Interior Painting: Trim

Interior Painting - Trim, Molding and Good Cut Lines

Painting the interior trim is a relatively inexpensive way to freshen up your rooms and protect them from normal wear and tear. It’s also a simple way to accent the wall colors you’ve chosen. Getting trim to look perfectly smooth requires a steady hand, careful prep work,  a good deal of skill maneuvering in tight spaces, and last and possibly most important to consider, the ability to perfom these tasks while kneeling or lying on the floor. If for any reason you’re not able to perform these tasks on your own, it may be a good idea to call a house painting contractor for a free painting estimate.

House Painting Materials

Trim is a blanket word used to describe 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 and also decorative wooden borders such as base boards. Before you begin, you’ll need to gather materials including: 2-inch blue painter’s tape (many professional painters can expertly create a perfect line without taping – but most of us benefit from good taping!), trim paint in a color that compliments your walls, ceilings, and flooring, stir sticks, a couple of 2-inch angled sash brushes, paint guard, 1 1/2-inch stubby-handled angled sash brush for tight spaces, and clean rags. Now most people would agree that knee pads are optional but I think you’ll thank me if you take my advice and use them!

Prep Work – The Right Way To Get Started

Before you can get started painting you should invest some time in basic prep work including cleaning the trim, and filling any gaps and cracks. If necessary, apply a stain-blocker, prime, and sand to a smooth finish. Next, tape the edges of the wall where it meets the trim. Use blue painter’s tape to protect the edges of the wall where they meet the trim. Once you’ve taped thoroughly, stir the paint thoroughly with a stir stick. Never use paint until after you stir it – unstirred paint can mean bubbles in your finish and uneven layers of paint.

Trim Painting

Get your brush ready: dip a 2-inch angled sash brush into the paint can. Only load the top 1/3 of the bristles with paint – too much can result in globs and runs. Be sure to remove excess paint from the sash brush and tap both sides of the bristles on the can, and then wipe the bristles against the side of the can to remove any excess paint. I can’t stress this enough – if you overload the brush, you’ll lose control of the paint application and end up with a mess.

Professional Painting Techniques

Now you can actually start applying paint to your trim! 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 the hand you’re not painting with and use firm pressure to hold it in place.Apply the paint in one smooth stroke in one direction on the widest part of the trim. Press gently — just enough to flex the bristles. Work slowly to ensure an even application of paint. Next, use subsequent strokes of the brush in a dry area, working toward the wet area – this technique avoids creating lap marks. Now you can reverse the direction of the brush, and lightly stroke back over the coat you just applied.This technique will set the paint.To finish painting, apply the paint to the edges of the trim. In tight spaces, switch to using a stubby handled brush. Last, touch up the paint after the first coat has dried. If you find that an area needs more paint, until the area is dry, then sand lightly, and touch it up.