Painting in your home means different types of paint for different surfaces. The walls require an indoor paint. There are also specific versions for wooden porches, concrete, metal and plastic surfaces. These come into play when wanting to paint that rusted metal railing on the porch or the concrete wall in the basement. Just as you need the right paint, you need the right application tool. This could have a spray, multiple brushes, rollers, rags, or any other items such as feather dusters or wallpaper to produce decorative designs. So the first key step is to purchase the correct supplies.

When painting with a roller, start with a clean one. Old paint can cause markings on the wall whether from the old paint color or from designs left in the new paint. You should move in a "W" shape to start and then fill in with a straight up and down motion. If the ceiling or the other walls are going to be a different color than what you are painting then be sure to use painter's tape to seal off the edges as well as the edges of the window and door frames. Use a medium to small size brush to go back and paint the edges near the tape. If there are two of you then one can paint in the edges while the other uses the roller.

Problems that arise indoors on painted surfaces are things such as mildew or cracking. When dealing with mildew you must remove it completely from the painted surface. In order to do this you will need a mixture of 1/3 cup of powdered laundry detergent, c cup of bleach and a gallon of warm water. Using a rag dipped into the solution, scrub the mildew away. You may need to scrub rather hard. Take a clean rag and wipe away the remnants of the mixture. Once the area is dry you can apply a single coat of primer paint that is mildew resistant. After this is dry then you can begin painting over it with the original color.

Cracking, also known as alligatoring, happens when one layer of paint is applied over the previous layer is not dry yet. Occidentally this may happen if you place a type of paint over another and they are not compatible with each other. The simple way to solve this is to sand off the top layer of paint. Use a damp cloth to remove any remaining flakes and then repaint. You may need to put a different type of undercoat on first and then paint the top layer. Whatever you do, be sure that the previous layer is completely dry before painting the final coat.

One last tip is how to keep paint from dripping when you are painting the ceiling. Before starting make sure that furniture and light fixtures have been removed from the room, drop cloths are in place and the ceiling has been sanded and / or wiped down. Do not use a lot of paint. Following a straight line with the roller and using a ceiling paint will help to reduce splatter and dripping possibilities.

Article originally published at Source by Brandon Hyd