Are you considering tackling some paint touch ups around your home? It’s likely to be a much bigger job than you realise. Thinking that painting your house is a ‘weekend project’ is a trap that many people fall into and finishing with a job you are proud of is not a small undertaking. Avoid the mistakes of those who came before you and take these steps to put your best brush forward with your eyes wide open.

Can DIY Paint Touch-Ups Go Wrong?

The odds are that if you are doing paint touchups, the house has a shady past. If it's an older house, perhaps it was painted many times before without preparation. To have a finish you are pleased with, you will need to sand away the sins of painters’ past. Erasing the past involves face masks, sanders, and fillers to get rid of scratches, gouges, holes, and other imperfections. Sanding away previous brush marks, thick gloss paint, and that hideous orange peel finish from the 70s is tedious work but essential. Skip these steps, and you'll finish with a dodgy paint job that will chip, peel, and draw attention to any imperfections.

How Can You Avoid Messing Up?

The only way to avoid messing up is to invest time and effort in the preparation. There’s no room for shortcuts. A hot tip from professional house painters is to paint the ceilings first. Yes, that cool, moody grey will look fabulous on the walls. However, not repainting the ceiling will only serve to highlight the aged, tired paint that looked white until the fresh walls made all the dust, smoke stains, and aged paint job obvious. As a general rule of thumb, work from top to tail when cleaning and painting.

How to Select a Colour

• - Get plenty of colour samples and leave them for a few days to see what you love and what disappoints you.

• - Use sample spots in several areas of the room to see what it looks like in the shadows, natural light, direct light, and night light.

• - Choose colours based on your intentions. Whether you are selling, renting, or living in the home can make all the difference when choosing a colour palette.

What Kind of Brushes are Best?

Using the correct brushes and rollers will always deliver the best results. After hours of preparation, adopting an "it'll do" attitude can be tempting but is likely to end in regret. Taking your time the first time is crucial. If your cataract-stricken parents notice the crooked lines at the trims and doors, then your paint job sucks. The brushes and rollers are designed for specific jobs, and selecting the correct ones for each task is the secret to achieving a professional finish.

If the prospect of spending a few weeks sanding, painting, and cleaning up fills you with dread, then call Master Painters Perth. They will deliver a professional job and spare you the regret and wasted time and money that comes from a botched DIY paint job.