"Harlan Messinger" wrote in message
...
Last weekend, I masked the edges of my bedroom walls with green
painter's tape, painted the ceiling, and took down the tape after the
paint was dry. So far so good. Yesterday I masked the edges of the
ceiling and painted the walls a different color from the ceiling.

This morning I took down the tape. As expected, there are places where
the second taping went slightly beyond the edges of the ceiling paint,
so I have some gaps to fill in. What's the best way to do that?

Also, along just one wall, the tape brought a couple of narrow strips of
ceiling paint down along with it. How can I best fill those channels? I
guess in both cases an important concern is filling the gaps to the same
depth as the finished surfaces. Or higher--I guess sanding afterwards is
an option.

Any tips for the future on preventing these problems? I'm going to be
tackling the trim next so I'm wondering how I can avoid these glitches.


First, you must learn to cut in ceilings by hand. Don't use tape. With a
little practice, you'll be doing fine. After a few weeks, you'll stop
noticing your minor screw-ups. Major screw-ups should be addressed,
obviously.

Second, there are some ceiling lines out there that defy a straight line.
You'll only see this if you stand back and look at it; it won't necessarily
be obvious as you're painting. The way to tackle this problem is to
purposely run the wall paint a bit high on the ceiling. Then, *tape the
wall*. Run as straight of a line as possible with the tape at the top of
the wall, as close to the ceiling as you can without jeopardizing your line.
Then, since ceiling paint is flat, you can repaint the border of the
ceiling. The result will be a perfect straight line. It's a little bit
more work, but some customers are worth it.

If you have a situation where you pull tape and the tape in turn pulls
paint, you'll need to sand the area lightly (no heavy sanding on fresh
paint - you'll get gum) and knife in some spackle. You know what to do from
there.

I think it best to paint the trim before the walls, as that is the best way
to get straight lines where the wall meets the trim.