Six Ways That Masking is Essential to Painting Projects

Whether you’re painting the inside or outside of your home, masking is an indispensable step. It’s hard to keep paint from ending up in unexpected places; this is why you should protect things you don’t want spattered with it. Indoor and outdoor masking are quite similar, except that spraying paint on a house’s exterior necessitates a few additional procedures.

Making helps improve a project in several concrete ways:

1) It keeps your work from appearing amateurish. Using tape, you can get trim and wall paint, for example, to meet each other along a perfectly straight line, without any overlap.

2) Tidying up after a paint job is easier when you’ve masked. Paint on masking sheets or tape is simple to dispose of. On furniture or carpet, it’s another matter. Windows covered in plastic and secured with tape won’t end up mottled with paint spots that you’ll need a razor blade to remove. (A blade can also take the insulation coating off some windows — another reason to mask.)

3) Trying your best to avoid getting the paint from one surface onto another (wall and trim, for instance) is no substitute for masking. If you’ve taped off the trim, you can ensure that the wall is completely painted without worrying about the border between them. Removing wall paint from trim that isn’t masked can be very challenging; such efforts often make the problem worse.

4) A project that involves masking tends to take less time. Well-affixed tape prevents paint from going where it doesn’t belong, which allows you to apply it more confidently and quickly.

5) Unless you’re into painted doorknobs and hinges — yes, in some cases, it actually works — you’ll want to mask them. This easy step certainly beats removing the door while you paint. Masking tape and plastic bags should suffice; no need to bring in sheeting.

6) Drop cloths should also be part of your strategy; they’re great at protecting floors. Where carpet meets the wall (or a different kind of flooring), use masking tape that’s 2 inches wide to protect it.