I started on a Friday morning. The 48-foot wall was a little bit intimidating, but I got out my blue painter's tape and started taping off the edges of the wall, along the molding. The idea is that you put the blue tape where you don't want to paint to go. Working in 2-foot pieces (the most I could seem to handle without getting it twisted), I made my way up one side of the wall, across the top, down the other side, and back across the bottom. It took a few hours but it was pretty easy to do.
After lunch I started priming. The primer's job is two-fold: First it's supposed to help cover up the color of the previous paint. For my deep burgundy wall this was especially important. Second, it provides a better surface for the paint to adhere to. For me, priming had a third role -- it helped me learn how to use the paint roller and brush. It wasn't too hard to figure out how to use these, but I did have to experiment with the correct amount of paint to put on the roller. If you have too much paint on the roller it will drip on the way to the wall; too little, and you'll have to keep running back to the paint tray for more paint. After a few attempts I got my bearings and things proceeded smoothly.
Once the wall was primed it had to dry for a bit. The first coat of paint would have to wait.
Friday night Brian graciously volunteered to help apply the first coat. From what I had read, the key to painting a wall is to not stop in the middle. If you stop in the middle, let the paint dry, and then restart later, you'll probably see a line dividing the two areas. With a 48-foot wall and not so much painting experience, I was glad for the help!
I painted the edges with the brush, while Brian followed along behind me with the roller. We made our way from the right side to the left, and after about three hours of brushing and rolling we reached the end of the wall. I thought we were going to run out of paint, but the first gallon lasted us to the end. As we were warned, after the first coat we could still see the grey primer shining through. We held out hope that the second coat would resolve this.
With the primer and first coat done, I was in the home stretch. I came in early on Saturday morning to do the final (I hoped!) coat. Following the same procedure as the night before, though without Brian's help, I used a brush around the edges and then filled in with the roller. After fours hours I needed a nap, but I was done. Only one step was left – removing the blue tape. I had read that you should remove the blue tape just after the paint has set, to give yourself the best hope of getting a clean line cut through the paint. If you remove it too early, though, you'll smear the paint. How long should I wait? I made a quick call Ecohome Improvement and they let me that know the zero-VOC paints dry more quickly that standard paints – I could start removing the tape right away.
The theory behind the tape is that when you remove it, it cuts through the paint, leaving a nice clean line. I discovered that this didn't quite work. In some places it worked great, but in others the paint tore, leaving raggedy edges. After a few false starts I realized that I needed to use a razor to cut the paint before peeling off the blue tape. I think this is just because my three layers (one primer, plus two paint) were too thick for the tape to cut through. Also, some of the grey primer did bleed through the tape – you can see a little bit in the close-up shot above. Next time I'll have to press in the blue tape just a little more firmly.
Even with the blue tape issues I am pleased with the results of my first paint job. You can see that the second coat did succeed in covering up any primer splotches. The wall has a nice even coat of burgundy and it looks pretty good. The color really warms up the room, and products look great with the wall as a backdrop.
Now that this wall is done, I'm anxious to start painting our other walls. That will have to wait for a bit, but at least now I know how it's done. And in theory, with a lighter color, the job will be even easier! Stop by the shop to see for yourself how it looks – we look forward to seeing you!
