How many times can you paint a wall? The standard number of coats of paint in most cases, for interior walls is 2 coats.. There are times when it varies, depending if you're painting new plaster, strong colors or previously painted surfaces. If they've been painted before, the condition can also make a difference.
How many coats of paint is too much?
To be honest there really isn't a limit as to how many coats of paint you can apply to a wall, as long as the wall surface is solid, sound without any defects such as flaking paint, cracks or loose wallpaper you may be painting over.
The only time you can be applying too many coats of paint to your walls is when there is obviously an unstable build-up of paint on the surface. If this happens, when dry, make sure you scrape any loose paint or areas that have bubbled or become loose and flaky (including around the wall edges).
Then thoroughly sand down these areas paying particular attention to the edges where you may have scraped away loose paint, because these can show through new paint as different levels. If this is the case, then use a filler to smooth out the edges, attempting to 'feather' the different depth or level of paint layers.
If you've scraped back to bare wall you should either thin down the first coat of paint to paint over the bare areas or seal the bare parts with a water based bonding, sealer solution.
How many layers of paint should you use on a wall
The standard amount of layers of paint is usually 2 coats in most cases
Occasionally you may find that 2 coats of paint do not cover evenly or fully. 2 reasons this can happen:-
- Painting using strong (pigmented) primary colors
- Large difference in change of color scheme, eg: light from dark paint colors
When painting using strong primary colors, normally red, yellows, or blue's you'll find that a 3rd coat of paint is needed to give that solid even coverage that you're looking for. (For a tip using strong colors, make sure you read the next section)
When you have a large change of color, you can often notice uneven coverage, which shows up as lighter and darker areas on the same wall. If so, you may have to apply a 3rd coat of paint to the walls. This is especially noticeable changing to a lighter color from a darker one or vice versa.
When Should I Paint One Wall at a Time?
When painting most rooms, we paint around all the edges first, where the walls meet the ceiling, door frames, baseboards & trim, including obstacles like light switches.
This is known as 'cutting in'.
Once all the cutting in is done using a paintbrush, this leaves the larger areas to finish with a paint roller and is the fastest way to complete the walls for most of us.
However with some colors, normally the strong primary colors, we can get what is known as 'banding' around the edges where the cutting in dries a different shade to the rolled areas.
In these cases it is important to only complete one wall at a time. So cut in just the one wall, around the trim and use the roller to complete that wall fully, before moving onto the next wall.
This will prevent the cutting in areas drying too quickly and strong colors - showing as banding.
Can I Just Paint Over Old Paint?
Yes, however for the best finish, as a minimum, always rub down the walls with sandpaper prior to re-painting. This doesn't have to be a heavy rub down unless the walls are in poor condition.
For normal re-painting previously painted walls, just a light rub down with sandpaper will remove small nibs from the last coat of paint. As long as the surface is solid and any holes and cracks have been filled in, then you are good to go.
Go ahead and apply your new paint to your prepared walls.
Why Do My Walls Look Patchy?
This could be because:
- the change in color requires another coat of paint
- it's a strong primary color requiring a 3rd coat
- paint one wall at a time to prevent cutting in / edges drying too fast
- there were bare areas on the walls that needed an additional coat of paint
Should I Use a Roller, Paintbrush or Spray my Walls
When is it best to use a paintbrush, or paint roller or spray equipment to paint the walls?
For most average sized rooms in a house, most of us will use a paintbrush to cut in the edges and a roller to fill in the main open parts of the walls.
However when it comes to small rooms or cupboard space or even bathrooms that maybe mainly tiled, then it would make sense to simply use a paintbrush to do all of the painting. Although you may want to use a 3" or 4" to brush the main part of the walls whilst using between a 1" - 2" brush to cut in the edges.
When it comes to using spray equipment, firstly you need to know what you're doing and be used to paint spraying. There is a lot more preparation before spray painting by way of having to mask everything up including all edges, door frames, baseboards, trim, windows and making sure floors are thoroughly covered and protected.
Only once this is completes can you go ahead and prime your spray equipment and make a start.
Once all the preparation is done, spraying is fast work, so it's best to use this when you either have a lot of wall space to paint in a very large room or you have multiple rooms to paint.
This is when spraying makes sense and would be a fast job, otherwise I would always stick to using a brush and roller to paint most wall areas.
