10 Questions with a Professional Painter

Did you know that painting walls is the cheapest and easiest way to update your space? Having a fresh coat of paint or a new color makes such a dramatic difference to a room. The fresh coat gives a new, clean feeling, and the color can update the room to a new look or style without breaking the bank.

As a designer, the decision of the color on the walls is so important. When choosing a wall color there are a few things to consider; like if there is already a dominant color in the space, how bold do I want this room to be, which is the best neutral that will last the test of time, etc. There is so much about choosing the color that I can help with, but what about the logistics? What is the best brand of paint? What about the execution of painting a room? Nail pops? Those aren’t things I know off the top of my head since I am not a painter, so to answer these questions I turned to my favorite professional painter- Alyssa Gossen of Accent Painting.

Alyssa owns a painting business in Williams Lake, BC, and has excelled through her first two years in the business. She has been painting professionally since June 2020, starting off with a few projects under a senior painter. She loved working with him and adsorbed everything he had to say like a sponge. She continually helps me with insight and recommendations to my clients, so I saw the importance of answering some of these common questions. Alyssa has always remained an amazing source of knowledge and pays attention to the details in all her projects. If you are in the area and need a painter, I can’t recommend her enough!

Without further ado, let’s hear what the professional had to say…

1. WHAT IS A COMMON MISTAKE YOU SEE WHEN PEOPLE PAINT THEIR OWN HOMES?

“When they use primer for a wall that has already been painted before. Primer is used specifically for new drywall to prep it before the colour. Once the drywall has had that first coat of paint you never need to prime it again. Instead, I lightly sand the wall with a 120 grit pole sander. Around 30 seconds per wall. The only time I would use primer would be if you were covering a very dark colour with a white or lighter colour. In this case, use of primer is then so that you don’t have to do more than two coats of the colour.”

2. WHAT IS A MISTAKE THAT MAKES YOU CRINGE?

“Only bringing one paint swatch home to decide from. They are free for a reason, take all of them! Ask Heidi how she chose her whites!” 😂 (H- I grabbed every single swatch of white to bring home and see in the lighting of my home and compare to the baseboard that I didn’t want to paint again)

“But from the technical side of painting, people don’t realize how important it is to wet your brushes and rollers before you use them. Wring them out before dipping into the paint, so they aren’t dripping. Wetting them first allows for the paint to flow smoother as well as cleaning the brushes to be easier.”

3. PAINTERS TAPE, YES OR NO?

“This depends. Do you trust the steadiness of your hands? Find an area that doesn’t matter too much and test your hand at cutting in with the paintbrush there. If you do ok and you’re happy with it, use this method over painter’s tape. It allows you to see immediate results, and you won’t be surprised with paint in unexpected places. The tape is to protect the area you don’t want paint, but this is blinding yourself to see whether or not the paint seeps behind it (which it often does).

If you really want to use painters tape, don’t use cheap painters tape, I find “FrogTape” painters tape is the most reliable. And if possible do a coat of the original colour overtop the tape and then the desired colour to get a cleaner line (then whatever seeps through will be the colour that’s already on your walls).”

4. WHAT ARE THE BEST AND WORST BRANDS TO PAINT WITH?

“I’ve been using Cloverdale for a bit of time now but the difference in coverage compared to other paints, has been incredible. I was also pleasantly surprised with BeautiTone’s silkiness and coverage- if you’re looking for a more reasonably priced paint.

Now don’t hate me for this, but I really don’t enjoy painting with Benjamin Moore’s eggshell. One reason is that they promise one-coat coverage and better-quality paint, and I find I almost never get one-coat coverage with any brand of paint, including BM. I have not seen a difference in qualities when compared to other paints, in fact, I’ve heard in this line of work some say Cloverdale rivals, Benjamin Moore. My other reason I shy away from them is because they don’t provide 5 Gallon paint cans. This concerns me on their quality of paint, if it clumps so extremely that you can’t have a 5 gallon without needing to strain the paint (and it’s still not providing the “one-coat coverage”) perhaps you should switch tactics. The factor of no 5-gallon pails also brings out the ecologist in me, if I’m painting a new house and I need 20 gallons of paint, that’s 20 cans of Benjamin Moore. But only four of the 5-gallon pails if I use Cloverdale. Yes, both types of cans are recyclable, but the more we can do for our planet, right?

I will say, however, that their semi-gloss coverage is beautiful. The Aura semi-gloss paint is smoother than their eggshell and covers very well. I use it on my jobs regularly for trim and doors.”

5. WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR FAVORITE PROJECT SO FAR?

“Honestly, I get so excited to paint everything. When I started, I didn’t love doing trim and now it’s one of my favourite things to do on the job. From new houses to old recovery projects, this job is always changing but also the same.

I do however have a least favourite job I’ve done! It was an apartment building that was made entirely of concrete bricks, which is very porous and took forever to roll. It looked so good afterwards, which is such a pleasing aspect. Knowing it would look good helped push me and my workers through that job.”

6. TIPS FOR PAINTING EXTERIOR DOORS?

“Clean the door well beforehand, TSP works well. Once dry, scuff with a sanding block (120 grit). You’ll only want to paint front doors in warm weather, (above 5C/40F at night) but if possible, not in direct sunlight. The sun will dry the paint before it adheres to the door itself. Once painted, prop the door open for most of the day, if possible. Also, take the weather-stripping off so that when you close the door there is nothing resting on the fresh paint. You can put the weather-stripping back on after a couple of days once it has fully cured.”

 7. WHAT MAKES FOR A GOOD CLIENT? A BAD CLIENT?

“I’ve had people I want to be friends with as clients, but I’ve also had a couple of clients who I’d rather not see again. Having mutual respect is always a good starting ground. As a woman in trades, respect is not always handed over freely. If you are in doubt of your painter, feel free to ask them questions nicely, hire another painter, or ask yourself if you have a valid reason to be doubting them. You can even ask to see past projects they’ve done; I keep an Instagram of my projects before and after (check out @alyssas_painting). Most of my clients have been splendid. I’ve enjoyed getting to know more of this community and love being able to offer quality work to them.”

8. WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO FIX THE HOLE IN MY WALL?

“This depends on how big the hole is, if it’s thumbtack holes or the smaller scratches from life is it much easier to deal with. Grab some drywall mud and a mudding spatula, you want to spread the mud over the hole and the area around it (an inch or two around the hole). This provides a fix that blends it into the wall again. Once it’s dry you can sand it until smooth, and you feel no ridgeline. I also suggest pushing the hole edges inwards, as screws and such when pulled out often leave the wall texture sticking out. Use a ball-peen hammer or the end of a sharpie to turn it in so when you mud it there isn’t fluff sticking out.

If it’s a larger hole, like a drywall anchor, it will need multiple coats of mud. So, you do one coat of mud, let it dry fully, sand, and do the other coat. If it’s any bigger, like an elbow going through the wall, I recommend a professional drywaller.”

9. BEST WAY TO TAKE CARE OF NAIL POPS?

“Ah yes, the classics. I mean this literally as your house is usually older if you have these.

If the pops have cracked through the paint, take a little spatula or 5-in-1 and go ahead and touch it (usually the paint will fall right off). Underneath you’ll see, if the painting gods are shining, a screw! And you’ll want to screw it in tight. However, if it is a sad day, and you see a nail, you’ll want to find a screw bit, or a nail punch, to put on the nail before hammering. This is to not damage the drywall around it. Then hammer and mud, you’ll have to mud twice. Sand and paint.”

10. BEST ADVICE FOR PAINTING YOURSELF?

“I’ll give my top three:

1). Don’t skimp on drop cloths, you will drip more than you expect, especially if you don’t paint often.

2. Stay away from the ceilings when you roll! If you cut in with your brush enough, you only have to roll until you overlap that line. It’s worth being cautious and slow in order to not bump it.

3. Take off the plug-in covers. Don’t try to cut in around them. It’s much quicker to take them off.”

So there you have it! These are some amazing tips for painting your own home. Like most things in our 20s I think we want to do a lot ourselves, but as we get older and more financially stable we would rather hire someone to do the job for us. I love hiring Alyssa for all painting jobs, and it has helped me realize what a terrible job I would have actually done. I am a perfectionist, so having someone else do the job for me takes away the constant critique I would be putting on it if I had done it. Having Alyssa do the job has brought my home to a higher level of excellence that I could never have achieved on my own. She loves her job and is so attentive to the fine details. Her advice has helped on so many projects, so let her advice now bring a higher level of excellence to your home!

I know there are so many more questions I could have asked. If you have a burning question you would like answered let me know either on my website or on Instagram! Maybe in a few months, we will do another interview if there is enough interest to know more!