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Touch up paint questions...

3K views 21 replies 9 participants last post by  Dropgems 
#1 ·
bought a place recently and the walls were repainted with Behr eggshell white primer and paint in one. I recently went to touch up some spots and the texture isn't matching. I have a few questions:

1. should I be using the paint and primer in one to touch up or just the regular paint no primer?

2. Should I sand the area that I'm touching up?

Also, I'm using a foam roller but I think I need to use a napp roller to get the texture right. I'm hoping the roller switch does it as I really don't feel like painting the entire wall. Any suggestions or tips here? Thx guys!
 
#2 ·
You pretty much answered your own questions. Ditch the foam roller. No one I know uses one to paint walls. Buy a quality 1/2" nap roller cover from Wooster or Purdy. If the touch up areas are small, just buy a Whizz 4" mini-roller and make the touch-ups as small as possible. I don't care what kind of paint you use, what you use to apply it, etc. touch-ups will NEVER match what's on the walls perfectly. You will either have to live with those slight imperfections or paint the whole wall.
 
#8 ·
By feathering out the paint carefully, you can get it to often disappear because the transition from your paint patch to the rest of the wall is so fuzzy. Do not leave edges.
Roll outward from the center of the touch up area, letting the roller go dry as you go. This prevents a "hard" line around the edge of the touch up. It also helps to lessen the pressure on the roller and slightly lift the roller as you go outward from the center. Do this radially around the patch to prevent a defined straight line. Also, thin the paint a little bit.

Eggshell and higher sheens can present problems because sometimes the difference you are seeing is actually a difference in sheen between the old paint on the wall and the new paint. This should minimalize as the new paint cures. Let it go for 3-4 weeks and check and I bet it will look a lot closer. Always try to use paint out of the original can for touch up, otherwise, unfortunately, it is always a crap shoot.
 
#10 ·
I've found that if paint is more than two years or so old, you're not going to get the new paint to match the old paint. I believe that's because airborne dirt collects on the paint, making it gradually darker with age.

And, I've found that no matter how much you "feather edge" your paint out, you're still going to see the difference between the new paint and old paint. Human eye sight is exquisitely sensitive to colour, and there are Japanese pearl sorters that can distinguish over 60 different colours of "white" pearls. The most expensive pearl necklaces not only have perfectly round unblemished pearls, but the pearls will all be of the same colour (to within the abilities of the human eye to distinguish).

I find that the only way to touch up paint is to paint the wall to the nearest corner. You can have a significant difference in colour across a corner because the brain attributes any difference in apparent colour across a corner to the different lighting and viewing angles, and so it doesn't "notice" small differences in wall colour across a corner the way it does on a flat wall.
 
#11 ·
And, I've found that no matter how much you "feather edge" your paint out, you're still going to see the difference between the new paint and old paint. Human eye sight is exquisitely sensitive to colour...
Yeah, the eye is sensitive to any color or sheen difference as well - reflected light in general. So a lot of this depends on the light in the room and the angles. You can get away with more if there is not a lot of light, or you're looking at it straight on. If there is a lot of light coming in from accent lights or from outside, and you're looking down the wall sideways, the tiniest imperfections are going to look massive.

I find that the only way to touch up paint is to paint the wall to the nearest corner. You can have a significant difference in colour across a corner because the brain attributes any difference in apparent colour across a corner to the different lighting and viewing angles, and so it doesn't "notice" small differences in wall colour across a corner the way it does on a flat wall.
The difference is actually pretty amazing. You can always paint one entire wall from corner to corner, even with a slightly different color paint, and you'd never notice the difference. Whenever I do a wall patch, I tell them the proper way to do it is to pay to have the whole wall painted. If you want to save money I can try to feather it in, but all bets are off and no guarantee of any kind.
 
#12 ·
I think maybe a little enlightenment on the term "touch up" is in order here. When a painter paints a room (or anything else) he may or may not have areas he missed or maybe a textural difference of some sort. Maybe a drip or a brush mark, whatever. When he goes back with the original paint and fixes these defects, that is the origin of the term touch up. This should be done within a reasonable length of time, hopefully within a few days, maybe a couple of weeks at most. Anything done after that, and increasingly so after a couple of months is and should be considered a re-paint, and that means corner to corner at the very least.

This misuse of the term "touch up" is the result of some paint companies' unscrupulous and unregulated marketing, implying that you can go back and do small areas well after the original painting is done because their paint is somehow "better" then a paint companies product that says you shouldn't do it. Any attempt to do a small area after a couple of weeks, even using paint out of the original can, is not very likely. But, It is sometimes worth the attempt to try, and you certainly aren't going to hurt anything but possibly your wallet.
 
#13 ·
Hey so I finally got around to trying this and it's not working out and I don't understand why. The texture in spots is off so I'm wondering what i'm doing wrong. Here's some pics of the fabric roller I'm using, the original painted wall and my repaint with different texture.
 

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#19 ·
Really? I didn't even know that existed. The whole time I'm like, what am I doing wrong because the paint matches but the texture is so different (possibly because I sanded some of the wall when I spackled?). I will try the orange peel spray. I have no other choice. Even if I painted over the entire wall, the texture is gonna be all screwed up looking.
 
#20 ·
If you are looking for a right solution, you need to say good-bye to the foam roller first. And as far sanding is considered, I don’t think you need to go for it. Still, if you want you can consult a professional directly. To get the texture right, you can try to find the similar paint and primer if possible. First you need to when your walls were painted last. As in most of the cases, getting the same paint after two years becomes a daunting task.
 
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