How to avoid brush marks in water based satin paint

Hi everyone,

I have joined this forum to ask for some advice!

I'm renovating my house and have just stripped the upstairs door frames/skirtings/window sills of years and years of old (badly painted) gloss paint.

I've decided to go for a satin finish when re-painted, and have now rubbed down and under-coated all the woodwork ready for top coating. However, this is where my problems are arising........ I have painted a window sill and noticed that when dried it looks awful- full of brush strokes and generally looks rubbish.

Think I am more gutted about all the hard work that went into the 'pre-painting prep' to end up with such a crap finish. I sanded with superfine paper between undercoating and the satin- where am I going wrong?

Btw: The paint I'm using is a water based satin.

Does anyone have any tips or advice on how I can get a better finish? - any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

There's loads of info on here, just get searching.

Skill with a brush does play some part though.

 

Thanks for the reply! Will keep reading the threads on here- anyone else have any pointers?

 

Use a roller?

 

Nope. It's speed plus judgment.

 

Would a roller be ok to use? If so which is better, a foam one or a hairy type one?

I do try and paint as fast as poss, as I know the water based stuff dries quicker, but still can't quite get it right!

Should I be sanding down (with a fine paper) between coats of satin?

This whole D.I.Y thing is very stressful!!! Lol

 

A few tips for the DIYer that can help are:

Make sure you are using a synthetic bristle brush for water based trim paints.

Dampen the bristles slightly before starting.

Keep a damp cloth handy to wipe any excess paint from areas that you are not yet ready to move onto, e.g. when painting door frames, paint inside the frame first and use the damp cloth to wipe any paint from the face of the architrave until you are ready to start on that. The same can be done with panelled doors, by painting the panels first and wiping any excess from the face of the rails and stiles until all of the panels are finished.

Speed is the key to getting a good finish but also make sure you are not over-brushing, as this can make the paint dry out quicker.

Large flat surfaces are the hardest to get a good finish with - it can often be beneficial to dampen the surface lightly with a wet cloth. (Don't soak the surface though.)

Windowsills should be done when the sun is not on them as it will dry out the paint making it difficult to keep a wet edge.

You can give a light sanding with fine paper between coats, but don't expect to be able to sand out heavy brushmarks because you will end up sanding the paint off altogether.


Once you get used to the paint you will find that you can do things more to your style of working, but these tips can help when starting off.

 

Thanks Misterhelpful! As a fairly novice diy-er, your advice is greatly appreciated!

Luckily I didn't have to paint strip all my internal doors, however they were all very badly stained (patchy, drips, differing colours etc), so I've decided to paint them cream- which will look nice against the black door furniture.

The doors are tongue and groove, and I've found that trying to get the paint into the 'groove' parts is pretty fiddly. I've been and bought a tiny brush to wedge some paint into the slits. I have noticed that on some of the doors I have already painted, the paint in the 'grooves' seems to have cracked once dry. - am I doing something wrong?

I am hoping to start top-coating the skirting boards/door frames this weekend. Will let you know how I get on!

 

Add an egg cup of water per pint in the kettle.mit will give you more time and the paint will go on much easier.

The dips in the T and G have cracked due to too heavier a coat.

 

Thanks for the tips/info Chri5!

 

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