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Today I will teach you how to paint
Yep, I’m going to pass on some valuable knowledge so you can find yourself something better to do that waiting around in your vehicle all day for chump change.
Now many people claim they can paint (houses that is) but it really requires skill and training.
First to see if you have the skill.
1: Buy a small flat board about 4 x 4 feet or so that will accept paint (like plywood)
2: Next buy a 2.5″ angled sash brush of good quality for latex paint. Buy another flat brush of any quality as your just going to use this one to prime the board, not your cut in sash brush which you want to keep pristine.
3: Buy yourself a quart of white primer and a quart of color latex paint preferably dark, like blue.
4: A couple of small plastic paint buckets.
5: A wire brush to clean the paint brushes with later.
6: A small container of quick or instant no shrink patching compound. And a putty knife to spread it, plastic ones will be fine.
7: Patch the board of any holes and cracks so it’s smooth. Use the putty knife to scrape off to level the surface and allow to dry.
8: Paint the board with the white primer paint and the junky flat brush, making sure there are no drips. Repeat until the board is totally white and no board color shows through, allow to dry between coats
9: Now the fun part. Using a straight edge, about one third down on the white painted side of the board draw a straight line using a pencil with a fine point from end to end.
10: Now on the bottom third line up the straight edge and just draw a short line on either side next to each edge of the board, not connecting the lines in the middle.
11: Using your fine sash brush and the colored paint, paint a line under and along the top line drawn on the board. It should be pretty much straight.
12: Now try it on the bottom line and see if you can paint a straight line or not. If the two match then you have skill enough to be a house painter. You can cheat a little by painting a bit lower and then going back to full upwards, but if you go to high then your not cut out for this type of work.
13: If you take too long or your patience wears out, then your not cut out for this type of work.
14: The rest is just knowing what to do where, what types of paint, prep work and various tricks of the trade that anyone can learn, however if you don’t have the skill to cut in or make a straight line with paint, then your not going to get very far.
There are many instances where the construction is off, wavy and so forth and a painter has to come along and draw a straight line to make things look normal. .
Drawing a straight line across entire rooms with wavy ceilings you can’t touch with the wall paint at all (flat ceiling paint absorbs so wiping off right away with a wet rag doesn’t work) so this is where skill comes in. Either you have the arm and eye for detail or you don’t.
And what’s worse, painters tape can’t help you, takes way too much time to set up and difficult over long distances. There are devices that try to paint edges but they are not long enough and follow the construction which isn’t always straight, level and even to the surface. Usually a good brush man is needed to get things right.
Go clean your brushes and buckets with warm soapy water and use the wire brush with the bristles to remove dried paint. Replace back in their covers to keep the bristles together.
That concludes your lesson for the day. 😆
Extra bonus: If you can draw letters, numbers, wavy shapes and perfect circles just using your eye and paint, you likely have what it takes to be a sign painter too.
If you can draw characters, scenes and the like, then an artist.
Painting houses requires some creativity, trying to make the customer happy with good color choices and attention to detail, but it’s not as creative demanding as sign painting or artistry.
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