Painting baseboards is frequently overlooked, yet they get the most abuse. If you take a close look, you may see that yours have black streaks from the vacuum and might even be chipped on the corners. This goes for door frames, windowsills, and other trims as well. Knowing how to paint baseboards like professional interior painters in Surrey do will make the task look less daunting and hopefully encourage you to take on the project in your home in Surrey, BC. The result will be a more finished appearance. Details make the difference.
This article is part of a DIY series on How To Paint Paint A Room. Painting baseboards is the second step following painting your ceilings.
There is debate amongst professional interior painters in Surrey as to whether to paint baseboards before or after the walls. It can be done either way, but if you are not a professional, it will be much easier for you to paint them before your walls. The reason being is that you can tape them off and not have to rely on cutting a straight line by hand on the top edge of the baseboard. Having a nice crisp line is very important, especially if there is a stark difference in colour.
It is also recommended that at this stage you also paint your door frames, window trim, doors, and other trim in the room as well.
So, let’s cover the tools and paint that you’re going to need and then get into how to paint baseboards.
Necessary Paint and Tools
Tools: 1 paint brush, 1 paint tray, 1 mini roller handle, one mini roller sleeve, 1 roll of 1 ½”Frog Tape, 1 medium/fine sanding sponge, 1 small tub of spackle, 1 small putty knife, 1 tube of caulk, 1 caulking gun, 1 rag.
Paint: 1 gallon of high quality interior trim enamel. Enamels are best for trim because they dry hard and durable. The two most common sheen levels for trim are sating and semi-gloss.
All these tools and paint can be purchased at any paint store. The most common brands are these. Your city will likely have one or more of each.
Sherwin-Williams
Benjamin Moore
Cloverdale Paints
Dulux Paint
How To Paint Baseboards Like Professional Interior Painters In Surrey, BC
The best interior painters in Surrey will always paint baseboards after they get installed. It is alright to apply the first coat beforehand, but the second coat at a minimum must be applied after installation. The reason is because after they are installed there will be little nail holes in them, and the top edge will need to be caulked to the wall. The spackle for the nail holes and the caulk for the crack ought to be covered with paint to look good.
Prepwork
- Lay down drop sheets around the circumference of the room.
- Inspect the top of the baseboards. Have they been caulked to the wall? If not, insert your tube of caulk into the caulking gun and run a bead along the top. With a wet rag run your finger over the caulk, pressing down firmly, to smooth it out. Wipe the excess off with the rag.
- With your putty knife, apply spackle to any nail holes and imperfections.
- While the caulk and spackle are drying, run Frog Tape all the way around the room where the baseboard meets the floor. Try to get it as tight to the baseboard as you can. Seal down the edge well.
- Pour ¼ of the gallon of paint into your paint tray and wet the mini roller in the paint. Interior painters in Surrey do this ahead of time. It allows for the paint to saturate the roller material making it easier to use.
- When dry, sand the spackle flush with the baseboard, try not to sand the caulk. Also sand any chipped corners. This is better than trying to fill them in, because spackle and wood fillers are too soft to withstand abuse. They will crack and crumble easily.
How To Paint Baseboards
- Tackling 5-10 feet of baseboard at a time, with your brush, paint the top edge of the baseboard as well as the vertical corners.
- With your mini roller, roll the face of the baseboard. With practice you will learn how much paint to use, but as a rule of thumb, don’t try to spread the paint too far. If you find that the paint is sagging down, then you haven’t spread it far enough.
- Make your way around the whole room.
- Use these steps to paint the other trims in the room as well.
- Once dry, apply the second coat.
- Pour the remaining paint back into the can.
- Remove the tape from the floor, fold up the drop sheets, and clean up, you’re all done!
If you followed these steps on how to paint baseboards through to the end, then you have just completed the second step in painting your room like the professional interior painters in Surrey do. Follow the next and final step to Paint Your Walls. If you want help doing the rest of the house, reach out to us, we would be happy to provide you with a complimentary estimate. Our interior painting services are top notch!
-Jeremy