Practical Methods for Sucking Less at Painting

[Scott B.]

It's been a long summer, glad Fall is here.

Thought I would pass along some of the common, er, corrections we have been making on paint jobs this summer.

http://topcoatreview.com/2014/09/paint-problems/

I too am learning to suck less at painting, every day. There is no shame in it.

 

[tjbnwi]

I finally got better at painting once I adjusted my attitude. Got stuck doing a job I really didn't want to do. Fixed my attitude towards it and got to work. Stepped back and took a look at the fantastic results. From that job 15 years ago forward, painting has been easy for me.

Tom

 

[Scott B.]

I finally got better at painting once I adjusted my attitude. Got stuck doing a job I really didn't want to do. Fix my attitude towards it and good to work. Stepped back and took a look at the fantastic results. From that job 15 years ago forward painting has been easy for me.

Tom

That is the threshold that so many people have to cross. I have despised certain aspects of the process, and had to trick myself into loving through mastery by repetition.

You do have to have the head for it.

 

[tjdrake]

Excellent blog post! If we are not learning, we are not living.

 

[Allyson]

This topic is for me!  Yes, we are all learning (or should be) all the time.  Thanks for the topic and information.

 

[wow]

Great post!

And I have to admit I chuckled at the 'Sucking Less' comment...

 

[NHSP759]

Thanks for the post Scott! Really helpful post

 

[Tinker]

Great post, Scott.  I only skimmed over you blog about painting, but a few points managed to jump out at me.

When i was breaking into "The Trades" as a teenager, I worked for several builders who invariably ended up putting a paintbrush in my hands.  Even tho i hated painting, i still was able to learn at least something from the experience.  Your comments about more not necessarily being better stuck home.  One of my builders (my first job when coming out of the army in '54) did his own painting. I say "...his own painting." but invariably, i was the one who ended up with the application action.  His dad, a house painter and a good friend of mine as well, had taught him the art.  I think, altho my boss had a lot of knowledge about painting, actually was tired of it by the time he hired me.  He was very proud of the fact that his exterior paint jobs seemed to last a lot longer than even some of the local painters jobs before pealing. His trick ( this was back in prehistoric days of lead, oil and terpentine paints) was to drastically thin the paint with "terps" for the first coat so it would soak in to the wood, especially ove clapboard siding.  The second coat would have a lot less terp with an increase of oil for the final coat.  In those days, we used to see a lot of "blistering" of paint that had been applied over cedar clapboard siding.  With my friends paint jobs (even the jobs where I had done the elbow work), i never saw any blistering.  But no amount of pride ever got my to like painting of any kind.  That was a point i also picked up in my skim of your blog.  As soon as i had my own biz (Mason contracting) I almost never picked up a paintbrush again.  it was a lot more satisfactory to just hand the brush to my helpers.

On many of my jobs while learning my masonry, I got to know the local painter best known in the Wilton, CT area.  He and his younger brother worked together.  The older brother did all of the sash work.  It was always a wonder to me as I would watch him paint sash, even with small panes, using a four inch brush.  He would just dip that brush into the paint bucket, a quick swipe off and proceed with very quick strokes.  All the verticals with one stroke top to bottom and then the verticals from side to side.  Then the top and bottom and then the side pieces.  All with one brush load.  He never missed a spot that he had to go over and there would always be a very even line about 1/16" wide around every pane of glass.  No cleaning up or touching up was ever necessary when he was thru.  I never timed him but I think he could do an entire house full of windows in the time it would take me to do one sash.  He was fast.  But he was neat and never any spatter around his work.

With all of that, he was no influence to me to ever like painting.  As you mentioned, it does take a certain mind set to enjoy painting.  [unsure]
Tinker

 

[Sparktrician]

I'm not overly fond of painting.  I can do a very respectable job using brush and roller, and I definitely like the outcome.  I'm getting to know my airless sprayer and am liking the results so far as I learn to handle it well.  One of these day's I'll invest in a really good HVLP setup and will learn to use it well.  Having said that, it doesn't change the fact that I'd much rather be making sawdust. 

 

[Tinker]

I'm not overly fond of painting.  I can do a very respectable job using brush and roller, and I definitely like the outcome.  I'm getting to know my airless sprayer and am liking the results so far as I learn to handle it well.  One of these day's I'll invest in a really good HVLP setup and will learn to use it well.  Having said that, it doesn't change the fact that I'd much rather be making sawdust.

Sparktrician, you and I must'a gone to same school together.  I could always do a pretty good job of painting, even tho i did not enjoy.  My skill connected to that part of finishing was in taping.  i was not fast, as i did not do it during warm weather, or even if it was cold but not cold enough to bring outside masonry to screeching halt. I could do a decent enough job that almost no sanding was necessary.  Not even in the corners.

Since i turned 39, (just a few weeks ago :), the walls have taken to jumping around so that I have a tough time catching up to them with my taping tools.  Forget about even thinking of doing any painting.  Those corners then keep moving at about 50mph. 
Tinker

 

[Sparktrician]

I'm not overly fond of painting.  I can do a very respectable job using brush and roller, and I definitely like the outcome.  I'm getting to know my airless sprayer and am liking the results so far as I learn to handle it well.  One of these day's I'll invest in a really good HVLP setup and will learn to use it well.  Having said that, it doesn't change the fact that I'd much rather be making sawdust.

Sparktrician, you and I must'a gone to same school together.  I could always do a pretty good job of painting, even tho i did not enjoy.  My skill connected to that part of finishing was in taping.  i was not fast, as i did not do it during warm weather, or even if it was cold but not cold enough to bring outside masonry to screeching halt. I could do a decent enough job that almost no sanding was necessary.  Not even in the corners.

Since i turned 39, (just a few weeks ago :), the walls have taken to jumping around so that I have a tough time catching up to them with my taping tools.  Forget about even thinking of doing any painting.  Those corners then keep moving at about 50mph. 
Tinker

I've always had a good eye for color and being able to spot the "holidays" before my customer did.  My favorite (HA!) trick is accidentally bumping into the place that I just patched before the mud has dried, ruining the patch.  I'm always hyper-critical of my own efforts, but when I look at the drywall work done by the crew that built the house I now own, I'm utterly appalled that they're allowed to go on breathing, it's so bad.  Needless to say, I've had and continue to have multiple items to "correct" in my house.  Then again, I've never played with heavy objects and cement...  [poke]

[smile]

 

[Scott B.]

Thank you all very much for reading and responding.

As you can probably imagine, because I am a full time paint contractor in November, I have now turned my attention to sucking less at interior painting.

Some recent studies in the field...firm belief in mastering both clear and paint grade in all possible eventualities.

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Not sure what the flaw is in my attachment process in the post, but I am sure that if I blame it on Shane, he will tell me...

 

[Scott B.]

Most people hate painting, which is very good for those of us who have the paint gods with us.

It is still something that you are probably well served to learn to do well, because it is hard to find people who can do it to your standards.

Tom Bader is a great example. Finishing is not his primary discipline or interest, but he does it at a very high level.

There is something rewarding about finishing the thing you just built. I cross over into carpentry just to get that fix sometimes.

 

[Tinker]

I've always had a good eye for color and being able to spot the "holidays" before my customer did.  My favorite (HA!) trick is accidentally bumping into the place that I just patched before the mud has dried, ruining the patch.  I'm always hyper-critical of my own efforts, but when I look at the drywall work done by the crew that built the house I now own, I'm utterly appalled that they're allowed to go on breathing, it's so bad.  Needless to say, I've had and continue to have multiple items to "correct" in my house.  Then again, I've never played with heavy objects and cement...  [poke]

[smile]

I started my own masonry biz at around 1955 at about 24. i had done side jobs before that and have always had a hand in odd jobs since i was an rely teenager.  During those early years, if i made a booboo in my work, I would sort of point out my mistook and make my apologies.  By the time i had started building fireplaces, stonewalls and other projects, I had progressed in my own thinking to the point where if i made a mistook, I would stand in front of the booboo and point out the rest of the job and tell the owners how proud I was to have done such fine work for THEM.  They would never see the mistook forever after.  : At least I don't think they saw.  [unsure]  My present landscaping biz and snow plowing biz actually sprang from my mason work. I still do work on some of those properties I started doing stonework on way back in '54.  (In those days, i was actually 7' tall  ;D)

Tinker

 

[Scott B.]

Tinker,

I just want you to know that I enjoy reading your words as much as I hope you enjoy skimming through mine.

Hope to meet up with you somewhere in my travels.

Thanks