I recently wrote a small piece on why I love painting as a business opportunity. I love it because the trades are such an overlooked gold mine to really dig in with some real long hard working days and make a nice income through speed and delivering professional painting finishes for my Gold Coast clients.
Long working days might not initially sound like a great fit for Colbys blog, but it exactly is, because by choosing my hours I can then box off jobs in less working days and take more days off per week to spend time with my growing family.
I’d rather work 3 big days painting my heart out and take 4 days off with the family.
So, while on the topic of time, I thought why not share one of my best tips to save time on painting so for the next time you and your family decide to do some good old family bonding DIY. As a professional Gold Coast painter, I think I’ve got the know-how.
Cut the taping and masking up out
Professional painters rarely pull out masking tape, not because it’s not useful. It is. It’s in every good painter’s arsenal. But masking tape has its time and place. Namely, in tight or hard to reach places where cutting in straight lines is difficult. (By the way, if you’re unfamiliar with the term “cutting”, it’s just simply a term painters use for taking a wet brush and neatly creating the outline of the painted surface so you are painting.
Think of where you might have 2 different coloured walls meeting at a right angle, cutting would be creating the outline where the walls meet so you have a crisp straight line down the middle.)
But in that example, it’s not a hard to reach place, nor would it be tight. Therefore masking up the wall is a huge waste of time, doing so for every cut would run up a serious expense on materials not to mention the labour time.
So, what do I suggest? Find whoever is the best in the family with a brush, first time painting or not, and just give it a shot without masking. You’d be surprised just how easy cutting is, take your time and push the brush bristles into the corner keeping it pressed down slightly and spread out.
Truth be told, painting is easy, the only real difference between yourself and a professional painter is speed. But we do this full time for a living so it’s expected.
But don’t skip the floor protection
Taping up is a big waste of time. But on the flip side, neatly laying down your drop sheets and tucking them in tight against the skirting board isn’t. I can’t tell you how many times I have thought I am good enough to pick up the roller and not spill any drops. It happens, let me tell you. Sheet up the floor always.
Although water-based paint is a breeze to clean up compared to oil-based paints of the ass, it’s still a huge pain in the ass and a slow down to stop and wipe up any drops. And good luck getting any paint out of the carpet, if that drop isn’t cleaned immediately with warm water you’re in for a huge headache when it dries.
The type professional painters use are called “canvas sheets” and they are well worth the money. Forget protecting the floor with plastic sheeting.
Wrap your brushes
Wash them, dunk them in a pot of water or to be most efficient if you plan on using the same colour the following day, simply wrap your brush tightly in plastic. You’d be surprised at how long a properly wrapped brush can keep good for. It saves heaps of time and money. I’ve had brushes sit in the back of my truck for 3 weeks in warm weather that have still been good to paint with. You can also do the same thing with your rolling sleeves. The easiest method is keep the sleeve on your roller, place the plastic flat out neatly on the floor and simply roll the sleeve into it like a burrito, and for good measure keep it sealed with a bit of sticky tape.
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