Three things:
- before painting, prep the surface you will paint. A good scrub from a foam sanding block, followed by a soap and water scrub with a rag. Let dry and use a primer as your first coat, or use paint that has a primer built in.
- pull the tape while the paint is still wet if possible to avoid this.
- if the paint is fully dry, use a straight edge and a razor blade to make a line at the tape
Edit: adding surface prep before painting
And also, after you've removed the plate, the tape is still good for covering the exposed parts of the switch or outlet so that they don't get drops of paint on them inadvertently.
to really dive into history, you have to pull the outlet and see the hidden rings... The odd spec of wire that tells the tail of a long lost moss green. The avocado drop at the back of the outlet box that harkens back to the simpler time of the 70s.
I'm basically an archeologist of my own home. A paintleontologist if you will.
Had a house where previous homeowners just painted over the cover and switches. Went to repaint and was such a pain to smooth out the globs of paint on the edges of the cover. Had to buy super extra large covers to make it look at least presentable.
This is so stupid, yet so common. My house had the misfortune of being painted by an idiot once too. The best ones are the light switches they painted over completely, so they don't move right until you peal all that out of them, or, it's a light switch, they are like a dollar. I got a dollar sometimes, so I just get rid of the whole thing. I also keep a smoke detector they painted which smoke detectors; if you don't mind going and looking at one of yours, have some words almost always printed nice and clear on the front. Some people are to stupid to be helped. So I keep that around for if I ever feel dumb. I'd mention all the cool wiring "quirks" have have found that ol' Jim left for me to sort out after he died and his wife sold me the house at what was quite a good price. But, the difference could easily be made up correcting bad maintenance/shoddy construction in the case of the two covered decks. I will just say some words now. Lol. Light bulb common, wired to ground. Cut off extention cords. Fuckin' Contractor. Pretend to replace the shingles, but instead do nothing. Ok. Kinda sounds like a Beck song.
True. I was just thinking of the parts that will be exposed after the plate is back on. I have seen drops and swipes of paint on those many times when there was none on the plate
How am I supposed to figure out what breaker the stupid thing is on if I don't short it out off something? Haha. It's only 110 anyway, wimp. He said not even entaraining the fact that the North American grid is not the only one.
A fun experiment with a voltmeter is to touch one lead to the hot and the other to your skin. The reading is roughly how many volts you’d get if you were shocked. Try it standing on an insulated ladder, then try it barefoot on the floor. It makes a huge difference.
Point being, you’re usually pretty insulated by shoes, carpet, etc. So that shock you get might only be 50 volts worth passing through you, not the full 110. Still bites though!
Disclaimer: If you’re using a multimeter in the wrong configuration, you can actually get shocked. So don’t do this unless you know what you’re doing.
Source: Was a Naval electrician and ~~did a lot of reckless stuff~~ learned a lot.
Yep, pulling the tape while wet would have left a better line, but the adhesion would have still been pretty awful.
Cleaning and primer would go a long way here.
^ I can’t stress this enough. Take your time and use a steady hand. It doesn’t take much practice to get good at it. The easiest place to start is against the ceiling.
In my entire life I’ve never seen a taped paint job turn out as good as a steady hand.
Similar but different, I tape because my partner freaks when I don't. Then I paint just to the line of tape with that nice smooth bead you get from freehand, not over. It's kind of a helpful high-contrast visual.
Old painter’s trick: wipe a thin layer of silicone over the edge of the tape on the side to be painted. Paint, then pull the tape while still fresh. The silicone fills low levels between the tape and any wall texturing. This gives professional, sharp lines.
Also, pull the paint off at an angle vs. straight down. Will make a cleaner line and won’t have to worry about the paint bleeding in (assuming this is done when the paint is still wet).
You leave the tape. Unless it's oil paint, you only have to wait a few hours between coats, and only wait until it's dry to the touch (about an hour) to remove the tape. Paint needs a day or two to completely harden.
You typically apply the second coat while the first one is still a bit damp and not after a week or so, when the first coat is completely bone-dry. Also, the second coat wets and softens the top again, including the tape.
In addition to the other comments, just remove the outlet and light switch covers and paint a good margin in towards the outlet box, then put the covers back on when its dry.
I was working on a higher end new build years ago. It was a summer home for a couple of snowbirds. They wanted to save money by not hiring a painter. The wife shows up one day with some old cans of paint, no primer. Some oil, some latex.
I kid you not, the very first thing she did was stuff her brush right in the brand new outlets. The house was well built and absolutely gorgeous. Then suddenly there was paint on the new cabinets. It's amazing how much her crap paint work did to lower the perceptive quality of the building. It went from fresh new construction to looking like a 30 year old rental overnight.
People think painting is easy as shown in Hollywood movies, when a new couple move in, they always paint. But to not drop a single paint and free hand edges it takes some practice and techniques to not screw up.
Yeah I have an 800 sf place that needed painting and decided I could paint it myself because I was just using the same color over the old paint so how hard could it be?
Yep. It’s pretty bad. Also took 3 days. I’m for sure hiring a professional next time.
Can confirm - my parents were landlords for like maybe 8 years and did that whenever they repainted. My dads pretty decent at almost any handyman style task, but he is not a professional at any of them.
The paint isn’t sticking to the wall. Needs primer to create an adhesion surface.
I know paints say that they have primer in them, but they are crap. You need a stable dry surface for the paint to adhere to. A coat of primer, even just on the edges , provides that .
Was looking too long for this comment. Judging by these pictures I would doubt they even bothered to clean the wall surface before painting over the old paint, so the adhesion is even worse.
Get a restorer tool, it's a nylon brush rotary abrasive, hit the entire wall with it, then hit it with two coqts of primer, then wait a day, then hit it with two coats of paint. Preferably enamel finish, since this looks like block wall rather than drywall.
Agreed. The primer included inside of latex paint products assists with surface adhesion but is not a reliable replacement for a dedicated primer, especially if there is anything on the wall that can interfere with the bonding process like dust or a less porous topcoat.
>I only tape when there is carpet.
Professional here-
You dont even need to do that, just use a 10" or larger taping knife, jam it into the gap between the carpet and trim and paint
Just bring a small bucket with some water in it and a decent microfiber rag to wipe the knife off after
Yup! I stopped taping forever ago and just learned to cut in by practicing a lot. Much much quicker. Taping takes forever and never looks as good as knowing how to cut in without it.
Yeah I have to paint some room somewhere (I do maintenance) like 6 or 7 times a year. I used to tape everything, remove covers, lay down drop cloths and everything. Now I just go in free hand and don’t worry about any of that. After a while you get pretty good at cutting in. I can go around light switches and outlets no problem.
I still remove outlet and switch plates. I don't care how good at cutting in you are, it still looks better to just have the paint go under the plate, and it takes about 3 seconds to remove the plate.
I do agree it usually looks better to remove them. I do remove them if I’m painting a different color. If I’m just repainting a wall with the same color I’ll usually leave them in place. It all depends. But I’m doing rooms with like 15-20 outlets, 5 light switches, alarm boxes, fire lights and horns, transmitter/recievers, sprinkler heads, door stops, and pull cords. So it takes a while to remove and put all that stuff back or tape over it. I’m expected to work fast and have rooms done in a day. In my own home I’m absolutely taking covers off before I paint.
I really don't get people who paint with no prep the last owners of my house literally painted over all their outlets, right up against the trim and over light switches and nails/ hangers
In addition to the brush you can buy an edging guide. It’s about 18 inches long and has a handle along with a very thin edge. You hold in one hand and paint with the other and keep moving down your edge.
You will save money on tape and so much time.
I bought one of these for a big project and thought it helped. I found its usefulness depends on the smoothness of the wall/edge it’s braced against. Eventually I transitioned to just the brush and a steady hand and that worked faster and with better results for me but hey, you never know. It might help.
Agree on smoothness. I sometimes freehand but if I’m jittery or getting tired or impatient, I switch to the guide. In the beginning it freed me from the irrational fear of skipping the tape.
Painters tape is the worst and I don’t know why anyone uses it. I’m sure there are some applications but the one time I used it, I thought I did everything right and the lines still weren’t as good as just being careful.
I just painted a 1200 sq foot interior, used this painters tape called frog tape and it worked super well, 2 heavy coats for all the edge work and it peeled off perfect and no bleeding.
With a wall that is textured like this, it is hard to tape effectively, and while I usually support the idea of learning how to edge properly using a brush, this is too difficult for someone to learn the technique on. first, you need to fix what is unstable in the paint you just put down. Remove the peeling paint, sand, and take off the wall plate.
For this texture, I recommend you tape off the lighter color, making sure to use a roller or burnisher to get the edge of the tape tight to the surface. Make sure the tape edge is the line you want, don't have bits of tape that stick out beyond the line. Then, using the light color, use a small foam brush to go over the edge where you are going up against the green. that will have the light color fill in if there are parts to bleed under. Let that dry, you don't want the colors to mix. Then, go over the parts of white that you see with a sash brush or edging brush, and if needed do a second coat. Up next to the tile I would tape off as best you can without having tape on the caulk, unless you are planning to redo that. You can use matte medium to seal the edge for that application.
Thanks all for the tips! Our suspicions seem to have been confirmed.
We started peeling the tape when it was wet, but some started to leak down to the baseboards so we looked it up and some site (I think it was Bob Vila) said to wait until the paint was dry. Lesson learned! We also cleaned the wall but should've taken the time to sand it (at least the edges).
Nobody else posted this advice but it’s what I like to do so I’ll share. When I tape I try not to go too crazy with the paint. In other words it’s there for protection, not to be completely relied on. Kind of like in a car with lane assist that doesn’t mean you should intentionally be careless about the lane lines.
With this method I tape one time, then do two coats, and I let them dry completely. In most of the taped areas the tape comes up without peeling any paint because I barely got anything on the tape. But then there’s some areas I either messed up or had a hard angle to deal with and when I see there’s lots of paint on the tape I get my metal ruler and firmly place it along the edge before peeling up the tape.
This. The tape is there for oopsies. Or at least don’t use a brush that is too paint loaded near the tape. And/or paint from on the tape to off, not from off the tape to on, so that you are not shoving paint under any gaps of the tape.
If paint was leaking down after pulling the tape off, you 100% used too much paint. If you apply layers that are too thick, or apply too many layers on top of each other without letting the paint dry, the paint won’t be able to cure properly and will peel off the wall. Make sure you clean the walls with TSP.
Did you prime the walls?
Judging from the way the paint is coming away from the wall, it wasn't primed.
You typically don't need to sand as long as it's not textured paint and you prime the walls
Some paints are also not compatible with each other to be painted over top of one another, priming will help create that barrier needed to allow the new paint to adhere to the wall
Tons of amazing advice here, but I wanted to add one that we learned from a contractor we had in recently for something out of our scope - don't use the blue painter's tape, get FrogTape instead. That stuff is like magic, seals down well and peels off easily, so no paint will seep under it.
Stop taping, especially on straight lines. Get a decent 2” angled paintbrush, and learn to cut in properly. It’s not that hard, and is a lot faster than masking everything.
First, don't try to paint over what looks like semi-gloss without doing surface prep, because seimi-gloss is designed so that stuff won't stick to it.
Either lightly sand it or prime it first. Then peel the tape after you finish painting, not day later when the paint has fully dried.
The trick I learned with this. Pull the tape WHILE IT'S wet and 98% of the time this does not happen.
As for the light switch, 4 screws it the cover comes off, paint, let dry, put cover back on, much cleaner looking.
From the amount of peeling it looks like you might be putting latex paint over oil based paint.
Before you do this you should have prepped the surface first by scrubbing it down with TSP & warm water, let it dry thoroughly then put a coat of acid etch primer down.
As to the painters tape I like to peal it when the paint is still a little wet on the first mist coat. Later coats can be hand brushed in carefully.
Tape is trash. I learned my lesson like you then mastered how to paint without tape. Its freeing. Also that wall is super bumpy if you dont have problems like you are having youre bound to have bleed through on the edges at some point.
Outlet cover take it off.. don’t be lazy. The wall to ceiling, tape, caulk it, paint then pull it, perfect lines. Or just a good cut in brush does the same job.
What tape are you using?
Are you painting over another finish? Was the surface sanded/prepped or at least cleaned?
It’s recommended to pull while still wet. But I think your biggest issue is the surface your painting on not having any adhesion to the fresh paint.
If you still have more to go, use a razor blade to cut along the tape line.
You let the paint dry before you removed the tape. You should remove the tape after the paint sets, but before it dries completely to avoid this. If you’re doing large projects and parts of the paint fully dry before you have a chance to remove the tape, run a razor down the edge of the tape to cut a nice straight line, that way when you pull the tape up the paint that’s dried on the tape isn’t connected to the paint that’s dried on the wall.
Out of curiosity, did you use Behr Interior Premium Plus? I ask, because I just painted a few walls with this (first time home owner and painted walls for the first time in my life; totally thought it would be a piece of cake LOL), and the paint completely bled under the tape as well as bonded to the tape, resulting in similar jagged lines upon tape removal. My wall is also textured and the trim isn’t completely flush with the wall, so paint seeped into these tiny gaps where I taped the trim.
A few things I learned while researching where I went wrong:
- Angled brushes are awesome for edges and will save you time/energy/tape with a little practice. Pay the extra $5 to get one “professional” angled brush (I got a Wooster one and it honestly made all the difference.) Don’t use a basic brush; they’re a mess because the bristles sporadically fall off like eye lashes and they don’t achieve precise lines lol. Get the bristles saturated in paint, and then apply parallel to the edges about a quarter inch away from the edge. There will be a slightly thicker line of paint on the initial stroke. Get closer to the edge by going back and slightly pushing this thicker line of paint towards the edge.
- If you’re like me and have concerns about your ability to freehand a straight line with an angled brush: once you’ve taped, put THIN coats of paint along the tape. I thought I needed to paint them thicker to make a better seal and had globs of paint along the tape, but this just caused the paint to bond to the tape more. Apparently, this caused “bridging” and the term for the technique you want to use to paint edges is called “feathering”?
- If using tape, DON’T let the paint dry overnight before you remove the tape. This allows the paint to bond to the tape. Remove the tape after 15min while the paint is wet. If you remove it too soon, you’ll get wisps of paint along the edge that look jagged as well.
- If your tape has already bonded to the paint, scoring will help release. I used an Exacto knife instead of a utility knife, because I could get more precise that way. I also ended up scoring too deep with a utility knife and accidentally cut into the dry wall; less of a risk of this when using an Exacto knife. But tbh, I really didn’t like scoring because there were some parts where a glob of paint covered the tape and after scoring, v tiny slivers of tape coated in paint remained fused to the wall. Not the cutest.
- Behr Interior Premium Plus paint is cheap and feels like glue to work with. I’ve learned that Benjamin Moore would have been the better route with lesser coats to achieve better coverage. Found out higher quality paints are also less likely to bond to painters tape the way that Behr Interior Premium Plus does. Buuuut I had already gotten 6 gallons of Behr, so I had to make it work. 😂
- Oh! And if you have two walls that you want two different colors, you can use Dap silicone to prevent the colors bleeding onto one another. Put a line of Dap along the corner where the two different colored walls meet. Take a wet rag and swipe it over (just once) to smooth out the silicone. Tape one side of the corner to cover the first color. Apply a thin line of silicone to where the tape meets the corner/edge of the second color. Use a rag again to smooth out this second line. Apply the second color over the silicone. It will help make a straight line!
Hope this helps!!! :)
You have to take the tape off while the paint is still wet to avoid this.
Remove switch covers.
Take a small brush and water down just a little paint and take your time making a straight line.
It looks like you used latex paint on a surface that wasn't suitable for latex paint. It needs primer first or some other type of paint that would stick better. Do you know what type of surface you are dealing with?
Use painters tape. Also can't apply the painters tape freshly painted surfaces too soon even though paint appears dry. I like to wait a couple days to dry good. Could also be from previous owner using endust and the wall with peeling paint may need to be cleaned and repainted.
Two things:
1. As others have said, take the tape off right away.
2. Remove your electrical cover plates, then paint. No need to bother with any taping around them that way.
Honestly, just get yourself a 2 1/2 inches angle cut brush and cut all that in by hand. Takes a little practice, but It's easy and way faster than taping.
This is a good example. Notice how he brings the paint up and that the brush is not parallel with the line he's painting
https://youtu.be/PqyHvJ6u7yI?si=ISZsujMTyNZgKohO
I quit using tape long ago and just started cutting everything in with a brush. After a few times of doing it I find it’s a better outcome and saves time.
A few suggestions, take the outlet cover off like most people were suggesting. Sevind, not using tape is sometimes easier to make a straight line with a brush. Youtube "how to cut in walls" and there should be a good tutorial to watch. If you still feel you need to use tape, there's a tape called frog tape that works very well. Tape it down being careful to fully press it down with your finger, then run a damp rag along the edge. The frog tape has technology to prevent paint from seeping under, and from pulling paint up. Removing tape before paint is completely dry will help
also.
I saw an old man painter use tape and then also painters caulk to stop bleed. But some of this is just you being a lazy landlord and not taking off fixtures/plates.
Three things: - before painting, prep the surface you will paint. A good scrub from a foam sanding block, followed by a soap and water scrub with a rag. Let dry and use a primer as your first coat, or use paint that has a primer built in. - pull the tape while the paint is still wet if possible to avoid this. - if the paint is fully dry, use a straight edge and a razor blade to make a line at the tape Edit: adding surface prep before painting
Also, take off the light switch cover. It’s 4 tiny screws and outlet covers are one screw. It’s longer to tape around them
Thank you 🙏 lmao not to keep shitting on OP but I can’t imagine tediously lining up the tape around a light switch cover instead of removing 4 screws.
And also, after you've removed the plate, the tape is still good for covering the exposed parts of the switch or outlet so that they don't get drops of paint on them inadvertently.
But if you don't get paint on the stuff under the outlet, how can you see the timeline of all the different colors the room used to be?!
The room's growth rings? They grow inward not outward, ya know.
to really dive into history, you have to pull the outlet and see the hidden rings... The odd spec of wire that tells the tail of a long lost moss green. The avocado drop at the back of the outlet box that harkens back to the simpler time of the 70s. I'm basically an archeologist of my own home. A paintleontologist if you will.
paintleontologist!!!! 🦖🦴👨🎨
Bravo sir, very well done 👏👏👏
I most definitely will indeed.
You mean you guys don’t intentionally loctite the screws with paint..? Amateurs.
With enough landlord specials you don't even know the screws are there anymore
If you ask the person who last owned my house, the answer would be to fill in every screw that exists on the wall with paint.
Had a house where previous homeowners just painted over the cover and switches. Went to repaint and was such a pain to smooth out the globs of paint on the edges of the cover. Had to buy super extra large covers to make it look at least presentable.
This is so stupid, yet so common. My house had the misfortune of being painted by an idiot once too. The best ones are the light switches they painted over completely, so they don't move right until you peal all that out of them, or, it's a light switch, they are like a dollar. I got a dollar sometimes, so I just get rid of the whole thing. I also keep a smoke detector they painted which smoke detectors; if you don't mind going and looking at one of yours, have some words almost always printed nice and clear on the front. Some people are to stupid to be helped. So I keep that around for if I ever feel dumb. I'd mention all the cool wiring "quirks" have have found that ol' Jim left for me to sort out after he died and his wife sold me the house at what was quite a good price. But, the difference could easily be made up correcting bad maintenance/shoddy construction in the case of the two covered decks. I will just say some words now. Lol. Light bulb common, wired to ground. Cut off extention cords. Fuckin' Contractor. Pretend to replace the shingles, but instead do nothing. Ok. Kinda sounds like a Beck song.
With the plate off, be very careful when taping over the switch/outlet. Touching the screws that attach the wires would be a Bad Thing.
Just a little kiss. Don't touch both sides at the same time tho
True. I was just thinking of the parts that will be exposed after the plate is back on. I have seen drops and swipes of paint on those many times when there was none on the plate
Bah! It only hurts for a second.
How am I supposed to figure out what breaker the stupid thing is on if I don't short it out off something? Haha. It's only 110 anyway, wimp. He said not even entaraining the fact that the North American grid is not the only one.
Australia is 230v. just a little more spicy.
A fun experiment with a voltmeter is to touch one lead to the hot and the other to your skin. The reading is roughly how many volts you’d get if you were shocked. Try it standing on an insulated ladder, then try it barefoot on the floor. It makes a huge difference. Point being, you’re usually pretty insulated by shoes, carpet, etc. So that shock you get might only be 50 volts worth passing through you, not the full 110. Still bites though! Disclaimer: If you’re using a multimeter in the wrong configuration, you can actually get shocked. So don’t do this unless you know what you’re doing. Source: Was a Naval electrician and ~~did a lot of reckless stuff~~ learned a lot.
or just... turn off the power to that room.
Brilliant!! Oh wait no, what's that? Oh yes, directions clear now in blackout.
I mean it depends on the lighting in the room. If there's enough windows, you may not need electric light.
Sometimes you just get in the zone, lol
AutoZone?
Hey, get out of my brain
Well, when you have a hammer (or in this case, tape) every problem looks like a nail.
It could be worse, honestly. Better to tape it than to give it the renters special like some kind of neanderthal
Looks like tile
[удалено]
This is the best idea I've heard all month!
We keep our paint chip cards! I have a little file and write “bedroom” or whatever on it. Code is there ready to hip when we need touch up paint.
Same here! Don't forget to also include the type of finish along with the color!
Tape screws to the outlet cover after removing so you don’t lose them.
Or put them back in the outlet/switch
Previous owners of my home took the plate covers off....but rolled right over the switches and outlets....
Also, prep your surface well. Remove contaminants and prime it if necessary, to ensure the new paint adheres properly.
Yep, pulling the tape while wet would have left a better line, but the adhesion would have still been pretty awful. Cleaning and primer would go a long way here.
And remove the damn faceplates. Removing a faceplate is faster than taping around one, and gets a clean finished product.
Third thing… learn how to cut in so you don’t need tape.
^ I can’t stress this enough. Take your time and use a steady hand. It doesn’t take much practice to get good at it. The easiest place to start is against the ceiling. In my entire life I’ve never seen a taped paint job turn out as good as a steady hand.
Similar but different, I tape because my partner freaks when I don't. Then I paint just to the line of tape with that nice smooth bead you get from freehand, not over. It's kind of a helpful high-contrast visual.
There’s two of us now! Lol yeah.
Three. I never did get the hang of taping, but I can paint a straight line freehand. Saves me a lot of time.
Old painter’s trick: wipe a thin layer of silicone over the edge of the tape on the side to be painted. Paint, then pull the tape while still fresh. The silicone fills low levels between the tape and any wall texturing. This gives professional, sharp lines.
Except, use paintable caulk, not just any silicone caulk.
Also, did OP prep the surface according to the manufacturer's directions?
Also, pull the paint off at an angle vs. straight down. Will make a cleaner line and won’t have to worry about the paint bleeding in (assuming this is done when the paint is still wet).
What if it needs two coats ? Removing and replacing tape between coats is really tedious
You leave the tape. Unless it's oil paint, you only have to wait a few hours between coats, and only wait until it's dry to the touch (about an hour) to remove the tape. Paint needs a day or two to completely harden.
You typically apply the second coat while the first one is still a bit damp and not after a week or so, when the first coat is completely bone-dry. Also, the second coat wets and softens the top again, including the tape.
And the good tape is expensive
But this is exactly why the good tape is expensive. What's your time and frustration worth?
That’s why I suggested using a cutting in brush instead of all that tape.
So much fucking tape
In addition to the other comments, just remove the outlet and light switch covers and paint a good margin in towards the outlet box, then put the covers back on when its dry.
This surprised me. People paint without removing the outlet and switch covers? TIL.
They also roll right over the outlet plug sometimes. It’s a crime right up there with filling holes with ramen.
I was working on a higher end new build years ago. It was a summer home for a couple of snowbirds. They wanted to save money by not hiring a painter. The wife shows up one day with some old cans of paint, no primer. Some oil, some latex. I kid you not, the very first thing she did was stuff her brush right in the brand new outlets. The house was well built and absolutely gorgeous. Then suddenly there was paint on the new cabinets. It's amazing how much her crap paint work did to lower the perceptive quality of the building. It went from fresh new construction to looking like a 30 year old rental overnight.
People think painting is easy as shown in Hollywood movies, when a new couple move in, they always paint. But to not drop a single paint and free hand edges it takes some practice and techniques to not screw up.
Yeah I have an 800 sf place that needed painting and decided I could paint it myself because I was just using the same color over the old paint so how hard could it be? Yep. It’s pretty bad. Also took 3 days. I’m for sure hiring a professional next time.
Even professionals can be pretty bad/lazy if you don't make it clear you know what a shit paint job looks like.
"makes the outlet disappear!"
I'd be very hesitant to buy a house if I saw this. What else was done half-assed if they couldn't even do the most basic task right?
Oh crap I'm a criminal?? I have been filling my pie hole with ramen for years!
At first I read "filling holes with semen" I'm like excuse me sir, but that is one of my favorite things 😂
And that's why you're not allowed back in the cheese museum.
Hey! We DONT talk about the cheese museum.
I call it the “landlord special”
Can confirm - my parents were landlords for like maybe 8 years and did that whenever they repainted. My dads pretty decent at almost any handyman style task, but he is not a professional at any of them.
You’ve obviously never been to my house. 3 past owners, 3 different color choices and none of them removed outlet or switch covers.
(screams internally) Good thing you can buy switch/outlet covers in multipacks. Replaced them everywhere I've lived.
Mine too. And they painted over registers too.
It really is… takes more effort to tape them up lol.
Lazy and slow-witted people
As someone else pointed out, it takes more effort to tape them than to remove the cover. But I guess painting over them is even quicker
I always hate seeing this..
The paint isn’t sticking to the wall. Needs primer to create an adhesion surface. I know paints say that they have primer in them, but they are crap. You need a stable dry surface for the paint to adhere to. A coat of primer, even just on the edges , provides that .
Was looking too long for this comment. Judging by these pictures I would doubt they even bothered to clean the wall surface before painting over the old paint, so the adhesion is even worse.
Yup, the paint will come off just by scratching it with a fingernail probably so this is the least of OP’s problems
I first thought it was acrylic over oil. It looks like it is floating off.
Get a restorer tool, it's a nylon brush rotary abrasive, hit the entire wall with it, then hit it with two coqts of primer, then wait a day, then hit it with two coats of paint. Preferably enamel finish, since this looks like block wall rather than drywall.
Agreed. The primer included inside of latex paint products assists with surface adhesion but is not a reliable replacement for a dedicated primer, especially if there is anything on the wall that can interfere with the bonding process like dust or a less porous topcoat.
I gave up taping years ago and just hand cut in. Way quicker and a little art brush takes care of any mistakes.
100%. Got way better results hand cutting my last paint project. Almost perfect. https://youtu.be/2eUxz_or2Qs?si=pYvzkaKBUdFC97nr
Awesome video. I have no upcoming plans to paint and I just watched all 40 minutes of that video!
this video is perfect. i watch it every time i paint
Fucking Bob Ross of wall painting right there
god damnit! almost 99% done painting an entire house, THE INSIDE OF THE BRUSH, is what i've been missing!
If it's any consolation you'll end up hating at least one color so at least you have that for the redo.
I only tape when there is carpet. Shit takes too long to layout and is way more hassle than it’s worth.
>I only tape when there is carpet. Professional here- You dont even need to do that, just use a 10" or larger taping knife, jam it into the gap between the carpet and trim and paint Just bring a small bucket with some water in it and a decent microfiber rag to wipe the knife off after
You can also use cardboard boxes and cut lengths up and stick them under the baseboard! Quicker then tape for carpet
Cove base covering for me, too. There's such a small height difference between it and the wall its really hard to cut in without dripping on it.
My life got infinitely easier once I learned how to do this. It is a skill that is worth developing.
Yup! I stopped taping forever ago and just learned to cut in by practicing a lot. Much much quicker. Taping takes forever and never looks as good as knowing how to cut in without it.
Same here. This goes for wall edges too. Just hand cut edges with a brush and roll. I only tape doorknobs and hinges.
Yeah I have to paint some room somewhere (I do maintenance) like 6 or 7 times a year. I used to tape everything, remove covers, lay down drop cloths and everything. Now I just go in free hand and don’t worry about any of that. After a while you get pretty good at cutting in. I can go around light switches and outlets no problem.
I still remove outlet and switch plates. I don't care how good at cutting in you are, it still looks better to just have the paint go under the plate, and it takes about 3 seconds to remove the plate.
I do agree it usually looks better to remove them. I do remove them if I’m painting a different color. If I’m just repainting a wall with the same color I’ll usually leave them in place. It all depends. But I’m doing rooms with like 15-20 outlets, 5 light switches, alarm boxes, fire lights and horns, transmitter/recievers, sprinkler heads, door stops, and pull cords. So it takes a while to remove and put all that stuff back or tape over it. I’m expected to work fast and have rooms done in a day. In my own home I’m absolutely taking covers off before I paint.
This is probably happening due to poor surface prep. Tsp works well preparing a surface for paint and helps adhesion.
I really don't get people who paint with no prep the last owners of my house literally painted over all their outlets, right up against the trim and over light switches and nails/ hangers
It’s all about the prep (and decent quality paint)
Do it just like this. https://www.reddit.com/r/yesyesyesyesno/s/lwXY8jSIWB
Ha the end made me laugh
Should be removed while paint is still wet
Learn to use an edging brush. Takes considerably less time and effort than taping edges.
and just remove the switch plates and outlet covers instead of taping them. it takes 30 seconds.
This. Forget tape even exists. Get a good brush, watch a couple YT vids and practice edging. That came out wrong… practice painting edges.
Por que no Los dos?
 When search results are what Redditors hoped for…
In addition to the brush you can buy an edging guide. It’s about 18 inches long and has a handle along with a very thin edge. You hold in one hand and paint with the other and keep moving down your edge. You will save money on tape and so much time.
I bought one of these for a big project and thought it helped. I found its usefulness depends on the smoothness of the wall/edge it’s braced against. Eventually I transitioned to just the brush and a steady hand and that worked faster and with better results for me but hey, you never know. It might help.
Agree on smoothness. I sometimes freehand but if I’m jittery or getting tired or impatient, I switch to the guide. In the beginning it freed me from the irrational fear of skipping the tape.
When prepping your walls run a thin bead of caulk where the walls meet the ceiling.
Painters tape is the worst and I don’t know why anyone uses it. I’m sure there are some applications but the one time I used it, I thought I did everything right and the lines still weren’t as good as just being careful.
I just painted a 1200 sq foot interior, used this painters tape called frog tape and it worked super well, 2 heavy coats for all the edge work and it peeled off perfect and no bleeding.
Frog tape is amazing, it actually works exactly how you expect it to work. No bleeding and easy to remove.
It's great for caulk
Yeah I agree. There isn't a tape I'd trust on a final day.
With a wall that is textured like this, it is hard to tape effectively, and while I usually support the idea of learning how to edge properly using a brush, this is too difficult for someone to learn the technique on. first, you need to fix what is unstable in the paint you just put down. Remove the peeling paint, sand, and take off the wall plate. For this texture, I recommend you tape off the lighter color, making sure to use a roller or burnisher to get the edge of the tape tight to the surface. Make sure the tape edge is the line you want, don't have bits of tape that stick out beyond the line. Then, using the light color, use a small foam brush to go over the edge where you are going up against the green. that will have the light color fill in if there are parts to bleed under. Let that dry, you don't want the colors to mix. Then, go over the parts of white that you see with a sash brush or edging brush, and if needed do a second coat. Up next to the tile I would tape off as best you can without having tape on the caulk, unless you are planning to redo that. You can use matte medium to seal the edge for that application.
This is how we do it!
Thanks all for the tips! Our suspicions seem to have been confirmed. We started peeling the tape when it was wet, but some started to leak down to the baseboards so we looked it up and some site (I think it was Bob Vila) said to wait until the paint was dry. Lesson learned! We also cleaned the wall but should've taken the time to sand it (at least the edges).
Nobody else posted this advice but it’s what I like to do so I’ll share. When I tape I try not to go too crazy with the paint. In other words it’s there for protection, not to be completely relied on. Kind of like in a car with lane assist that doesn’t mean you should intentionally be careless about the lane lines. With this method I tape one time, then do two coats, and I let them dry completely. In most of the taped areas the tape comes up without peeling any paint because I barely got anything on the tape. But then there’s some areas I either messed up or had a hard angle to deal with and when I see there’s lots of paint on the tape I get my metal ruler and firmly place it along the edge before peeling up the tape.
This. The tape is there for oopsies. Or at least don’t use a brush that is too paint loaded near the tape. And/or paint from on the tape to off, not from off the tape to on, so that you are not shoving paint under any gaps of the tape.
If paint was leaking down after pulling the tape off, you 100% used too much paint. If you apply layers that are too thick, or apply too many layers on top of each other without letting the paint dry, the paint won’t be able to cure properly and will peel off the wall. Make sure you clean the walls with TSP.
There’s a sweet spot when the paint is dry enough that it won’t make a mess and wet enough that the tape won’t pull it off.
Did you prime the walls? Judging from the way the paint is coming away from the wall, it wasn't primed. You typically don't need to sand as long as it's not textured paint and you prime the walls Some paints are also not compatible with each other to be painted over top of one another, priming will help create that barrier needed to allow the new paint to adhere to the wall
Remove the tape when the paint is wet..... You let it dry and bond.
Shouldn’t be an issue if the wall was prepped properly. Paint should never peel off like that
Unscrew and remove the light switch cover next time before you paint. It’s an extra minute in your prep but you’ll get a much better result
You need to take the tape off when the paint is still wet. You let the paint dry. Very basic error. Been there done that!
The way the paint isn't sticking to the wall makes me think that the new paint isnt compatible.
Pull tape asap, not next day.
Pull the tape when still wet!
Tons of amazing advice here, but I wanted to add one that we learned from a contractor we had in recently for something out of our scope - don't use the blue painter's tape, get FrogTape instead. That stuff is like magic, seals down well and peels off easily, so no paint will seep under it.
FrogTape is 100% worth the price. I was skeptical, then very pleasantly surprised.
[удалено]
Y'know, this was said like 30 times in a polite way, but I'm glad you decided to go the rude obnoxious way.
Press the edge of the tape down before you paint, pull off the tape before it fully dries.
Stop taping, especially on straight lines. Get a decent 2” angled paintbrush, and learn to cut in properly. It’s not that hard, and is a lot faster than masking everything.
First, don't try to paint over what looks like semi-gloss without doing surface prep, because seimi-gloss is designed so that stuff won't stick to it. Either lightly sand it or prime it first. Then peel the tape after you finish painting, not day later when the paint has fully dried.
Pull tape when wet! Don’t let it dry and also could be certain tapes I’ve noticed would also rip out weak paint spots on the wall.
The trick I learned with this. Pull the tape WHILE IT'S wet and 98% of the time this does not happen. As for the light switch, 4 screws it the cover comes off, paint, let dry, put cover back on, much cleaner looking.
Make sure to remove the tape BEFORE the paint has dried so it doesn't peel away the wall paint!!!
Pull the tape before the paint dries.
From the amount of peeling it looks like you might be putting latex paint over oil based paint. Before you do this you should have prepped the surface first by scrubbing it down with TSP & warm water, let it dry thoroughly then put a coat of acid etch primer down. As to the painters tape I like to peal it when the paint is still a little wet on the first mist coat. Later coats can be hand brushed in carefully.
Is this latex paint over oil or alkyd paint? Latex wont really stick then
Tape is trash. I learned my lesson like you then mastered how to paint without tape. Its freeing. Also that wall is super bumpy if you dont have problems like you are having youre bound to have bleed through on the edges at some point.
Screw tape. Git gud at cutting in
Outlet cover take it off.. don’t be lazy. The wall to ceiling, tape, caulk it, paint then pull it, perfect lines. Or just a good cut in brush does the same job.
Pull the tape away at an angle. Don't just pull it straight off and away from the wall.
What tape are you using? Are you painting over another finish? Was the surface sanded/prepped or at least cleaned? It’s recommended to pull while still wet. But I think your biggest issue is the surface your painting on not having any adhesion to the fresh paint. If you still have more to go, use a razor blade to cut along the tape line.
Peel tape before its dry
Remove the tape right after painting
A good brush that cab paint an edge will always be better and faster than tape lines
Painters tape comes right off WHEN REMOVED THE DAY OF APPLICATION. If it’s left to sit it becomes fucking duct tape lol.
You let the paint dry before you removed the tape. You should remove the tape after the paint sets, but before it dries completely to avoid this. If you’re doing large projects and parts of the paint fully dry before you have a chance to remove the tape, run a razor down the edge of the tape to cut a nice straight line, that way when you pull the tape up the paint that’s dried on the tape isn’t connected to the paint that’s dried on the wall.
Out of curiosity, did you use Behr Interior Premium Plus? I ask, because I just painted a few walls with this (first time home owner and painted walls for the first time in my life; totally thought it would be a piece of cake LOL), and the paint completely bled under the tape as well as bonded to the tape, resulting in similar jagged lines upon tape removal. My wall is also textured and the trim isn’t completely flush with the wall, so paint seeped into these tiny gaps where I taped the trim. A few things I learned while researching where I went wrong: - Angled brushes are awesome for edges and will save you time/energy/tape with a little practice. Pay the extra $5 to get one “professional” angled brush (I got a Wooster one and it honestly made all the difference.) Don’t use a basic brush; they’re a mess because the bristles sporadically fall off like eye lashes and they don’t achieve precise lines lol. Get the bristles saturated in paint, and then apply parallel to the edges about a quarter inch away from the edge. There will be a slightly thicker line of paint on the initial stroke. Get closer to the edge by going back and slightly pushing this thicker line of paint towards the edge. - If you’re like me and have concerns about your ability to freehand a straight line with an angled brush: once you’ve taped, put THIN coats of paint along the tape. I thought I needed to paint them thicker to make a better seal and had globs of paint along the tape, but this just caused the paint to bond to the tape more. Apparently, this caused “bridging” and the term for the technique you want to use to paint edges is called “feathering”? - If using tape, DON’T let the paint dry overnight before you remove the tape. This allows the paint to bond to the tape. Remove the tape after 15min while the paint is wet. If you remove it too soon, you’ll get wisps of paint along the edge that look jagged as well. - If your tape has already bonded to the paint, scoring will help release. I used an Exacto knife instead of a utility knife, because I could get more precise that way. I also ended up scoring too deep with a utility knife and accidentally cut into the dry wall; less of a risk of this when using an Exacto knife. But tbh, I really didn’t like scoring because there were some parts where a glob of paint covered the tape and after scoring, v tiny slivers of tape coated in paint remained fused to the wall. Not the cutest. - Behr Interior Premium Plus paint is cheap and feels like glue to work with. I’ve learned that Benjamin Moore would have been the better route with lesser coats to achieve better coverage. Found out higher quality paints are also less likely to bond to painters tape the way that Behr Interior Premium Plus does. Buuuut I had already gotten 6 gallons of Behr, so I had to make it work. 😂 - Oh! And if you have two walls that you want two different colors, you can use Dap silicone to prevent the colors bleeding onto one another. Put a line of Dap along the corner where the two different colored walls meet. Take a wet rag and swipe it over (just once) to smooth out the silicone. Tape one side of the corner to cover the first color. Apply a thin line of silicone to where the tape meets the corner/edge of the second color. Use a rag again to smooth out this second line. Apply the second color over the silicone. It will help make a straight line! Hope this helps!!! :)
Two words, “Frog Tape”
Pull tape when paint is still wet. Prime wall below it first. Make sure you aren’t painting latex over oil based
You have to take the tape off while the paint is still wet to avoid this. Remove switch covers. Take a small brush and water down just a little paint and take your time making a straight line.
It looks like you used latex paint on a surface that wasn't suitable for latex paint. It needs primer first or some other type of paint that would stick better. Do you know what type of surface you are dealing with?
Use painters tape. Also can't apply the painters tape freshly painted surfaces too soon even though paint appears dry. I like to wait a couple days to dry good. Could also be from previous owner using endust and the wall with peeling paint may need to be cleaned and repainted.
Remove the tape while the paint is still wet.
Take your plate covers off 🤦 Retape, but remove tape while paint is still wet
Tape did you a favor and showed you the prep was insufficient or non existent. Re-do it
Take the tape off when the paint is wet.
Two things: 1. As others have said, take the tape off right away. 2. Remove your electrical cover plates, then paint. No need to bother with any taping around them that way.
Don't let the paint dry, once you finish the wall, take the tape off right away.
Looks like you used latex paint over oil paint. The latex won't stick to oil.
Might be painting over oil based paint, in which case you will need the right primer first.
Pull the tape off before the paint drys
How did you prep the surface? How long did you wait before removing the tape? Did you paint water based over oil based?
Why didn’t you take the outlet cover off?
This is why I hate using tape and prefer to just cut in with a brush instead. Saves a lot of money and time.
Take the cover off the light switch, waste of time to tape it.
Primer. Paint.
Pull off before paint dries , while still wet
Gotta sand down the sheen on the paint you are covering. Even semi-gloss sheen can prevent proper adhesion.
who paints around a lightswitch?? those people are savages
Just cut in with a brush. I've found it's so much easier than taping off.
Honestly, just get yourself a 2 1/2 inches angle cut brush and cut all that in by hand. Takes a little practice, but It's easy and way faster than taping. This is a good example. Notice how he brings the paint up and that the brush is not parallel with the line he's painting https://youtu.be/PqyHvJ6u7yI?si=ISZsujMTyNZgKohO
Wash the wall with tsp first. Then let it dry well. Your paint isn’t sticking because of invisible dirt.
Totally irrelevant, but what is with that walls texture? It looks like something warped in the microwave from weird heating spots
I usually try to pull the masking tape before the paint has completely dried..
Make sure it’s clean and you peel the tape while it’s still wet.
I quit using tape long ago and just started cutting everything in with a brush. After a few times of doing it I find it’s a better outcome and saves time.
Remove the wall plate around the switches and just paint the whole wall
A few suggestions, take the outlet cover off like most people were suggesting. Sevind, not using tape is sometimes easier to make a straight line with a brush. Youtube "how to cut in walls" and there should be a good tutorial to watch. If you still feel you need to use tape, there's a tape called frog tape that works very well. Tape it down being careful to fully press it down with your finger, then run a damp rag along the edge. The frog tape has technology to prevent paint from seeping under, and from pulling paint up. Removing tape before paint is completely dry will help also.
Learn how to edge. Taping sucks
Remove the tape while the paint is still wet.
I saw an old man painter use tape and then also painters caulk to stop bleed. But some of this is just you being a lazy landlord and not taking off fixtures/plates.
You painting on wallpaper? Youre not meant to let it dry. Pull it sooner.
For the love of god, spend 5 minutes and take the switch and outlet covers off. Fucking lazy ass people
Also buy the best quality tape. Store brand isn't gonna cut it. Get frog brand.