type of adesive tape to use to prevent paint overlap

DamoKen

Hi, I'm currently in the process of repainting the interior in my house. There are 4 different areas I have to consider. These are the skirting boards, the walls, the wooden border adjoining the walls to ceilings, and the ceilings themselves. As I'll be using different paint types, and different shades for each I was wondering the best way to prevent paint overlap. The obvious route I know would be to apply adesive tape to say the bottom of the walls when doing the skirting and vice versa. What I'd be worried about though is when taking the tape off newly applied paint it was supposed to protect being removed with it. Does anyone know of any tape designed to prevent this or paint types to avoid, tips etc?

Thanks in advance

Damo

karltimber

I think you may be refering to masking tape.

It's a paper type tape that will not pull off paint -- but don't leave it there for weeks !!!

get a wide roll about 1 1/2" -its very cheap.
try it out on a corner piece if needed - to test it.

karl.

Occidental

Decent quality masking tape will do you fine but you'll need to make sure the coat underneath is fully dry before applying. Best solution would be to have a piece of wood/plaster you can paint at the same time. Use this as a test area for the masking tape, to work out when you can safely apply to the main area.

Gandhi

You should be able to get painter's tape wherever you buy the paint. Get it as wide as they have it, as you get the most coverage (obviously). The tape tends to be "tearable" so that you don't need a scissors to cut it, but I have found it is a lot easier to lay it in a straight line if you cut it with scissors and get a straight edge. It's shape gets a bit distorted if you tear it.

Pulling the paint up with the tape should not be much of an issue, unless you have heavy drips, or you let it sit there for a long time. If you do, careful use of a stanley knife should set you right.

Even with tape in place, try not to paint on the tape. It is more of a safety net than a template.

Heavy drips sitting right on the tape may soak through, so if you get those, pull that strip of tape off immediately, and replace with fresh tape.

If you get ceiling paint on the crown moulding, or wall paint on the skirting board, you can always just paint over it again. However, if you get skirting board paint on the floor (either hardwoord or carpet) that is a big problem. For this reason, I will usually put tape on the floor that I pull up immediately after applying each coat. It's a pain, but I don't want to get paint on a stained surface.

DamoKen

cheers for the replies guys, I'll be getting the paint this weekend so I'll check out both types of tape. Thanks for the tips on best ways for applying too, really appreciate it

chuckles30

I'm in the process of painting my house for the first time at the moment and I found a handy device in my local hardware shop, I think it's called a tru-line trimmer or something like that - I will check the name of it tonight for you. I have been using it to do the top of the walls against the ceilings & I also used it to do the corner where I had two colours joining. Basically it's a flat pad about 4 x 3 inches & it has guide wheels that you put against the surface you're not painting. Just be careful not to get paint on the wheels. But basically I have found it to be a great help - as I had made a complete mess of the kitchen ceiling before I found this thing.

DamoKen

chuckles30 wrote:

I'm in the process of painting my house for the first time at the moment and I found a handy device in my local hardware shop, I think it's called a tru-line trimmer or something like that - I will check the name of it tonight for you. I have been using it to do the top of the walls against the ceilings & I also used it to do the corner where I had two colours joining. Basically it's a flat pad about 4 x 3 inches & it has guide wheels that you put against the surface you're not painting. Just be careful not to get paint on the wheels. But basically I have found it to be a great help - as I had made a complete mess of the kitchen ceiling before I found this thing.

cheers Chuckles, sounds like that could be handy, let me know whenever you find out the name.

ScottishDanny

I recommend using a low tack masking tape - its less sticky so will cover/mask what you want but not pull up paint when you remove it. I got some in Woodies, it was tearable and about 3" wide so very useful when painting around skirting/architrave etc.

chuckles30

ok I looked at the cover of that tool last night and it's called a Tru edge trimmer and the model I have is RR175. It's on a blue cardboard background with a clear plastic cover. I found it by the paintbrushes etc in my local hardware shop.

DamoKen

ScottishDanny wrote:

I recommend using a low tack masking tape - its less sticky so will cover/mask what you want but not pull up paint when you remove it. I got some in Woodies, it was tearable and about 3" wide so very useful when painting around skirting/architrave etc.

thanks Danny, is that just a generic masking tape, i.e not specific to painting? I was down in Woodies last night, saw some painters masking tape, bit expensive for the amount, could see myself going through quite a few of them. Didn't have a good look around though as I was there mainly to return a defective product, something that seems to happen a lot whenever I buy there .

chuckles30 wrote:

ok I looked at the cover of that tool last night and it's called a Tru edge trimmer and the model I have is RR175. It's on a blue cardboard background with a clear plastic cover. I found it by the paintbrushes etc in my local hardware shop.

cheers for that Chuckles, will check it out in the morning.

ScottishDanny

Hi,
I got it where all the other painters tapes are. I can't remember how much it was though. It was a sort of off-white colour.

CJhaughey

When using masking tape I always rub the tape over my old dusty overalls before applying it this way the tape is even less tacky and removes easier.

DamoKen

think I got the same tape you're talking about Danny, picked up a bunch of it in a pack at a cheap as chips price in B&Q, started using it last night and no problems so far. I'll be applying it to the newly painted areas by tomorrow though so I guess it's then I'll see if it pulls any paint up. I'll try that tip as well CJ, cheers for that.