Sometimes there isn’t time to paint the whole house – or even whole rooms – before guests arrive for holiday festivities; in such cases, touching up is almost always better than doing nothing. There are a few tips to bear in mind when you set out on your touch up mission:
First, make a list. Starting with the biggest priority first and working back to the littlest detail you’d really like to get done; put them all down on your list. Next, get your paint cans and note them all on the list; for example: Kitchen – Sherwin Williams Kilem Beige, Emerald interior Satin sheen – and so forth. Next, open the cans one at a time, starting with the first item on your list. Note: do not shake the cans before opening; cans that have little paint inside them have more air, and that air will be moist and possibly cause rust inside the can, shaking the can will only mix the rust in with the paint. Instead, open the can and stir the paint with a stir stick, minimizing as much as possible the scraping of the sides where dried paint and rust may be present. If you have a lot of debris in your paint, it will probably be relatively thick too, you can revive the paint by mixing a small amount (5% by volume) of water into the paint, stir it thoroughly and then pour it through a paint strainer into a clean container, discarding the strainer and debris after the paint has strained through.
Do this with the first few project rooms/cans, or all of them if you think you’re going to get all the way through your list. Next, prepare to replace the paints that are dried up or otherwise unusable, this may take some time so consider calling in advance to get the paint mixing started so you don’t have to wait too long. Another caution: avoid switching to another brand/grade or even size – when touching up, it’s important to get exactly the same product you originally had in the area. If the product you need replaced is no longer available, skip the touch up and plan on repainting the room – whenever you can, which may be after the holiday.
Once you have your paints ready, get your tools ready: paint brushes, clean containers, a roller pan, frame and a clean roller skin. Begin with the smallest tool appropriate, only use the roller if you have a wall that needs more than a dozen or so touch ups needed – in this case it may be better to just roll that wall from corner to corner. You can also try to touch up, check on it the following day, then decide if you need to roll it or not.
Yet another caution; paint sheens build – this means although the color matches perfectly, your touch up may be slightly shinier than the surrounding field. So, keep it as small as possible.
Finally, if things don’t go well, call your painting professional in Denver’s Hilltop Neighborhood.