Tape baseboards before painting walls

In the previous post I talked about painting all stained trims and doors. Today I am ready to show how to tape baseboards and door trims before painting the walls and how to remove

the tape after walls are done.

Step1 After floor and furniture is covered, start taping baseboards. I like to put tape on the top of the baseboard by keeping distance from the wall of about 1/8" or less. If you "step" on the wall you are going to have a wavy line on the wall when it is painted. Push the tape along with 5 in one scraper to have better contact with the surface. You can leave this easy tape along the wall painting process for several hours. Baseboard paint is not very durable yet (they were painted just yesterday). The highest durability sets in about 2 weeks. You can test if the paint holds well by sticking a peace of tape on the top of the baseboard and removing it right away. Just check if you have some trim paint on the tape. If not you are safe to go.

Step 2 If the wall surface is prepared you can start to paint the walls. Usually I tape the door trim just before painting with the brush around the door trim, because the trim paint is still fresh (painted yesterday)  and the trim side is much thicker than the top of the baseboard. Sometimes when removing the tape the paint rips from the trim if you leave the tape for several hours, so its better to just tape the door trim, keep distance from the wall 1/8' or less

Step 3 Paint along the door trim and remove the tape right away

Step 3  And when you paint the second coat, paint by hand and keep the brush away from the line by 1/8" or less distance, so the straight line stays untouched.  

Step 4 When the walls are finished with 2 coats you can remove the tape from the baseboards. Take the tape off gently, because sometimes egg-shell finish paint gets ripped from the wall by the tape. If this happens, use a utility knife with the new blade and gently cut the paint on the top of the baseboard along the tape by the wall and then remove the tape.

Painting is finished, clients and kids are happy with the new bedroom colors- I am happy too☺!

Feel  free to leave comments or questions below this post. Thanks and see you in the next project!