Cutting in

DanTheMan · 21 Feb 2021 at 21:53

Do straight lines exist when decorating?!

Our first house was a new build and all very pale colours so I can't recall how neat the painting was but it certainly never bothered me.

We had our hallway plastered late last year and I painted it. Overall the finish is good but my cutting in is horrendous. I'm sure it's my technique but I'm not sure how neat I should be aiming for?

The walls are a darkish green and the woodwork and ceilings are brilliant white. It means any imperfections are even more noticeable.

I've mainly been using a cutting in brush as I found masking / frog tape either still let paint under it or peeled paint off when removing.

Any hints or tips or do I just pay a professional and live my life as a decorating disappointment?

bremen1874 · 21 Feb 2021 at 21:57

I wish I knew about this painting trick before (cutting in straight lines) | Overclockers UK Forums

DanTheMan · 21 Feb 2021 at 22:07

bremen1874 said:
I wish I knew about this painting trick before (cutting in straight lines) | Overclockers UK Forums

That's brilliant, thanks! Not sure why I didn't think of searching.

Now I just have to mask all of the hallway again

dlockers · 21 Feb 2021 at 22:08

Paint ceiling colour onto wall so you aren't joining two different colour halves. Let dry then paint colour up to ceiling. Unless your MJ Fox it shouldn't be too off.

Masking tip above sounds interesting though!

robfosters · 21 Feb 2021 at 22:15

Or just get a paint shield

200sols · 22 Feb 2021 at 07:32

robfosters said:
Or just get a paint shield

They're crap. A steady hand is all that's needed.

fobose · 22 Feb 2021 at 07:45

All that masking up sounds like hard work to me. My way is probably not much of a time saving but I go free hand, applying just the right amount of pressure to the 1" = 1.5" brush which forces the bristles out in a controlled way. If the wall / ceiling line is uneven, I have a small (4mm wide, 1mm thick) artists paintbrush to hand that is super easy to touch in any areas I can't quite get with the bigger brush but adds a lot more time.

I also use the artists brush on the top of the skirting board to get a really neat line against the wall paint. When painting the wall first, I am not so neat and don't worry about the paint getting on the skirting (although I make sure no drips/blobs are left on the skirting). Old pic of the skirting from when I did some decorating last year in one of the smaller rooms:

These are the brushes I bought (for touching up) from Amazon years ago, I use the second from the left: Link

MrRockliffe · 22 Feb 2021 at 07:52

bremen1874 said:
I wish I knew about this painting trick before (cutting in straight lines) | Overclockers UK Forums

Wait, people never thought to do this :confused:

My mother moved house over the summer, managed to do the cutting in of 2 rooms in the same amount of time as my grandfather doing one by hand - it is a good method as long as you’re using rubbish masking tape (I.e. barely adhesive)

Molep · 22 Feb 2021 at 08:47

With Frogtape, once you've stuck it down well you can run a damp rag along the cutting in edge this will seal that edge, or get a decent sash brush and a steady hand.

dlockers · 22 Feb 2021 at 11:15

fobose said:
All that masking up sounds like hard work to me. My way is probably not much of a time saving but I go free hand, applying just the right amount of pressure to the 1" = 1.5" brush which forces the bristles out in a controlled way. If the wall / ceiling line is uneven, I have a small (4mm wide, 1mm thick) artists paintbrush to hand that is super easy to touch in any areas I can't quite get with the bigger brush but adds a lot more time.

I also use the artists brush on the top of the skirting board to get a really neat line against the wall paint. When painting the wall first, I am not so neat and don't worry about the paint getting on the skirting (although I make sure no drips/blobs are left on the skirting). Old pic of the skirting from when I did some decorating last year in one of the smaller rooms:
<snip>

These are the brushes I bought (for touching up) from Amazon years ago, I use the second from the left: Link

This is my general rule of thumb.

Paint ceilings with little care about the wall.
Paint wall up to ceilings with little care about the skirting.
Paint skirtings.

The masking up has always seen more faff than it is worth but I'll give it a go the next time!

stigggeh · 24 Feb 2021 at 15:17

I used delicate surface Frog tape. Apply and peel off while the paint is still wet, it takes time but the finish is worth it.