I've been painting trim wrong for years and only figured it out last weekend

So I was finishing up the baseboards in my living room, a job I've done a bunch of times before. I always taped off the floor, cut in the top edge with a brush, and then rolled the flat part. It looked okay, but I'd always get a little bit of a texture difference between the brush and roller parts. Last weekend, my buddy Steve came over to borrow a ladder and watched me for a minute. He just said, 'You know, you're supposed to brush the whole thing, right? The roller leaves a finish that doesn't match the hand-brushed edges.' I felt so dumb... I'd been doing it the harder, worse way for probably five different rooms. I tried it his way on the last wall, just using a good angled brush for everything, and the finish is so much smoother and more even. It took a bit longer, but the result is way better. Has anyone else had a basic technique tip that completely changed how you do a common job?

3 comments

3 Comments

sam_walker20d ago

Hold on, you said the roller leaves a finish that doesn't match. That's only true if you're using the wrong roller nap. A good quality foam roller made for trim gives a perfectly smooth, brush-like finish. Brushing the whole thing takes forever. The roller and brush method is way faster for long runs and, done right, you can't tell the difference once it dries. Your way just adds a ton of extra time for no real gain.

mason.cole15d ago

My old landlord tried that foam roller trick on the baseboards. Looked fine wet, dried with a weird orange peel texture on every single piece. @sam_walker is right, it's all about the roller you pick. Cheap ones ruin everything.

umaf2020d ago

Remember my dad trying to cut corners painting our old porch railing. He used a tiny foam roller, swore it was the same. Dried with this weird, almost plastic-y skin that showed every little seam. Had to redo the whole thing with a brush anyway. Sometimes the fast way just makes more work, you know?