Ugh. Painting Trim.

[aweilba]

Painting trim is THE WORST! Our house is nearly 9 years old, and the trim is looking really crappy. When we bought it, I knew I'd have to paint all of the trim and doors with a fresh coat. I started tonight. Ugh. For the past 3 hours, I've been painting the trim and 3 doors in our kitchen. Honestly, this is one DIY that I would be happy to hire out, but can't justify spending the money on something I can (but don't want to) do.

Also, I'm so worried about it getting on the carpet when I move into other rooms. If any got on the tile in the kitchen, I just had to wipe it off and move on. This happens on the carpet: not so easy to get off. Okay. Rant over.

[FoxInFiji]

Yeah that is why we'll never have white trim.

[ssmjlm]

Tape and patience are your friend. And yes the doorways are the worst. I'm priming and painting all of our trim, but it's so worth it.

[aweilba]

Jun 2, 2012 0:22:15 GMT -5 FoxInFiji said:

Yeah that is why we'll never have white trim.

Honestly, if I would have it my way, we wouldn't either. It seems like all of the houses in our area that are under 15 years old have it unless the house was designed by the homeowner prior to being built. I keep telling DH that our next house is either going to be an old house with tons of character or one that we build.

[GibsonGirl128]

I need to paint all of my "1950's builder grade yellow brown wood trim" throughout the entire house. I did my bedroom in the fall, and it really looks like shit. I so want the rest of the house done, but I don't want it to look just as bad. I feel your pain.

[McGavin]

Yep, the worst!

My MIL keeps saying she wants to paint (which actually means FIL) all their oak trim white. I keep telling her "no way!". I do prefer the look of white trim but the upkeep on it sucks! I repainted the white trim in our living room 4 years ago and it could use some refreshing already.

[CJY]

Lots of work but take your time and divide the job into several sessions.

They sell wide (like 6-8" wide) painters tape you can use for the carpeted floor -- or use plastic
sheeting to cover the carpet.

I stripped all the woodwork in house #1 and then stained and poly it. There were days I hated that I started such a project but the results were worth it.

[falada45]

DH and I are the process of painting our trim and doors now. The door jambs are the worst part. Sanding and painting those suckers takes forever. DH is pretty handy so he's been able to take up most of the baseboard. So then I can just take it into the basement to sand and paint. Less worry about getting paint on the carpet that way. Then we reinstall and put a thin line of caulk at the top to finish it off.

We've finished the living room, most of the hallway, and the guest bathroom so far. Now we just have the kitchen and bedrooms to finish. I'm hopefully we'll have it done by the end of the summer! LOL.

[adhdfashion]

You guys are making me think, I don't want white crown moulding.

[winofairy]

It's a horrible tedious task! I think I would rather have bamboo shoved under my nails instead.

I lack patience for this type of project plus I suck at it!. Even if I tape it's still a mess. If we decide to paint the trim where we are now that is one DIY that DH will be doing alone.

[jenjen]

I had to paint ours recently and DH told me this handy tip that made it go by so much faster. He had this big putty knife and a big drywall tape knife (like this www.lowes.com/pd_313020-51834-8202_0__?productId=3078827&Ntt=putty+knifee&pl=1¤tURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3Dputty%2Bknifee&facetInfo= or www.lowes.com/pd_279033-995-34186_0__?productId=3643154&Ntt=putty+knifee&pl=1¤tURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3Dputty%2Bknifee&facetInfo= )
If you hold down the carpet with the knife then you can paint along and don't need tape. It also works for the part of the baseboard where it meets the wall. If you get paint on it, just wipe it off with a papertowel and be on your way!

[midwest07]

Jun 2, 2012 15:04:11 GMT -5 jenjen said:

I had to paint ours recently and DH told me this handy tip that made it go by so much faster. He had this big putty knife and a big drywall tape knife (like this www.lowes.com/pd_313020-51834-8202_0__?productId=3078827&Ntt=putty+knifee&pl=1¤tURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3Dputty%2Bknifee&facetInfo= or www.lowes.com/pd_279033-995-34186_0__?productId=3643154&Ntt=putty+knifee&pl=1¤tURL=%2Fpl__0__s%3FNtt%3Dputty%2Bknifee&facetInfo= )
If you hold down the carpet with the knife then you can paint along and don't need tape. It also works for the part of the baseboard where it meets the wall. If you get paint on it, just wipe it off with a papertowel and be on your way!

I feel your pain. I did our basement about a year ago and was dreading doing the rest of the house, but made myself get started a few weeks ago with the plan to do the entire house this summer.

I use a similar tool that I got at Ace to hold down the carpet as I move along, so I don't tape down the carpet except around door frames, because no tool seems to work there. I do still end up getting some paint on the carpet, but ours is a creamy color, so it's not really obvious unless you look closely.

You probably know this, but I think caulking is one of the most important steps. After I prime, I caulk along the top of the trim, all over the doors and windows - anywhere I spot a gap. This makes it looks much cleaner once you paint over it.

[candreco]

Painting trim sucks. In our last house, the previous owners had painted the trim (and the doors!) turquoise, lime green, or purple in most of the rooms, so not only did it all have to be painted, but most of it needed three coats. I wanted to die.

[goldengirl]

Jun 4, 2012 7:14:40 GMT -5 candreco said:

Painting trim sucks. In our last house, the previous owners had painted the trim (and the doors!) turquoise, lime green, or purple in most of the rooms, so not only did it all have to be painted, but most of it needed three coats. I wanted to die.

Yikes!!! That is truly miserable.

I am with you all here. I have been painting the oakey colored trim in one of our rental cottages white. It took me 2-3 full days to do 2 rooms and 6 doorways. I still have the bedroom and half bath to go and am NOT looking forward to it. Oh and it took 3 coats and is not perfect but F-it.