Your home is one of your most important
valuable assets, so it makes sense to keep it well painted and painted well. By using
premium paints, premium brushes and premium rollers, painting is one of the easiest ways
to redecorate, allowing you and your family to create the right mood, the right atmosphere
in every room and outside. So if you've always wanted to know the right way to use a paint
brush, if you've always wanted to know the right way to use a paint roller and if you're
tired of spending hours cleaning your brushes, then sit back, relax and see just how easy
it is to get a superior finish to all your home painting jobs and how easy it is to clean
up afterwards. Hello, I'm Phil Halderman and along with Jim, our professional painter,
hello Jim.
Good day Phil.
We'll be taking you through the A to Z of home painting. How to estimate the amount
of paint you'll need for various jobs. Show you the easy way to mix paint. Help you select
the right paint brush and how to use it. What roller is right for you? We'll explain the
different rollers that are available and how to get the best results. You'll learn the
correct order to paint, inside and outside, and the correct way to clean and store brushes
and rollers. There's a special section on applying enamel paints, plus professional
tips on surface preparation and a shopping list for all your painting needs. But I'd
like to start by showing you an exciting new development in painting. Acrylic and other
water based paints like vinyl, plastic and PVA paint are now the most popular paints
for large areas, both inside and outside. They're washable, durable and they look great.
But actually painting with them has created a couple of problems. Problems that start
with this. Home painters half dipping a dry brush in water based paint. The first problem
has been the time and amount of water needed to clean brushes after painting. Have you
spent what seems to be hours cleaning? And even then your brushes never seem really clean.
And is this a familiar sight? A perfectly good paint brush ruined. Ruined because the
bristles are clogged, gummed up by acrylic paint. The dry bristles have absorbed the
water from the paint and have become clogged with acrylic resin. This makes the brush difficult
to use. Well here's the good news. These two problems have been eliminated by the Rotocoter
wet brush painting system. A real breakthrough in the application of acrylic and other water
based paints. It's called a system because it brings together the acrylic brush from
Rotocoter with an exclusive elastacell collar. A new way of preparing your brush for painting.
A new way of loading the brush that makes painting quicker. And a new way of cleaning
that's so easy the brush cleans itself. Now a quick demonstration of the wet brush painting
system. In a container or bucket soak the brush for at least eight minutes making sure
the bristles are fully covered. Prepare your services or get your paint ready. Remember
Jim will be giving you some tips on preparation and paint mixing later in the program. After
at least eight minutes soaking flick excess water from the brush. Now wet the collar and
squeeze. Place the collar in position half on and half off the bristle ferrule line.
You're now ready to load up. Dip the brush into the paint right up to the edge of the
collar and work the bristles around. Make sure the bristles are fully surrounded and
filled with paint. Wipe off excess paint using the wipe and tap method. Simply wipe each
side of the brush on the side of your pot then tap the bottom end of the brush leaving
plenty of paint inside the brush. This will give you a comfortable load of paint ready
for action. As you paint keep all of the bristles wet with paint at all times. When you take
a coffee break or stop for lunch just load up the brush and leave it in the pot. As long
as the bristle and collar remain moist with paint you can leave your acrylic brush for
hours with no clogging at all even on hot windy days. At the end of the day use the
wet brush painting system self clean. Wipe any excess paint back into your pot. Remove
and clean the elasticell collar then put your brush into a bucket of clean water and leave
it. That's right. After about four hours the saturated bristles will have released the
paint and the brush will have cleaned itself. Even in the first few minutes you can see
how easily the paint falls out of the bristles when you use the wet brush painting system.
For a colour change when you'd like to keep painting with the same brush use the wet brush
painting system quick clean. Simply wipe your brush, remove the collar then use a spare
bucket with about two litres of water. Place the brush in water for 30 seconds, agitate
then spin out the dirty water from the brush. Repeat this three or four times and you'll
be ready to carry on painting with a different colour in less than two minutes. The wet brush
painting system is being used by professional painters, it's being taught at technical colleges,
it's approved by the Master Painters Association of New South Wales and leading paint companies
and the Rotor Coater Acrylic Brush with the exclusive elasticell collar is now available
for the home painter at your local hardware store. So say goodbye to long clean ups and
say goodbye to clogged paint brushes forever. There are three other advantages with the
wet brush painting system. Based on extensive tests with professional painters your brush
will last two to three times longer. Because the brush carries more paint there are less
refills required and that will make painting quicker. Jim has painted the left hand side
with a standard brush and the right hand side using the wet brush painting system. As you
can see he's covered over twice the area and you'll find painting easier. The brush
flexes from the ferrule so the paint is applied smoothly. The elasticell collar controls the
paint so there's no drips and you won't get paint over your hands. Now I've introduced
you to the wet brush painting system it's time to brush up on your painting techniques.
In all demonstrations with acrylic or other water based paints we'll be using the wet
brush painting system. All brushes, rollers and accessories are from the Rotor Coater
range Australia's leaders in quality paint application products. A good place to start
is how to estimate the quantities of paint you need. For walls and ceilings allow one
litre for every fourteen square metres. If the surface is rough allow ten percent more
paint. For gutters and downpipes a four litre can of paint will cover about a hundred metres
of gutters and downpipes. So I've got the paint how do I mix it ready for use? Let's
watch Jim at work and see how to do it correctly. Open the tin and pour half into a spare paint
pot. Stir the paint in the original can with a Rotor Coater stirrer until mixed. Then gradually
pour back the paint you put aside always stirring. Give a good final mix then pour the paint
into your work pot. Only fill to about a hundred millimetres and keep the lid on your main
tin. Rotor Coaters pure bristle acrylic brushes come in different sizes and it's important
to choose the right size for each painting job. First the one hundred mil. Ideal for
weather boards outside or inside panels or walls. For areas up to two metres by one metre.
Also use on galvanised iron roofing even cement blocks or bricks up to two square metres.
For larger flat surfaces use a roller. The seventy five millimetre acrylic brush is perfect
for gutters, eaves, face ears, large cornices and timber fences. Use the sixty three and
fifty mil brush for windows, kitchen cupboards, tables and chairs and skirting boards. Use
the thirty eight mil for small toys, narrow skirting boards, wrought iron, even doll's
houses. All Rotor Coater acrylic brushes have been designed to give a good balance of length
and width for the home painter. And here's the brush you need for cutting in, that is
starting off a large area and all your detail work. The Rotor Coater acrylic cutter. The
extra long rectangular handle gives excellent control making it easy to use particularly
in hard to get out places. Well just as important as choosing the right brush size is using
it the right way. Let's join Jim and Melissa for a quick class. The key to showing you
how to paint correctly Melissa is in holding the brush correctly. As a matter of fact your
hand is just a little bit far down at the moment. Get the nice pen grip, that's right,
fingers nice and firm and now you can start to paint. Let's paint inside this section
here. That's correct up and down first, fill in the hole of the space. Let the brush move
up and down. Now let me just show you how to run it down into that corner. Here you
hold your brush straight ahead like that and you work the bristle in like that. Just bring
it straight down. Now you can fill that little bit in there. Look at your job, always look
closely at your job and keep away from the wall now, it's already cut in, that's good.
You notice Melissa is moving the brush nicely, flexing the wrist, bristles right on the surface
as she's laying it off. Any little bits you miss, let me show you Melissa, just get in
there and touch them like this. That's the way. It's time to load up again so I'll just
show you, go over it once again, how you fill your brush with the wet brush painting system.
Load the paint well into the brush right up to the collar, you don't have to worry about
the brush or the paint dripping off it because you've got the collar there to control the
paint. I'll just show you how to finish off this corner Melissa. You just work your way
into the corners with the brush, turn the brush in your hand slightly, work it down
into the corner and then you cut a straight line along the bottom. Lay back up along the
wall. So here are Jim's tips for painting with a brush. Hold the brush correctly, flex
your wrist. To cut in corners, turn the brush and use it like a pen. Keep the brush on the
surface as you complete each stroke. This stops paint flicking or splashing off the
brush. If you're right handed, work right to left on broad surfaces. Repaint while your
surface is in good condition. In summer, paint the shady side of your house first. In winter,
paint the sunny side of your house first. Follow the sun around the house so you don't
paint onto a cold, damp surface in winter or too hot a surface in the summer. Always
wipe your brush on one side of the pot. Leave your brush resting on the other side and your
handle will stay clean. Don't work too close to the surface, stay slightly back and to
the side. Jim will be showing us how to apply those techniques to actual painting jobs in
a minute. But now, while we're in school, let's spend some time with paint rollers.
Just as there's different paint brushes for different painting tasks, there's also a complete
range of rotocoder rollers and roller covers. Always select a quality roller and roller
cover. Cheap rollers can give an uneven, patchy finish. The recommended size for home painters
is rotocoder's 230 millimetre roller, which is ideal for walls and ceilings. For flat,
that is, non-gloss acrylic and other water-based paints, use the Rolana cover. For gloss or
semi-gloss paints, use the Prolon cover. For cupboards and for hard-to-get-at spots, you
use rotocoder's long arm roller with an Orlon cover. You know, there are over eight other
rotocoder covers, each designed for a particular paint type on different surfaces. There's
even this fabulous baby roller, ideal for small areas. This handy guide is available
at all rotocoder stockists. It's well worth getting one. Rotocoder also has this handy
extension pole for home painters. Jim will show you how easy it is to use on ceilings
and walls. And don't forget your paint tray. Now you can choose from this standard tray
or if you're doing a big rolling job, this hooded tray holds more paint and it makes
moving from room to room a breeze. But let's get some tradesman's tips on rolling from
Jim.
I've already painted with the brush the edges. I've sanded the door down and I've taken
the handles off, ready to paint. I'm going to give you a demonstration with this roller
how to do it. And we just roll edges down nice and straight. Fill in by moving across
in this fashion, right down to the bottom because it's a full roller and we want to
empty the roller out for finishing off. Finally, when you're finishing off, very light roll
down gives you the nice beautiful finish on the door. Now your paint's loaded, you're
ready to paint. That's the way, not too much pressure. Just keep working the roller right
down. Now move across, across the door. That's it, up over the top, get the top edge in as
you're coming. Just pick up those little bits back in the corner up there. Now roll right
down to the bottom. That's getting the idea, not too much weight. It'll fill the whole
door and if you've worked the roller correctly, that's getting the idea. Keep going, out wider.
Now quickly fill it in right across, across further, further, go right into the corner
now. Now you can turn your roller over, you'll find there's more paint. Now the paint will
flow nice and easily. See how the roller carries paint in the outside edge of it? Good, now
fill it all in, lay it off as you go. Start over on the right hand side now, over here,
and just roll straight down and level the door out, make a nice finish. Keep the roller
square, you just let them drift away again. Move your body, it makes it easier to roll.
That's good. Here are a few more tips on rolling from Jim. With rollers as well, work right
to left. Don't overfill your paint tray as paint thickens quickly. Two to three centimetres
is a good depth. Use long vertical strokes to roll paint on and avoid sliding your roller
across the surface. Roll off with an almost dry roller and when laying off with a roller,
apply less pressure to the open side of the roller. This eliminates any ridges. Let's
go through some typical tasks and find out in what order the work should be done and
how to perform it professionally. Guttas, facies and eaves are a typical job, so over
to Jim. On this home we have natural galvanised iron. Here you can see three stages. We have
the original material here, it's ready to paint, it's been up for 12 months. Along here
I've already put a first coat of primer on it and here you can see we've put a first
coat of finish colour. I start from the right hand corner and I've been working back here.
Now you'll continue to apply the material. Do the top section first over the rail of
the gutter. Then you come along the corner. You'll notice I've moved the brush in my hand
slightly. I turn it around, I come underneath the gutter using the brush in this hand in
this fashion. It doesn't matter if you get a little bit of paint on the barge board because
that's going to be painted afterwards. I lay it in, I put plenty of paint underneath there
and on this little rounded section here. This is very important because it gets a little
bit thin sometimes when you don't paint it properly. You lay it off in that length as
a first lay off coat. Make sure the paint is into the corner all the time. Then actually
lay off lengthways like that about one metre of distance with your arm and you'll notice
I moved the brush around and turned it into position to get a nice easy stroke. Then I
come back and put a little bit more paint into this corner here. We lay it off. Turn
the brush in my hand again, just lay that section off there. Then lay back once again
one metre length gives you a nice easy comfortable action for the painting. You notice I'm using
the brush square onto the surface. This is important because you're using the full amount
of the brush bristles and you're getting a full flow of paint onto the surface because
it's important down there underneath the fascia board that you get a good load of paint and
then you lay off the tip like that. Coming back here once again you're seeing me doing
a bit of cutting in with the same brush because these brushes have got a nice edge to them
and you can cut in quite well. With plenty of paint on the brush and as we said before
lots of people ask me how do you paint and how does it come out so nicely? My answer
to this is you use plenty of paint in your brush and you relax and you feel comfortable
and you use your wrist nice and freely. Don't get tied up. People tend to grip the brush
firmly. Just relax, move the brush nice and easily and let the brush just flow and the
paint just flows off the brush and it just slides along. As a matter of fact with wet
brush painting system if you find the brush is hard to push along this means there's not
enough paint in the brush. So always keep a lot of paint in your brush, move your wrist
nice and freely, get this action relaxed and let the brush just flow and let the paint flow.
You can see how easily the brush is flowing. Flexing from the ferrule it's easy to apply
the paint with the wet brush painting system and you'll notice with the collar on the brush
there is no drips and the paint covers a large area. For wide eaves use a roller with an extension
pole. When rolling under eaves you get a good load of paint in your roller and then you
start to spread it in a forward and backward motion. As you can see you just move slightly
sideways as you're applying the paint. Another outside job is the priming of new timber.
Let's see how that's done. Now it's time to prime the timber. Once again we start from
the right hand side and you'll notice when priming you have to make sure the paint is
well and truly into all the little grainy cracks because the first coat is always the most
important. You'll notice here there is rough sawn sections on this timber, just a little
amount there. To get this done properly you use the tips of the brush and you can see
how I just wiggle the tips of the bristles to get that paint right into those sawn sections.
It also gets into the grain of the timber. I've turned the brush around and I'm holding
in my hand the correct way for this sort of action. Once again you can see that I use
the body of the brush moving with it, not the broad section because this gives you more
paint flowing onto the tips of the bristles. Our last outside painting job is weather boards.
When painting weather boards always make sure you get in underneath these boards. Each separate
board needs to be attended to. Well and truly in and look out for little nail holes. Give
those a good dob before you start. Underneath again and then brush the boards out easily.
As you can see I've used the 100mm acrylic brush to do this job. I'll show you there's
another way of painting weather boards. The new long arm rotacota roller is excellent
for this job as well. Just about the right width for a weather board. Here again you
can see how easy the paint can be applied. For painting an interior room start by cutting
in cornices. Then roll the ceiling working from right to left if you're right handed.
Apply the paint with a relaxed even movement. Turn the roller over to get a neat edge and
lay off with an almost dry roller. Next walls. Cut in around the architraves. Then along
the ceiling edge and in the corners. Hand roll smaller sections and use an extension
pole for larger sections. For cutting in around cornices, doors, windows and skirting boards
use a shearline edger. The quick and easy way to get professional results. Finish your
inside work by painting skirting boards and windows. Let me show you some really good
tips about painting your kitchen cupboards. First you take the drawers out and then a
good idea is to number them. We number them inside the drawer and you number on your style
here and then you know where to put the drawers back into the cupboards. The next thing you
do is take your handles off. I've already taken the handles off these and the reason
for that is so you can paint the whole area with that one sweep. The next thing is to
put the masking on if you've got any sections that you don't want painted. Here we've got
a cupboard next to us that doesn't get painted with this particular colour. So we slide the
mask down there and now as you paint you can run up there confidently and you won't get
paint on that other cupboard. The correct order to paint your kitchen cupboards are
first the surrounds, second the drawers and third the doors themselves. We're going to
paint one door with the brush and one door with a roller. We paint the horizontal panels
first on the surrounds of the cupboards and you just lay off away from your body and as
you can see by painting the cross pieces first you put your marks on the side rail so that
when you come to paint the next section then you paint down the side. When you've got a
door next to you open it up like this so you get right around inside behind the door. You
work your paint in properly. You don't try to get any paint on the door at this stage
because you do the door separately later. You'll notice I do the side edges first all
the way around. As before I do the edges first then I start to spread the paint on the door.
Get it on as quickly as you can. Before you lay off you just spread the paint on and get
as much on as you can. Load up again. With the wet brush painting system it's easy to
load plenty of paint in the brush. You should get enough on this door with just two brush
loads to finish the door off. Over the top of the door on the edges and we're just spreading
the paint at the moment. Getting the paint right onto the door. Down the edge again.
Up underneath the door. Now we can start to level it off and smooth the paint out on the
door. One good run across. Got your paint nice and even now on the coat. Now you lay
the finish off. I'm using a long arm roller now from Rotocator. First of all you do the
edges again as we showed you before. I've already done that neat little edge there with
the brush. Open area edges you can do with the roller. As you can see it's very easy
to run the roller down the edges. Then we start to fill the area in. This is a beaut
little roller to use. Very comfortable. Long arm. You can keep it real away from your work
and see how you're going. And we want to get a nice thin coat on this so that it lays down
very nicely. As you can see here I'm not putting a lot of paint on. Fill the panel in just
a few seconds. Your whole door is filled in. This is a good way to paint covered doors.
Quick and easy. Just look at your work as you're doing and make sure there's no little
misses or anything like that. We're nicely covered in. Nicely laid in. Last one across
the top. Then we lay down. For doors start painting from the top and work down. Distribute
the paint as Jim has demonstrated with light dabs. Then fill in between. As you work down
the door lay off back up into your wet paint with smooth light strokes. I'm using a 100
millimetre acrylic colour on this job. You can see how easily the brush flexes. It's
giving a quick and even coverage. You'll notice as we're filling in the door that I always
lay off back from the dry part of the door up into the wet part of the door after I've
smoothed the paint out, levelled it out, lay off up out of the dry into the wet to finish
the panel off. Jim is able to paint this door with a single load of paint in just over two
minutes. Whilst you're getting used to the system keep dipping your brush right up to
the collar. Don't spread paint too far before you lay off. You will find the wet brush system
will improve your performance enormously. The brush Jim is demonstrating here is the
acrylic coater with a little more bristle bulk. It's already painted three school buildings
and two weatherboard houses and it's just worn in. This is the equivalent of a lifetime
of painting for most home painters so it may make sense for you to invest in a better quality
brush if you have a lot of painting to do. When painting a sliding window adjust the
window so that you can paint the bottom half of the outside window first. This part of
the window is frequently overlooked. Jim is using Rotocota's 63mm acrylic cutter with
the new handle designed for easy cutting in. See how Jim works the paint to the tip of
the brush by pointing the brush down and making an upward painting stroke. After you've completed
painting leave the window dry in an open position. Don't close up until the paint is dry. You
can also use your Rotocota acrylic brush for enamel paints but first remove the elastosol
collar. Enamel paints give an extra hard, extra smooth finish and are ideal for kitchen,
laundry and bathroom cupboards. After sanding down the surface dust thoroughly. Wipe down
with a rag slightly dampened with mineral turps. Paint the edges of the door first then
the flat surface of the door. Always apply enamel paint so that it flows freely from
the brush. On flat areas spread the paint in all directions in a criss cross pattern.
This ensures an even spread of paint. Keep the brush well loaded and don't let the enamel
paint become too thick. Finish by laying off from the bottom of the door to the top gently
using the tip of a semi dry brush. This technique prevents paint runs. Remember to clean your
brush by washing out in turps then in warm soapy water and replace the elastosol collar
on the brush ready for the next job with acrylic paint. Here are some tips on storing your
brush and cleaning and storing your roller covers. After cleaning wrap brushes in clean
newspaper. This keeps the bristles straight. You can even store a brush with damp bristles.
Keep your elastosol collar with the wrapped brush so you don't lose it. Here are two ways
to clean paint rollers. First the rotocoder wire roller cleaner. Work over your paint
tray and run the cleaner down the roller to remove excess paint. The quick way is with
a rotors spin. Spin the roller in a bucket of water. Spin dry in an empty bucket. Wash
the roller in soapy water and spin again. The roller is now dry. The cleaner is now
dry. And there you have a beautifully clean roller in no time at all. Store the cover
on its end with the cap on top. When completely dry store the cover in its original wrapper
but don't store it until completely dry. The final section of this program deals with something
that starts before you soak your brush, before you mix your paint, preparing the surface
to be painted. Before painting make sure you've carried out all general repairs. Remove rusty
nails. Refix any loose timber or fibro. Spot prime any holes or splits in outside timber.
Then putty and undercoat before applying your final coat of paint. With gutters clean out
leaves and dirt. If the inside of the gutter is rusty the water is not running to the down
pipe so make sure you fix it before painting. Seal any leaks with Dowel Corning roof and
gutter silicone sealant. Any surface outside or inside that has become mouldy or affected
by mildew must be scrubbed down with a good quality mildew remover. For cracks in walls,
ceilings, around architraves or skirting boards use Dowel Corning's Paintable Plus silicone
sealant. Surface preparation is a job that's made easier with the right tools. The most
important tool is the Rotocoder Stainless Steel Scraper. For removing old varnish or
paint or smoothing broad surfaces use the Rotocoder Stainless Steel Scraper or the Rotocoder
Heavy Duty Scraper. The Rotocoder sanding block is a flexible block for smoothing any
rough edges. It fits into corners and is ideal for preparation of curved edges. So here's
a shopping list. Make a note of any of these items you need. Brushes and rollers, paint,
drop sheets, scrapers, heavy duty scraper, shearline edger, roller cleaner, carpet guard,
Rotocoters 60mm or 80mm baby roller, long handled roller and masking tape. If you need
any help choosing your painting equipment just ask the staff at your nearest Rotocoder
stockers. Try the Wet Brush painting system. The painting will be easier and the clean
up, well what clean up? Before we go here are a few more tradesman tips from Jim. Always
use a premium paint. It will last longer and look better. Sit down and plan your painting
program and set a realistic timetable. Make sure you have the right tools. When working
in a room with a window start working near the window and work back into the room. You'll
be able to lay off and check your work easily. Use the most comfortable grip with your acrylic
brush. The standard position for most flat surfaces. Half turned for cutting in vertical
edges. The reverse grip for applying paint on hidden edges like the underside of these
weather boards. And upside down for eaves and gutters. And always use Rotocoters premium
brushes and rollers. The start to a superior finish. Rotocoters premium brushes and rollers,
proudly made in Australia, are available from the store where you borrowed this video.
Thank you.