Cutting in paint - problems

danlightbulb

danlightbulb

danlightbulb

Soldato
Joined
14 Jul 2005
Posts
9,391
Location
Birmingham
Ive decorated two rooms now in my house and Ive had the same problem in both.

I prepare it all really well, and cut in my edges and corners using a brush. Then I roller the bulk of the wall. I try to get close to the edge but realistically im around half an inch away on average because I don't want to get coloured paint on the sections Ive painted white.

I would expect to get a slightly different pattern between brush and roller - i.e a slightly different brush marks left.

But Im getting a different shade of colour.

Its really noticeable around the edges of the walls.

Im trying to use a small roller to go over the sections but cannot get right to the edge so its still noticeable. And if I try to get too close I end up getting paint on the white parts no matter how careful I try to be.

What is going on? Cutting in is standard practice - why I am getting such a noticeable colour difference?
 
What colour are you the walls you have painted over i.e. the original colour?

Could be that the brush is putting on a thicker coat and you just need another coat on the roller sections?
 
The paint was mixed yes, all from the same tin/roller tray. Cutting in was done first, and allowed to dry. Then roller coat a couple of days later. I have distinct 'picture framing' going on where there is a notable shade difference, not just a difference in brush marks.

The colour of the new paint is a mid grey. Before this was applied the entire walls and ceiling was given an undercoat of white, so completely uniform going into the top coat. There was no obvious framing with the white and so I have noted that this problem seems to be only visible when darker colours are used.
 
Im no expert but I wouldnt let it dry! When Ive done it I cut in with a brush and have a mini roller and get to within a few mm or the ceiling to get the same texture. I bought the same mini roller and I use on my "big" roller. Ive had a similar thing in the past and I wasnt putting anywhere near enough paint on the brush so it was light than with the roller.
 
Yeah could be slightly lighter coat, or whoever did the ceiling slapped loads on the wall so the undercoat is bright white for that section?
 
We had same issue with some (slate) grey paint as well
Not just the edges, but also some areas on the walls.

I think its to do with drying time, and the paint almost layering if long enough time before it dries vs where its thinner that can't happen.

You need to ensure you get a good even coverage and don't try to spread it too thin.
Generally brushes leave a thinner line than a roller.

I do exactly the same as Mark M mentions above.
Brush for the line right into the corner, mini (maxi if you can) roller and then big roller, ensuring that for each one you overlap as much as you can reasonably do without risk of touching another surface
 
It is lighter at the edges, not darker, so perhaps the brushing is not putting as much paint on as the roller is.

But re letting it dry, it takes me a couple hours to cut the room in, so the paint is dry by then, I can't go any quicker as trying to get neat lines etc.

Ive just gone over the cutting in on one wall again, and now will roller it out using mini roller see how that goes.
 
Probably not enough paint and needs another coat for the shades to match. I used extra thick one coat paint when repainting a few rooms last year for this very reason. Didn't have the time to spare to to cut in a second coat with normal paint.
 
Last edited:
Ok ive gone round again with brush and roller at the edges, its drying now. Not sure if I will need to redo the whole wall, will see how it dries.

We did dark shades of green in the first bedroom and had the same issue there, but that walls took 3 coats to look good which is why we undercoated this room completely in white first.
 
Last edited:
Undercoating white isnt an automatic fix especially if you are going over the top with a darker colour. It could compound your issues with the cutting in as well as its very likely the white cutting in is slightly thicker coats then the roller coats on the walls.

We recently went from white to black on one wall in our lounge, you would think one coat would have done the job, but nope, took us three coats.
 
Syla5 said:
Undercoating white isnt an automatic fix especially if you are going over the top with a darker colour. It could compound your issues with the cutting in as well as its very likely the white cutting in is slightly thicker coats then the roller coats on the walls.

We recently went from white to black on one wall in our lounge, you would think one coat would have done the job, but nope, took us three coats.
Click to expand...
In my experience, one coat is a lie anyway lol.
 
Also what brand of paint?

We used Valspar standard and it picture framed terribly. Used Valspar premium and no issues at all.
 
Bug One said:
The brush will be thicker than the roller. So I suspect you just need another coat (or two depending on the paint).
Click to expand...
I think it must be the opposite - the brush coat was thinner than the roller coat. Im always mindful of not overloading the brush because of a) drips and b) because I'd always thought the brush coat would be thicker than the roller coat. Seems the opposite is true for me.


Mason- said:
Also what brand of paint?

We used Valspar standard and it picture framed terribly. Used Valspar premium and no issues at all.
Click to expand...
Its not cheap paint - Johnstones coverall matt in this case. The other bedroom where we had the same issue was Crown premium trade matt.



After going round the edges again it looks much better. I think I can still detect a line now where the mini roller has been so I will probably need another full wall coat with the big roller.
 
Last edited:
Not sure if this is a possible issue but I had horrendous trouble using Matt paint on top of silk. Swapped the covering paint to silk too and my issues went away.
 
Ive done another full coat of roller now.

Not sure yet because its still drying, but possibly I can see the framing coming back again.

Not sure how I can win here. Have to use brush in corners then when roller over I get lines. Another coat seems to solve it but with a visible roller line so I full roller again then get lines.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom