# Any Painter's in the house??



## sudsy9977 (Mar 30, 2011)

ok so i am redoing my bathroom.....a couple of questions for any experts....hopefully there is an expert?

1)how the hell do u use the blue painters tape to create perfect edges between the ceiling and wall?

2) right now i have mostly just sheetrock on the walls and teh ceiling i am painting over-i assume just do everythng in primer first?

3)i am doing a tannish brown color on the bottom and sort of a steel grey/blue color on top with a white chair rail thingy in the middle of the wall-is there a specific height the rail should be?

any other painting tips?.....help me please...i am gonna kill myself soon


ryan


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## kalaeb (Mar 30, 2011)

Forget the blue tape. Its crap! Go for the Frog Tape, its green and works like a champ. It reacts with latex paint to turn it into a gel and stops it from bleeding onto the wall. It is a little more expensive, but well worth it. As long as your tape lines are straight you will be golden.


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## ThEoRy (Mar 30, 2011)

Since I just purchased my new home I too have been a paintaholic lately. Every room in the house needed painting. 4 down 4 to go. Blue tape sux. Frog tape wins. Umm those edger pads with wheels are great for going around trim too. Angled 2" brush for cutting in is great too.


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## Dave Martell (Mar 30, 2011)

Give up and paint the ceiling the same color as the walls. :tongue2:


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## festally (Mar 30, 2011)

I don&#8217;t use painters tape on the wall / ceiling joint&#8230;it&#8217;s a pita and most joints aren&#8217;t straight. I always paint the ceiling first, and let the ceiling paint seep into the seem and slightly down onto the walls to hide the joint imperfections. I then use an angled sash brush to cut in the wall paint to the ceiling & the upper 3-4 inches or so of the wall. Alternatively, the Shur-line edge pro (~5 bucks at home depot) works well, but you have to clean the wheels. 

Btw, raw sheetrock sucks up a lot paint. You need to establish a good base layer (several coats of primer). Otherwise it will just absorb your top coat &#8211; unevenly and cause blotching. I think chair railing is supposed to be 3 feet up from the floor.


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## StephanFowler (Mar 31, 2011)

festally said:


> I think chair railing is supposed to be 3 feet up from the floor.



I was a trim carpenter for about 5 years. there is no required height for chair rail. it depends on what style you are doing. are there shadow boxes below? beaded plywood? etc. most common height is actually 38" (top of rail) which is generally the height of the back of an "average" chair.

best answer is to measure from the ground to the back of your chair and subtract 1", set the top of your rail at that height. (unless you have really high back chairs, then it will look goofy.)


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## sudsy9977 (Mar 31, 2011)

good tips...i'll check out the frog tape and see if i can find some.....

stephan.....it is just a regular small bathroom....my gfriend has these crazy ideas and wants to put a white piece of chair rail....or should i say thin moulding.....i don't know what it is exactly called i guess.....picture a fancy piece of wood like 2 inches wide.....is that still considered chair rail?

anyway my concern was that it is a small room....i am doing alot of work redoing this and DO NOT wanna have to redo it.....she is pretty much set on this idea and i just want it to look ok......there's hardly gona be any on the walls.....you gotta stop at the vanity.....then there is a really small section of wall in the corner and the opposite wall in the room across from the bathroom......

i hate this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....ryan


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## Jim (Mar 31, 2011)

Good luck Ryan!


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## festally (Mar 31, 2011)

Forget what I said about the chair rail height, Stephans way makes more sense. 

Small bathroom...:whiteflag: ...sitting on the throne with nothing else to do, but spot flaws:headbonk:


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## Pensacola Tiger (Mar 31, 2011)

sudsy9977 said:


> good tips...i'll check out the frog tape and see if i can find some.....
> 
> stephan.....it is just a regular small bathroom....my gfriend has these crazy ideas and wants to put a white piece of chair rail....or should i say thin moulding.....i don't know what it is exactly called i guess.....picture a fancy piece of wood like 2 inches wide.....is that still considered chair rail?
> 
> ...


 
Be happy she doesn't want wainscoting.







Rick


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## 99Limited (Mar 31, 2011)

Painter's tape is for wimps! I was a pro painter for years, learned under an old school task master. Freehand is the only way to go. You'll spend more time fooling around with the painter's tape, both putting it up and taking it down, than you would by freehand painting. Besides that paint has a way of finding a path under the tape in places anyway. And, even if you do manage to get the edge of the tape tight to the wall, the painted edge that the tape leaves once the tape is removed looks all jagged anyway. Kind of like a knife edge under a microscope.


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## 99Limited (Mar 31, 2011)

Pensacola Tiger said:


> Be happy she doesn't want wainscoting.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Dang PT, that's a pretty bathroom.


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## Audi's or knives (Mar 31, 2011)

I say freehand as well, unless you are really bad at that, keep a rag handy to wipe off any spots you may contact ceiling with and use a good angled brush I prefer a 2.5-3in size synthetic if using water based paint (a Poly-nylon or poly brush, Purdy brand). I actually have various sizes/material brushes depending on work to be done, had some that were 15yrs old till my bro borrowed them. Is there tile in the bathroom, why not skip the chair rail and do a matching decorative molded tile instead (if tile exists in room).


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