[purdyamos]

I am about to (finally!) get cracking with the main body of painting in my home. I'm an old hand at decorating generally, but I thought I'd check first on one of those annoying details. Namely, what's the best approach to take with masking tape?

It's aggravating enough when you leave the tape down too long and it pulls off some of the paint when you remove it. How long can you realistically leave it in place? The problem is I have to put down a couple of coats of base white (emulsion on the walls) to blank out bright colour before a couple of coats of the new colour. Then there's undercoating the woodwork then a couple of coats of gloss, of course.

I've just looked up advice on a site and it says you must remove masking tape when it's wet and remask for every coat. That seems a palaver too far for 4 coats in total plus the glossing. Is that what the professionals do? Or do you think it's worth leaving it all in place until I've finished then touching up the damage when I've removed all the tape?

I don't currently have the energy to get it all done in a day, I have to do it step by step over a few days, and remasking half a dozen times is going to drive me mad.

Is there a happy compromise? Or any tips to avoid the new paint flaking off with the tape?

[Strix]

the professionals just have a steady hand Purdy

use a larger brush than you think you need (probably a 3") and work a swift stroke for an even line. slower strokes produce more wobbles, as does running out of paint on a smaller brush

[Cyclone]

Don't mask it off just to do the base coats of white that'll help.

You can also get various flavours of low tack masking tape which can be left on for longer. Some of them are so low tack that I never got them to stay in place at all so check a little bit before you buy it.

[purdyamos]

Thanks for your replies, and hi Strix, good to see you pop up again!

I'm all for just slapping the base coat all about, but it's the kitchen which is chock full of switches and sockets and worktops and tiles and cupboards and tiles to work around, which is why I was so annoyed at being instructed to mask round everything over and over again!

I shall not bother masking off the white things for the white coat. My tape is pretty low tack stuff. As a trained artist I should really have no fear about doing a good controlled line, but the paintbrushes aren't quite what I'm used to. It'll feel a bit like trying to do calligraphy with a marker pen or origami with boxing gloves on.

[angel_b]

Originally Posted by Cyclone

You can also get various flavours of low tack masking tape which can be left on for longer. Some of them are so low tack that I never got them to stay in place at all so check a little bit before you buy it.

I've had great results with one from B&Q's own brand that is either hot pink or flourescent yellow. Sticks well enough to do the job but peeled off smoothly without taking any paint off and that was after I left it for a couple of days.

[purdyamos]

Originally Posted by angel_b

I've had great results with one from B&Q's own brand that is either hot pink or flourescent yellow. Sticks well enough to do the job but peeled off smoothly without taking any paint off and that was after I left it for a couple of days.

As luck would have it I'm catching the 53 tomorrow that stops right outside B&Q, I think I'll treat myself to some nu-rave tape. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Cyclone]

Originally Posted by angel_b

I've had great results with one from B&Q's own brand that is either hot pink or flourescent yellow. Sticks well enough to do the job but peeled off smoothly without taking any paint off and that was after I left it for a couple of days.

I can't get the yellow stuff to stick at all, but maybe it's because my walls aren't really flat to start with.

[Strix]

Originally Posted by purdyamos

Thanks for your replies, and hi Strix, good to see you pop up again!

long time no see!

good luck with the painting - I'm sure you'll be fine

and as somebody mentioned above, if you do all the undercoating and first emulsion coats in white, you will only need to mask once anyway

be careful to let the emulsion really dry out properly first too - else that could peel when you remove the masking tape from your glossing