painting with a roller

hazybubbles

I have a lot of painting to do so assume a roller would be the best option.

When you see people using a roller on tv they make it look really easy! The coverage is smooth and the roller works really well. What am I doing wrong?! The paint is not going on smoothly and the finish is not uniform. Can anybody give me some advise as to what I need to change, whether it be technique or using a specific brand of roller/paint.

ormus

what type of roller are you using?
the cheap sponge types can give all sorts of problems. try a decent sheepskin type.
also try diluting the paint down a bit. say a small cupfull of water in a large tub.

McKneff

Dont put your roller into the paint, just roll it on to the edge of the paint, roll it so it is coated all the way round but like i say, just on the edge.

googler

Good quality paint helps. Last room I did, used Craig & Rose, and it went on sweet as anything, really good finish.

Good quality roller helps, too.

You need to really get the paint into the roller - using a roller tray, draw the paint up from the deep section onto the 'roller' section, and work the roller back and forth on this to -a- work the paint into the roller, and -b- shed the excess paint off the roller.

Work on the wall in small squares around 2ft x 2ft, overlapping the previous square as you start each new one. Don't try and do wall to ceiling in one go. Small sections at a time.

Technique tips HERE also seem to be videos on YouTube etc - google 'painting with a roller' or similar....

Sagz_2

I can never get a good finish with a roller so I use paint pads - goes on really quick and easy.

LandyAndy

I've always found rollers very effective.

You do need a couple of coats though as the first coat will look uneven.

Use a brush to cut in all the edges etc and roller as close to them as you can.

gravitytolls

Like Norbertsmum, I like pads, nice and even and no spotty splash back all over me!

PasturesNew

I hate painting, I'm !!!!!! at it. I pour the paint in the tray, get the roller ... and no matter how hard I try the paint doesn't go over the whole roller - and there's a bias in the weight distribution, so it always hangs wonky.

Then I try to put it on. Big bits missing, patches, over and over and over I go again. Fed up, get more paint, have another go .... 10 minutes, nearly 2' square done. Bl00dy rubbish they are.

I like the pads for small areas, they're a bit easier, although I find I do use more paint.

I'd seriously consider one of those paint systems you see on adverts that run all through the night on the telly, where the paint is delivered to the roller from the inside out... but then I'd not know which one to get.

gravitytolls

Ugh, we have one of those PN, what a load of rubbish, the paint goes on evenly enough, but the roller thingy is too hard, and the coverage looks.... well just not quite right. Heavy too.

PasturesNew

One thing I will do, in every house from now until I lose my marbles, is to paint every room/wall, everything, white. Why white ...?

It's cheap to buy
Everybody stocks it
You don't have to worry about shade matching.
You don't have to spend hours choosing a shade, going round every paint shop, buying an armful of tiny pots and trying them out.
You don't put it up and realise it dries nothing like the colour on the front of the tin.
One shade, one brush
Only ever have to have one half-full tin in the shed for touchups
Touchups are easy because mostly it won't be fading, so when you splash a bit on a few marks in a few months' time it'll still match.
Any differences in the number of coats won't be noticeable

It'll stop all that fannying around that coloured paint brings

Vibrant

PasturesNew wrote: »

One thing I will do, in every house from now until I lose my marbles, is to paint every room/wall, everything, white. Why white ...?

This is what I do, I copied the idea from a friend a few years ago. It makes life much easier. No worrying over colour matches (I have no colour sense at all) and freshening up a room takes just a few hours.
You would think that it would look rather antiseptic, but with a few pictures and niknaks, it looks fine. Although my house is very small, so it makes the rooms bright and airey, it may be a bit too much in big rooms.
I only have the living room left to turn white, which should happen this winter, when I have more time.