# smooth finish on crown moulding, how?



## 415moto (Jun 6, 2006)

When i do trim work, I do not always paint it. 
On some of my jobs and others ive seen the trim painted so smooth. When I paint my trim, you can always see brush marks, no matter what. It is not even and smooth.

There are times, when painters do the finish paint and im not around, and it is so smooth and perfect. Ive seen this quality on other high end homes as well. Its all smooth, all even, it almost looks like it was sprayed. My question is, is it sprayed? What is the process like to spray all the trim, ie windows, crown, base, casings, etc?


----------



## KellyPainting (May 30, 2006)

*Sprayed to perfection*

Most new homes have the trim work sprayed or even rolled with a zip roller
I do a coat before it's up then a final after. I was checking out a website recently for a paint co. that does alot of high end homes and he discusses his trim work, I was facinated.. never heard of this much detailed work before.

He uses a H.V.L.P (high volume low pressure) sprayer in new houses and 
in residential repaints. it has so little overspray that he can do windows, baseboards and molding with just a fan to keep the edges clean. but here's the detailed work... He sprayes up to 5 coats Ben Moore ( sanding inbetween each one) and the Buffs the trim ( with what , I don't know)for consistancy and shine when he's done! And I thought I was anal! would love to see that process.


----------



## Mike Finley (Apr 28, 2004)

I'm not a painter, but I'm going to be really suprised to hear a lot of painters here agree that they spray their trim. I won't be suprised to hear a lot of painters here agree on the brand and type of paint to use for trim for the results you want.


----------



## jensenconstruction (Mar 30, 2006)

We spray almost all our new construction trim.This is our process for higher end homes, on production work we still spray but is more blow-n-go

Start with the prep fill nail holes, sand- don't forget to wipe down the sanding dust, caulk, mask- we use 12" paper for everything, also we set the tape so that we actualy spray 1/16" or so onto the adjoining wallthen prime, sand again,then spray 2-3 finish coats sanding between coats. pull tape and paper.

btw we do this before final coat on the walls, after pulling tape and paper we come back and finish the walls.


----------



## Exroadog (Feb 11, 2005)

We do mostly re-paint with a little new. Primarily its the best brush money can buy and if oil we use BM Satin Impervo and water base CA Paints. They both give a glass finish!


----------



## NPI (Sep 25, 2005)

With our high end homes we fill all nail holes and caulk. Then sand with 150. Prime Sand again. Then spackle Joints, Sand again. Then use bondo on joints and dings,sand again. Spray finsh, sand again with 400 grit. Then apply final finish. Looks like glass. I love it at the end. But lots of work.


----------



## AAPaint (Apr 18, 2005)

I think 5 finish coats is a little bit of overkill, honestly. We would fill, caulk, sand, prime, sand, finish, sand, finish. For the smoothest look we rely on SW Pro Classic waterborne on trim. Brush, spray, or roll it comes out smooth as glass.


----------



## 415moto (Jun 6, 2006)

thanks for the responses guys. so it does sound like the high end guys do spray. When you do spray the trim, there is going to be some overyspray onto walls even tho you masked off to do trim correct? 

And after you spray the trim. do you guys mask off all the trim (doors, windows, closest,etc entirely) to paint the walls? Im just trying to get my mind around the process. It sounds like a TON of masking work, am I correct? 

I usually see guys brush by hand and cut in when im on site. Were never around when they spray entire houses so I dont see the process for the smooth paint. But i mean, the finish is awesome and perfect so I imagine it has to be sprayed on.

When its brushed on, I still see dimple from nail holes and such. It seems like the spray ons are doing 2-3 coats on average? so this must cover up most of the dimples correct?


----------



## KellyPainting (May 30, 2006)

*Shrinkage!!!!!!!*

Dimples from holes are poor hole filling ( shrinking of filler ) useing caulking for instance like the Crap/Quality workmanship thats going into soooo many of the new homes being built. Yes we do mask whats needed but
When we overspray onto walls ( witch is as minimul as possible )
we just fan it out so that it's so gradual of a seam that it's unoticable.
otherwise we have to sand ( and we hate doing that ).

Everyone has a phrase? 
Undercutting your prices is a self inflickting wound.


----------



## 415moto (Jun 6, 2006)

so that means that you guys do mask off all the trim, including windows, baseboard, casings, door jambs,etc after theyve already been sprayed to do the walls?


----------



## DeanV (Feb 20, 2006)

*new construction*

Standard procedure for most new construction guys is to mask windows, window tracts, things that will not be painted ever before spraying the trim. The drywall does not get masked. After the trim is done, there are different ways of doing it. Guys (or gals) who prefer a freehand cut line do not tape the edges of trim and might tape or mask the baseboard though to avoid roller spatter. The rest of the trim though, depends on the painter. I tape/mask the base to keep spatter off and other areas that will pick up roller spatter but do not tape edges of door casings or window trim as I prefer to freehand cut in. If you are using a very low spatter paint, you might not need to even mask the baseboard, but I find that the high quality wallpaints tend to spatter a little more and also stick a lot better to the trim, so if you are counting on cleaning up with a damp rag, it might not work.


----------



## lpp (Apr 11, 2006)

We do mostly residential repaints and some remodels and we typically don't spray our trim all that often. That being said, I would refuse to brush any trim without using a paint conditioner. For oil base paints we use penetrol and for latex based we use floetrol. The penetrol is kinda high but it makes a world of difference. We have had several people swear our finish job was sprayed when it was really brushed. You might give that a shot.


----------



## 415moto (Jun 6, 2006)

DeanV said:


> Standard procedure for most new construction guys is to mask windows, window tracts, things that will not be painted ever before spraying the trim. The drywall does not get masked. After the trim is done, there are different ways of doing it. Guys (or gals) who prefer a freehand cut line do not tape the edges of trim and might tape or mask the baseboard though to avoid roller spatter. The rest of the trim though, depends on the painter. I tape/mask the base to keep spatter off and other areas that will pick up roller spatter but do not tape edges of door casings or window trim as I prefer to freehand cut in. If you are using a very low spatter paint, you might not need to even mask the baseboard, but I find that the high quality wallpaints tend to spatter a little more and also stick a lot better to the trim, so if you are counting on cleaning up with a damp rag, it might not work.


but you guys do spray the trim? what do you do about over spray onto walls if you spray trim?


----------



## 415moto (Jun 6, 2006)

lpp said:


> We do mostly residential repaints and some remodels and we typically don't spray our trim all that often. That being said, I would refuse to brush any trim without using a paint conditioner. For oil base paints we use penetrol and for latex based we use floetrol. The penetrol is kinda high but it makes a world of difference. We have had several people swear our finish job was sprayed when it was really brushed. You might give that a shot.



what does the paint conditioner do? does it matter what kind of paint you use over the conditioner?


----------



## DeanV (Feb 20, 2006)

*more answers*

Yes, in new construction I spray the trim, I think everyone does in new construction. For repaints, I brush the trim. The paint that gets on the wall is not a problem, there might be an occasional run that needs to be sanded out, but for the most part the regular sanding you do when you sand the drywall between the prime coat and first coat of wall paint is sufficient. I do not spray the walls.

Paint conditioners are mixed in with the paint. They do work well, but I have not yet seen a brushed job that is as smooth as a sprayed on job. I know some people will say otherwise, but spraying will give the absolute best finish.


----------



## lpp (Apr 11, 2006)

The conditioner is added to the paint. We always use a little more than what is recommended, but the finished product is very smooth so it's worth it in my opinion.


----------



## KellyPainting (May 30, 2006)

*Paint conditioner*

Paint Conditioner also slows or speeds up the drying time of the paint.


----------

