How to Paint Doors, Windows, and Walls

By: Bill Brockway, This Old House magazine

Shopping List

Supplies You Will Need

1. PAINT
one gallon typically covers about 350 square feet

2. MASKING TAPE (1 1/2-INCH WIDE)
for securing rosin paper to floor and protecting baseboard

3. SILICON-CARBIDE SANDPAPER
120-grit for bare wood or old paint; 220-grit for primer or between-coat smoothing

4. LIGHTWEIGHT SPACKLING COMPOUND
for filling holes and cracks in drywall and plaster

5. DUST MASK
for protecting lungs when sanding

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Tools List
Tools You Will Need
- Cordless drill, for removing and replacing door and window hardware
- Paint roller for painting walls and ceilings
- Paint pan, for loading roller with paint
- Telescoping extension pole with pole sanding head for reaching ceilings and the tops of walls without using a ladder
- Caulking gun, for filling gaps between the woodwork and wall
- Brush, roller spinner, and wire brush, for cleaning brushes
- Hammer and nail set, for recessing nail heads
- Synthetic-bristle brushes (2 ½-inch blunt, 1 ½-inch angled sash, "throwaways" for touch-ups), for painting molding, doors, and windows
- Putty knife for applying spackling compound
- 5-in-1 pinter's tool for cleaning roller covers
- Utility knife,
  for cutting tip of caulk gun
- Window scraper and razor blades, for removing paint from window glass
- Drywall sander, attaches to shop vacuum for sanding joint-compound patches
- Paint strainer, for removing impurities when paint is poured from can into pot
- Bucket, to fit with liners and hold paint
- Wet/Dry Vaccum with broom attachment
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Introduction
Overview
Steps:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9

A day
$25 to $35 per gallon for good-quality interior paint

Difficulty: Easy Interior painting isn’t an overly arduous activity, but you’ll likely work up a sweat

Most people think they know how to paint, and usually the results are pretty good. But for painting contractor John Dee, "pretty good" isn't good enough. After nearly three decades of rolling, brushing, and spraying paint he knows the subtle tricks for applying smooth, even coats to walls, ceilings, and woodwork, and for creating crisp boundaries between colors.

According to Dee, there's no magic to getting professional-looking results. Practice helps, and thorough surface preparation is essential. But the key, he says, is to paint in an orderly, systematic way. So whether he's painting a multi-paneled door or a flat expanse of wall, he proceeds almost scientifically from one step to the next, with no shortcuts. "Your approach to the task, the order in which you do things, can speed the work or slow you down," Dee says. "Here's the approach that works best for me."