How To Paint Like a Pro with Basic Tools

Painting. Some people love it, some don’t. To me, there’s a reason it’s spelled PAIN-ting so I generally avoid it when possible.

The reason I don’t like it is because I’ve had mixed results. It’s finicky to get paint perfect as a DIYer or in a dusty woodshop. I’m not talking about walls, I’m talking about trim, casework, cabinetry, and doors. Take trim work or a door for example. There’s no texture on my trim or doors, they are completely smooth. The paint is seamless without flaws. That’s harder to do than it looks.

Have you ever tried touching up a small ding in existing trim? Even with the exact same paint it’s hard to do. The brush strokes catch the light and stick out like a sore thumb. So what do you do to fix it? You could try spraying but that’s messy and requires a whole slew of equipment and trial and error to get right.

I’ll share my method for achieving great results with two of the most basic painting tools, a roller and a brush.

I’ll throw a disclaimer in here. I am not a professional painter. I have painted and this advice is based on my experience. I’ve heard that some of what I recommend could cause issues with some types of paint. I only recommend this method for trim paint and have used these two products.

Paint

In my experience these are both excellent trim, door, and cabinet paints.

They go on smooth and are tough as nails once cured. The best part is their self leveling properties which leave a nice even surface. They go on nice and smooth, and dry non-tacky meaning they won’t leave that sticky feeling like other latex paint does when on wood. I’ll admit, they are expensive but they go a long way and are well worth the high price tag.

Equipment

Roller

Considering we are talking about painting wood or wood like substances (MDF for most trim) it’s key to get a roller for smooth surfaces. A smooth surface roller has a finer nap which means there are less space between the fibers and the fluffy stuff isn’t as thick. These properties are helpful because they apply the paint more evenly which is the key.

I use a roller from Home Depot and it worked great. I’m sure you could find something similar at Lowes, Ace, or any other big box/hardware/paint store.

Here’s a tip. When you get the roller out of the packaging, wrap it in painters tape and peel it off. The tape will pull off any loose strands so they don’t get in your paint.

Brush

This is not a time for a foam brush. I use a Wooster Pro beveled 2 1/2 inch. Any size will do, it depends on the job. I find for wide areas a wide brush is nice to improve consistency, but if you are painting a 2 inch wide piece of trim then I’d go with a brush that is smaller than the piece so you don’t accidentally get paint where you don’t want it. I’m not picky about brushes. I want the bristles to stay together. You aren’t using the brush to paint, just to level, so it’s paint holding ability isn’t a factor here.

Paint pan

When painting you need a way to get the paint on your tools evenly. Evenly being the key. A roller paint pan is essential. It’s purpose is to get the paint on the roller and even the paint out across and around the roller for a better application.

Process

Step 1: Prep work

Prepare your work surface for a perfect result. If your surface has cracks, chips, or grain lines, those will all show up in the final product. You have to have a perfectly smooth surface to achieve a perfectly smooth end result so sand, sand, sand. You’ll want to bring your surface up to 220 grit. I use an orbital sander for large surfaces. If you are just doing some touch up, likely some light hand sanding will do the trick. If you are repairing a chip, try to feather it into the surrounding area so it doesn’t stick out later.

Don’t forget to wipe everything down to ensure it is dust free prior to painting. This is an extremely important step, otherwise you’ll get dust in your roller and brush and spread it around causing yourself a headache. When I paint in the garage I tell everyone to not open the garage door and try to stay out of the garage as much as possible so the dust remains undisturbed, otherwise it will float into the air and settle in your freshly painted surface.

Step 2: Prime

Always prime your piece. You can start off with pre-primed trim to save you time (you also save time sanding, those painted on primer does still require a light sanding to remove any factory imperfections or runs. If you use PVC wrapped material then you are ready for paint with no prep work or priming needed). If you aren’t using pre-primed wood then ask the person you are buying paint from what primer to use. They’ll recommend a product that works well with the paint.

Prepare the Paint

The key to success with this method is to thin your paint. The ratio I used was 2:1 meaning two parts paint to one part water. That’s a lot of water and I recognize that. It was what worked for me through experimentation. If you want to go 2:1 I recommend doing a small test first to see how it dries before proceeding. If you are worried about the paint’s structural integrity, I did find this article by Sarah Sands at Golden Artist Colors where she tested different amounts of water in acrylic paint. Sarah found that the water did not have a negative affect on adhesion. It’s not the same paint I used but I noticed the same when I tried scratching off the sample piece I painted. A good prime job will also help the paint stick.

Here are some do’s and don’ts of thinning based on my experience, but I’m not a professional painter so follow the manufacturers recommendations over mind.

Do

*Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. I reuse as much as possible. I keep a supply of old jars and plastic containers on hand. It’s not hoarding if you use them!*

Use water or a product called Floetrol. Water is easy, but if you don’t get the right ratios you can ruin your paint so testing is a must. Floetrol is an extender to help your paint flow without adding water which will keep the stability of your paint. I’ve never used it but I hear good things.
Test. Get your mix right in a small sample and write down the ratio. Make sure to measure carefully so you can achieve consistent results.
Always add paint from the bucket to separate a container (I save sour cream containers, they are a great size for small batches and have a lid!). Use that container to do your thinning and mixing in. You want to do small batches so you don’t ruin an entire gallon of paint.
Mix thoroughly. You need to mix the can before you water down so the pigment and flattening agents are dispersed. Then you need to mix your separate, thinned batch so the paint is homogenous. Then you can pour that paint into your paint tray.

Don’t

Do Not use paint thinner in water based paint. Paint thinner is for oil based paint only. Oil and water will not mix.
Guesstimate. Don’t wing it. You won’t get consistent results which will bite you later when two pieces of trim don’t match.
Mix in your paint tray. The tray spreads the paint out and makes it hard to mix. I use old sour cream containers. Reduce, reuse, recycle.

Step 3: Painting

The step you’ve been waiting for. You have your surface laid out, sanded, cleaned, and primed. You’ve experimented to get the right consistency. You’ve gone through test pieces which have fully dried to know the paint will cure correctly. You have your roller and brush in the tray and paint poured in, ready to go. Here’s a video on how to do it. Watch this first and read my instructions after, it’ll make more sense that way.

Pretty straightforward I hope. Here are the details and tips.

Start with the roller and really roll the roller in the paint to get it nice and saturated. This is essential with a new roller. Then, roll it a lot at the top of the pan where the ridges are. Your goal is to create an even coating of paint in the nap of the roller. You don’t want dry spots but you also don’t want paint to drip out of the roller.

When rolling, don’t worry about the bubbles and unevenness. Your goal is to apply paint everywhere in a consistent layer.

Next, take your brush and get paint in it, but only with the goal to keep the bristles together. The paint will help the bristles stick together.

Then use the brush with very light pressure to smooth out the paint. This is called tipping and the point is to smooth the paint out. Just like I do in the video, go nice and slow using a consistent stroke all the way across the surface. If you have to stop you can. When you restart hover your brush over an area you already tipped and start moving your brush in the direction you want to go while slowly lowering your brush to come in contact with the surface. This will feather in your stroke with your last creating an even surface. Don’t put your brush down in one spot and start dragging again, you will get a line where you set your brush down.

Remember when you go through this process, you are not covering the surface with paint, you are stretching the paint out in an even layer across the surface. That is the key. Coverage will come in layers. This is a multi coat process.

The thinned paint will take more layers to build up for full coverage. I recommend at least 2 - 3 layers. If it needs more then do more. You can’t rush a good paint job.

I can’t stress this enough. When painting in a dusty environment you must minimize airflow. If it’s a garage, keep the door closed. If you are in a basement, shut off the vents. Stay out of the area as much as possible while the paint dries. As you walk around you stir up the dust and you don’t want those particles flying around. Your fresh paint is a magnet for dust and those little spots will be visible later. If there are a few, that’s okay, but many is hard to ignore.

If you have to fix a bad spot after the paint has dried you can. Lightly sand with 220 grit paper by hand. Wipe it down to remove dust and follow that up with a light sanding of 400 grit or use a synthetic pad. Remove the dust again and apply another coat. Just remember, it won’t be perfect. You aren’t in a paint booth with a controlled environment like a factory, but the results will be fantastic and no one will notice the tiny flaws.

Let me know if you have painting tips I can benefit from in the comments. I’m always trying to get better.