At first, DIYing a painting job at home doesn’t really seem that hard, but there are many things that could go wrong along the way - even more so for a first-time painter. To make your life easier, I took some time to gather the most common painting mistakes and better yet:
How to fix those mistakes.
Here are the results of that research. Hope they’re useful to you!
“Painting calmed the chaos that shook my soul. - Niki de St. Phalle
Roller/brush marks
This is probably the number one on the list of painting mistakes, it’s really common to see people complaining about roller or brush marks on their walls. And it is indeed so annoying! So how to get it fixed? Well, you will need to sand the area, wipe it down, and repaint. To avoid getting marks again, make sure the paint doesn’t dry until you finish the whole wall.
The secret is: don’t take breaks in the middle of the wall, if you’re going to paint it, make sure to have the time to paint the entire wall at once.
Uneven coverage
When it comes to uneven coverage, there’s not much to do. What you need is to apply another layer of paint. Unless your wall actually has an uneven texture, then you’ll need a special self-leveling paint before getting the work done.
Or, you can swallow your pride and just call a professional to get the work done. It’ll save you a lot of headache (and probably some money too)!
Missed a spot
Okay, maybe it’s not so common to see this happening, but it does happen. And what do you do then? You’ll need the help of a sponge! You will need to get it wet, wring it, and dab it in the paint. That will make the sponge imitate the roller texture and your wall will look just fine!
Hit a wrong spot
Same way you can miss a spot, you can hit a wrong spot too. Most commonly, you hit the ceiling when painting a wall, but whatever place you hit, there are two ways to fix that. First, if the paint is still wet, a wet sponge will help erase that paint. A second option for wet paint is to spray window cleaner on a brush and wipe the paint away.
However, if the paint is already dry, you can try painting over it with a ceiling color (usually that’s white).
Bleeding color
When you don’t prepare your walls correctly, the previous color might bleed right through your new coat of paint. That usually happens when you paint a lighter color over a darker one and you don’t use a primer before applying the paint. Nowadays, most types of paint offer a primer-and-paint product all in one that will definitely make your life easier. Pay attention when you’re buying the paint do the bleeding doesn’t happen!
To fix the bleeding color,
You will need to purchase a primer, apply a coat or two onto the wall (enough so that the bleeding paint stops showing). Then add the paint once again.
Bubbles, blisters, and drips
These will also happen if you don’t prep the wall correctly before starting your painting project. Not cleaning and priming the wall beforehand are huge mistakes you should never make!
Other causes of blisters and bubbles are using latex over oil paint and recoating too soon.
Still, if this happens to you, the way to fix it is:
- Scrape off the bits
- Sand the wall smooth
- Wipe it down/li>
- Paint again!
Wrinkled paint
Wrinkled paint is one of the worst things ever, it’s so ugly and annoying! The good thing is that it is easy to fix this problem. All you need is to sand the wrinkled area, wipe it with a damp cloth, let dry, prime, and repaint. Basically, the same steps to fix most of the mistakes here, right? It sounds like a lot of work, but it’ll be worth it if you want a job well done.
Otherwise, just contact a professional painter and let them take care of everything!
Get a free quote to hire a professional painter!
