My brother-in-law, who's a contractor in Lubbock, pointed out that my whole approach to painting trim was backwards after he saw me struggling for 45 minutes on a single window.

He said, 'Why are you taping the wall when you can just cut in with a good brush and clean the wall later if you slip?', which made me realize I was adding hours of prep for a job that takes a steady hand anyway, so has anyone else found a 'standard' DIY step that's actually a waste of time here in Amarillo?

4 comments

4 Comments

max_brown2mo ago

Your brother-in-law has a point about skipping tape, but cleaning paint off a wall later is its own kind of hassle. A steady hand is great, but a quick tape line still saves me time on the cleanup. The real waste of time is using cheap painter's tape that bleeds, not the taping step itself. Good tape and a putty knife to seal the edge makes the job faster, not slower.

charles6402mo agoMost Upvoted

Exactly! And if you really want to save time, pull the tape right after you finish painting that section while it's still wet. Waiting for it all to dry is where people mess up and get those ragged edges. That quick pull makes a perfect line every time. So it's not just about using good tape, it's about when you remove it. Doing it fast means no dry paint skin to tear. Why make more work for yourself later?

blake7922mo ago

Oh man, I was totally on team "skip the tape" for years. But then I tried pulling it right after painting like you said, and it was a total game changer. That perfect line with zero touch-up work completely changed my mind. Now I can't imagine not doing it that way.

brianm664d ago

Have you ever tried using a really cheap plastic putty knife to press the tape down? It makes a huge difference on the edge seal. Like @max_brown mentioned, good tape is key, but that extra step of pressing it into the corner with a dry knife stops all the bleed. I used to just lay the tape on by hand, and I'd always get a tiny wavy line of paint under it. Now I run the knife along the edge before painting, and the line comes out razor sharp every time. It only adds a minute per wall, and it saves me from having to pull out a tiny brush for touch-ups later.