PSA: Took me 7 years to realize I was painting trim wrong the whole time

I was painting baseboards in my living room in Phoenix last weekend, normal stuff. My neighbor comes over, been a painter for 30 years. Watches me for like 2 minutes then says 'why are you brushing against the grain?' I had no idea what he meant. Turns out I was doing the final coat perpendicular to the wood grain every single time. Looked fine to me but he showed me his way - one smooth pass with the grain. No brush marks, no bumps. Felt like a complete idiot. Anyone else discover they've been messing up basic stuff for way too long?

3 comments

3 Comments

violag807d ago

Wait I actually learned this from a This Old House article where the guy said most people do trim paint wrong and I thought nah that can't be me but here we are. I was doing the exact same thing until my dad saw my work and gave me that look.

nancy_wood6d ago

Oh wow so you got the dad look too huh? That's the universal sign you messed up haha. What exactly did he catch you doing? Was it the brush strokes going the wrong way or skipping the primer? I need to know so I can fix my own mistakes before my next trim project.

gavin_kim7d ago

Yeah that's actually not quite right about This Old House though, I remember that article and the guy was talking about sanding between coats being the step people skip, not the painting technique itself. Your dad's look probably meant you were doing fine just different.

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