Stripes are very versatile. You can vary your striping for variety. Vary the widths, use stripes of two (or three) different widths, do big stripes, you can pin stripe, use bold colors or quiet almost mono tone colors for a formal look. You can stripe with varnish to achieve a shimmer stripe (see above photo). You don't need to do solid stripes at all, you can "rag" your stripes or do some other faux technique on the stripes. You can do one solid and one faux (broken color) also. The variety is endless - just be creative.
Primary Tools Needed:
- Level (preferably a laser level but any level will do)
- Blue Tape (3M #2080)
- Short nap roller
- Roller tray
- Roller and Brush
Tools & Materials:
Click on image to Enlarge
Painter's Tool Box
Base Coat:
Click here to see Universal Surface Preparation Rules:
Priming
After the patching is done sand and vacuum then prime with an oil primer, I use Coverstain for this. You won't get away with just spot priming because it will "flash" through on the finish paint, so plan on spot priming, then priming the whole wall(s) after proper dry time. Finally be sure you use the right tape (3M #2080), when it comes time to pull the tape off, do so gently. I have never had a problem using this procedure with the right tape.
Base Coat
This finish can be done in either latex or oil paint, whichever you prefer. Unlike other finishes, with striping, the base coat winds up being one of the stripes and needs to be a finish paint, not a primer.
If you want a bit of shimmer to your stripe, use a flat base coat (for stripe #1) and a satin sheen paint (for stripe #2). Or use a latex satin or semi clear coat for a subtle shimmer.
Wall preparation
Since you will be taping off half of the wall, you will need to do good patching underneath. I use Easy Sand 45 or 90 and allow proper drying between coats. I finish off with Plus 3, or I will use spackle only (Fast -n- Final). The reason I bring this up is you don't want to pull your patching apart when you remove the tape at the end of the striping job.
Technique:
Masking off the Wall
The Tape
Using the correct tape for striping is critical. You can't use a tape that will damage the wall (pull apart any patching compound on your repairs), or tape that will bleed.
My Favorite Striping Tape
I like to use the 3M #2080 Safe-Release blue tape. This tape is expensive but it gets the job done. The smoothness of the tape (compared to the "other" 3M blue tape which is rough crepe paper tape) prevents paint from bleeding under the tape. It is "easy release" preventing damage to the drywall underneath and to prevent "tape pull off" of the fresh base coat.
The Spacer
You really don't want to mark the walls with a pencil - it takes too long and the lines may need to vary slightly in spacing as you engineer the wall near window casings and inside / outside corners, so you really don't want to just mark off the whole wall and start striping.
I use a spacer made from cardboard and cut it to the desired thickness of my striping. If you are doing two or three striping widths then you will need to use two or three different spacers.
The Laser Level
I don't use a regular level for the same reasons I don't mark the wall - but if you don't have a laser level, you will have to use a conventional level to "plumb" the tape for your lines..
The laser level is the perfect tool for aligning your striping. You don't need to mark the wall with the laser level, and it is easy to readjust as you near a inside corner or a window and if you need to slightly "tilt" your plumb line so your taped stripe "looks" plumb compared to the window or inside corner.
The Starting Point
Start at your end point just as you would if you were hanging wallpaper. Where you start is where you will end after you circle around the room. Make the start point in a inconspicuous area such as above an entry door way into the room. Plan your start point so that if you get a mismatch at the end of the job, it will not be so noticeable. You should try to "engineer" the room to avoid such a mismatch, but it could happen and you need to plan for it.
Once a good starting point is established, begin masking. To make it easy, keep in mind tape widths for your striping. Use 2" masking tape for 2" (or 4") striping. Use 2" and 1" with 3' stripes etc.... Place your laser line on the wall (or pencil line if using a regular level - keep it light -it doesn't have to go from top to bottom - just a dash every few feet will do) and use it as your guide for your tape. Tape your first strip using one continuous strip of masking tape. Once the first strip is on, use your spacer and to locate placement of your next strip and apply that strip - and so on. Continue down the wall alternating tape - space - tape - space etc...
** Tip: If your stripe is 2" you can also use a 2" wide piece of cardboard
as a spacer to measure the spacing of your stripes**
Turn the Corner !!!!!
Use the "work through the corner sequencing", make the turn and do a strip or two on the adjacent wall before stopping to paint your stripes on the wall you just taped off. If you don't turn the corner, when you pull off your tape (after painting your stripes), then begin masking off the new wall - you will sooner or later reverse the striping sequence as you begin taping the new wall. Avoid a lot of wasted time un-taping your wrongly taped lines. Turn the corner and leave at least one strip of tape down on the new wall to "mark" the proper tape sequence to begin the new wall.
Once you have one wall taped and all lines are plumb, you want to "burnish" down the tape on the edge to prevent paint from bleeding under it.
Lastly tape off the ceiling and the baseboard (and any casings etc... on the wall). Now you are ready to paint.
Painting Your Stripes
Use the highest hiding (usually the most expensive) paint for your stripes. You should apply the stripes with a foam roller and high hiding paint to keep the paint film build of the stripe as thin as possible. Doing so will hopefully ( I didn't say "absolutely for sure" but "hopefully" ) avoid a noticeable paint ridge on your striping. You really don't want to have ridge marks all over the wall when you go to repaint next time, so 1) use high hiding paint 2) keep it thin - use a foam roller 3) only one coat - don't build up the paint film with a second coat and hopefully the stripe edges won't be built up and noticeable upon the next repaint.
Pull the tape off as you go. Paint a few stripes then pull the tape, then paint a few more, and pull the tape off and so on.
** Tip: If you use glaze / paint to do your stripes you will further minimize
any ridging because the film will (should) be thin and transparent **
Real Life Application Tips:
Engineering your walls to avoid stripe fragments at casings, inside corners etc...
As you approach a casing, inside or outside corner etc.... long enough before approaching the casing etc.. begin to gradually and slightly shrink or expand your stripes to avoid tiny fragments of stripes. If you continually look and plan ahead you can make the whole room work without any noticeable fragments or wide stripes by slightly expanding or shrinking the stripes going into each "obstacle".
Engineering to avoid a mismatch at the end point.
On the last wall, tape it out to about the half way point then measure to see if you are going to get a stripe mismatch at the end. If so, you'll need to shrink, or expand your stripe width so that you will get a match at the end.
Taping off the room for stripes
Reasonable expectations
With striping you can get some ridging at the tape edge especially if you put on a heavy coat of paint or apply multiple coats for your stripes. When it comes time to repaint down the road, you will probably need to do some sanding or skim coating with spackle to smooth out any paint ridge lines so that they don’t show through the next coat of paint. Like wallpaper removal, some faux finishes may require some extra surface preparation when it comes time to recoat. See Painting over Faux Stripes for more information on repainting over stripes.
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