| The paint roller is our best friend when it comes | | | | this is probably more work than necessary and |
| to painting walls. Able to apply paint very quickly | | | | can leave unsightly roller marks. Start near the |
| and uniformly, we owe a lot of gratitude to our | | | | middle of the wall, roll the roller up the wall to the |
| friend the paint roller. Available in a multitude of | | | | top and then come back down to the bottom of |
| sizes and in a variety of different materials | | | | the wall re-rolling through the area where you |
| generally if something needs to be painted there | | | | started. Now you should have something like a big |
| is a roller that can do the job. This article will | | | | straight patch on the wall, on your roll up you |
| discuss some basic tips that I don't read about | | | | want to move in either direction left or right and |
| very often. | | | | don't make it too far off, you want part of your |
| First a brief explanation of the terminology. 'Paint | | | | roller to still reside in the previous area of paint |
| cage' this is the tool that you put the actual roller | | | | you applied. On your way back down you |
| sleeve on. The tube bit that applies the paint is | | | | continue to move in the direction and now your |
| called a 'sleeve' or 'roller sleeve' etc. Sometimes | | | | rolling motion is beginning to take on the shape of |
| I've used 'roller' or 'paint roller' to describe the | | | | a very large V or W. Make sure you go back |
| cage and the sleeve together. | | | | through your original area of paint to spread the |
| Loading your roller properly is an important step, | | | | paint out on the wall and give it a consistent |
| the amount of paint you'll want on your roller | | | | thickness. For optimal results, after you've spread |
| depends on the surface that you are painting and | | | | the paint onto the wall, finish your patch up by |
| what sort of roller sleeve you've got but generally | | | | gently rolling downwards over the entire area |
| the motion is the same. You want to roll the roller | | | | you've painted, this will give a consistent finish. |
| down the pan until the just the roller sleeve | | | | Typical problems when rolling walls are over |
| touches the paint, let it get saturated for a | | | | applying the paint, not spreading the paint evenly, |
| moment before lifting your paint roller up, moving | | | | under applying the paint, inconsistent finishes and |
| it towards the top of the pan and rolling it back | | | | roller lines or marks. Most of these problems are |
| down into the paint. Doing this a few times will | | | | easy to fix if caught before the paint has had a |
| load up the paint tray as well and super saturate | | | | time to dry or set, though with some modern |
| your roller, you generally want your paint roller to | | | | day paints it can be only 5-10 minutes before |
| be on the verge of over-saturation as this allows | | | | fixing it is a problem so it's best to check your |
| a consistent thickness of paint as well as full paint | | | | work as soon as you are finished. If the paint is |
| coverage on the wall. It's also important to try | | | | either over applied and/or not spread evenly the |
| not to smother the entire roller in paint, you only | | | | build up of paint can begin to drip or sag, this is |
| need it on the sleeve so try to keep it there. | | | | usually pretty obvious and easy to fix if caught |
| Once you've got some paint on the roller and on | | | | quickly by just re-rolling the area. If the paint has |
| the tray loading your roller, it's extremely easy | | | | been under applied/not spread evenly you can |
| and doesn't require a lot of time in the pan. A | | | | see what is referred to as 'holidays', this is |
| quick dab of paint on the roller from the pan, lift it | | | | typically where an area was rolled only once or |
| back to the top, roll it down twice and you're | | | | twice and you can see that the paint did not fully |
| usually ready to keep on painting. | | | | cover. When roller marks are present this is |
| When applying the paint to the wall the best | | | | usually a sign that too much pressure was used |
| method is to use long motions going from the top | | | | when applying the paint, causing it to squeeze out |
| of the wall to the bottom of the wall working in | | | | of the roller unnaturally at the edges of the roller |
| areas 2 to 4 feet wide depending on how tall | | | | sleeve. Most of these problems are easy to |
| your wall is and your roller sleeves paint holding | | | | detect my looking at the wall from an acute |
| capacity. This spreads the paint consistently and | | | | angle. Overall these problems are usually caused |
| gives the best finish. | | | | by one of the following: poor quality roller sleeves, |
| Once you've got your paint roller loaded with | | | | poor quality roller cage, poor quality/old paint tray |
| paint, it's time to start painting. When using the | | | | that loads the roller poorly or sloppily and simply |
| paint roller you want to apply just enough | | | | an in-experienced painter. |
| pressure to get the paint onto the wall, in most | | | | I hope you find this piece informative and have |
| cases and unless you're painting a very rough | | | | learnt a thing or two you didn't know about using |
| surface like old brick there shouldn't be any need | | | | a roller, good luck to all of your painting |
| to overly press or force the roller into the wall | | | | endeavours! |