cans of paint to have slight differences in their overall visual appearance. To account for those differences in tone and shade, many pros box their paint before applying it. Don't worry, you won't need gloves or a training montage for this. In this case, "boxing" simply means mixing the separate cans in a bigger bucket to eliminate inconsistencies in color.

Cut In

When you actually start, don't bring the roller right to the edges of the surface that you're painting. Instead, use a smaller, precision brush to "cut in" from the edges of trim and corners by coating those areas carefully and precisely.

Another technique that pros use when providing room painting services in Norwood, MA is known as pushing. For this type of work, "pushing" refers to the practice of touching your loaded brush to the surface about half an inch from the cut in point and then running it along from there, gradually moving closer as the brush unloads color until the bristles themselves push the paint into the corner. This helps you avoid runs from using an overloaded brush to cut in.

Load Your Brush Properly

Have you ever seen a painting contractor bump their brush against the side of the bucket or tray? That's the proper technique for loading—the "load-and-go" technique. To properly load a brush, simply dip the bottom inch and half of your bristles, and then tap each side of your brush against the side of the bucket to get rid of any heavy drips.

What you shouldn't do is drag the brush or bristles along the edge of the bucket. That method, often called "load-and-dump" by pros, results in a brush that is overloaded on one side, and almost bare on the other.

Use Extra Light

Have you heard of holidays? No, not family trips to the beach. In the context of room painting services in Norwood, MA, "holidays" are spots that people miss without realizing it. In order to avoid any unexpected trips, and spot any other issues that might go undetected, most pros will use bright work lights pointed directly at the walls or ceiling they're working on. The bright exposure of those professional lights makes it impossible for any unpainted spaces or imperfections to go undetected.

Use Paint Extender

Most pros can tell the difference between a professional and DIY job when they spot lap marks left behind by individual roller or brush strokes. In order to avoid those telltale marks, many pros use a special product when providing room painting services in Norwood, MA.

Paint extender—or conditioner—is a liquid that you can add after boxing to improve the final results of your project. It slows down the drying process slightly, which gives you more time to paint over areas that have just been painted without leaving lap marks, and it levels out the paint too, which also helps eliminate brush strokes.

Get Professional Norwood Room Painting Services from a Local Handyman

Are you feeling overwhelmed by all the little details you have to think about for your Norwood room painting project? The knowledgeable, skilled experts at Mr. Handyman of Central - Eastern Norfolk County & S. Shore can ease your mind. We proudly serve Norwood and many other areas throughout Norfolk County and the South Shore, such as Braintree, Weymouth, and even Duxbury.

Call 508-465-2092 to schedule a convenient appointment or learn more!