How to paint a straight line by skirting and corners - if i use a tape keeps peeling wall off

[platforminc]

Hi All.

I am trying to get a nice straight line by door frame corners and the wall, and the technique I hvae always read about is to tape off one side, then paint and remove the tape. This way you will be left with a straight line.

I have not been so lucky, I painted the skirting dark grey which is very unforgiving with non-straight lines. Anytime I tape off the wall, and remove the tape off within 5 minutes it peels off the paint. I even went to the paint shop to ask for a low tack masking tape, same issue. Any suggestions please ?

 

[Loofah]

Practice! Also you could try an angled brush, but definitely practice

 

[Loofah]

Try this one https://www.toolstation.com/hamilton-for-the-trade-synthetic-angled-paintbrush/p70166

 

[platforminc]

so no tape, cut in by hand ?

 

[Loofah]

I would. I never got on with the tape method. If you really want to use it get a low tack tape (someone should be able to recommend one on here but some like Frog tape) and make sure whatever you stick it to is dry and sound

 

[Odds]

I have a 1mtr long piece of wood, 5mm thick, that's an excellent guide for painting along a line. Any off-cut will do, so long as it isn't too thick. I can't be doing with tape as it never sticks right. For going around a window i simply hold my brush hand against the glass and use that as a rest. An angled brush helps.

 

[platforminc]

I have a 1mtr long piece of wood, 5mm thick, that's an excellent guide for painting along a line. Any off-cut will do, so long as it isn't too thick. I can't be doing with tape as it never sticks right. For going around a window i simply hold my brush hand against the glass and use that as a rest. An angled brush helps.

Ok, I could try this but does it mean that you need 2 pieces of wood then as when one is stained with paint, you dont really want it up against the wall ? 2 pieces of wood, lets say 1.2m long for both or do you swap sides with a single piece of wood ? If the colour is also being changed, do i need multiple or just have to wait for it to dry ?

 

[Odds]

If too much paint accumulates then a damp cloth/sponge is handy. Easy for emulsion, a dash of white spirit on a cloth for gloss. I try to keep a steady hand to reduce splashes. I only began using wood as it's easy to balance a spirit level to achieve a straight line, then just used it for a brush guide.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

A good tape helps, as mentioned frog tape seems pretty good but avoid the yellow one I find that doesn't adhere well and paint can bleed underneath, not that the green one is infallible. Thank goodness I'm no perfectionist and Mrs Mercury has considerably less standards with respect to decorating is all I'll say ....

 

[Koolpc]

Never used tape myself. Just a steady hand.

 

[Alec_t]

I use the edge of a large plasterer's float, such as this, pressed against the surface to be painted. A rag is used to wipe paint off the float.

 

[Eccles]

Always a problem because unless the surface involved is completely flat, paint will often bleed past the line you want to make even using tape or the old ally paint shield which lives in the bottom of my toolbox. So what do professionals do - you've guessed it, they practice 'til they get good at it, like the man said. My great grandad who was a skilled painter and decorator for the Great Western Railway could paint a dead straight line for yards it seems. They had to because there was no other way in those far off days.

 

[Wayners]

Paint adhesion problems. Nothing you can do about that other than strip back.
I rarely get trouble with low tack masking but try the sensitive tape.
Masq sensitive tape from Toolstation.

 

[opps]

Hi All.

I am trying to get a nice straight line by door frame corners and the wall, and the technique I hvae always read about is to tape off one side, then paint and remove the tape. This way you will be left with a straight line.

I have not been so lucky, I painted the skirting dark grey which is very unforgiving with non-straight lines. Anytime I tape off the wall, and remove the tape off within 5 minutes it peels off the paint. I even went to the paint shop to ask for a low tack masking tape, same issue. Any suggestions please ?

View attachment 294625

I am working on (a bloody messy) site where the architraves are black and the walls an off white.

I prefer to cut the wall in to the woodwork. I find it easier to run a two inch or larger brush along the wall than the 18mm edge of the architrave. By eye, I can generate a straight line. I use lamps to create shadows where the two surfaces meet and follow the shadow line.

The decorator that is already on site is a fan of using low tack paint on the plaster. Unfortunately, he is also a fan of EasyFill filler and painting over it will undiluted emulsion.

He runs the tape down the wall, paints the black woodwork, pulls the tape off... it pulls the emulsion off. The paint additionally bleeds under the tape.

To make things even worse, he is also fond of painting over a particularly poor quality caulk before it has fully cured, meaning that horizontal hair lines appear which means that as you cut in, the paint, through some kind of capillary action, tries to deviate up the crack. it may only be 0.25mm but when using black and white it is noticeable.

Cutting in a straight line is much easier when you are dealing with a 90 degree wood- wall joint. As soon a you have even a 5mm gap between the architrave and wall that has been caulked, you are no longer dealing with a 90 joint

There are dedicated cutting in tapes, I have never used them though.

 

[opps]

For going around a window i simply hold my brush hand against the glass and use that as a rest. An angled brush helps.

I do something similar. Depending on the angle/etc, I will steady my hand through whatever prop is available. Tomorrow, I need to cut in black against (almost) white. If I had been forewarned, I might have used tape and my HVLP sprayer. Spray paint is far less likely to bleed under tape.

I don't use angled brushes though. Never got on with them. Just my preference. I would rather use an expensive but beautifully crafted American brush (purdy sprig elite or Wooster UltraPro), £18ish for a 50mm brush and more for a 3"