Using Rollers To Speed Up DIY Painting

The time has come to redecorate a room in your home. You stand there in front of a large blank wall with your paintbrush and you just totally blank. Where do you start? Fortunately for you there is a tool that makes the daunting task of painting such a large surface so much easier. What is this amazing and wonderful device you ask? It is the versatile paint roller. Paint rollers allow people to drastically reduce the amount of time it takes to paint a large, flat surface, like a wall with few windows or a ceiling.

Most people go straight for the cheap DIY type paint roller when they go shopping. They work just fine but there many other options for you to choose from. The biggest problem for most people is the "cutting in" process around windows and awkward corners. Anyone can tell you that painting a corner with just a roller is pretty much impossible. Still there are ways around this problem. You can cut in with a brush first and then go back and roll the rest of the walls.

The professionals have a trick to get around this. Guess what that is? Yup a professional paint roller. The little plastic caps on the end of a normal paint roller are missing on these ones so you can paint in much tighter spaces. That means that you need to do less cutting in and you can avoid using the brush to paint corners all together. However, you’ll still need to paint the area where the wall connects to the ceiling and crevices that are too tight for the roller to get into by hand. If your baseboard trim is already installed, you may also want to cut in around the baseboard with a brush, too.

When you shop for a paint roller handle and covers, you should start by thinking about the job you are buying them for. The traditional short roller is fine for normal walls. If you are doing a cathedral ceiling, though, you may want to look for a rod extension. This extension screws into the handle and allows you to paint those higher spots with ease - much better than trying to balance on a step ladder whilst painting.

Next, think about the texture on the walls. There are covers that work better with different wall surfaces. For instance, popcorn finishes need a roller that can handle that rough, uneven surface without falling apart and there are special roller covers for this type of wall so take texture into account before you start.

You can also find covers that create a pattern. These covers make certain faux painting techniques much easier, since rolling is so much quicker than stenciling or freehand painting a design. Imagine being able to stencil an entire room or room in just a few strokes?

So when the time comes you for you paint your home (once again) then don't forget to include paint rollers in your painters toolkit - they do make life so much easier.

Also check out our article on cleaning paint rollers.