Don’t feel bad if you are having trouble with this, in many cases it is mission impossible. There are a variety of problems that can cause touch up paint to not match perfectly. Will this lead to a perfectly touched up wall? Most likely not, but it will give you the closest possible match that you can hopefully live with. I recommend stirring paint with a paddle for at least 2 minutes for the best results. Just remember that “the good stuff” in paint is often sitting on the bottom of the can. (This is me today, which is why I am writing this blog). You can also use a drill and a paddle attachment if you have them and don’t feel like leaving the house. However, paint that has been sitting for any length of time should be shaken at a paint store. Our customers tend to have paint sticks laying around to stir their paint. Wall Touch Up Problem #5, “I’ll take my paint shaken, not stirred”… Just remember so sand lightly between coats, and that it will most likely still be visible from some angles. In some cases, priming with wall paint you plan to use can also work. You can minimize this by priming in the patched area with a primer so it comes closer to matching the rest of the wall. ![]() Because of this, a small area of patching can stand out like a sore thumb. Wall patch tends to soak up a LOT of paint, much more so than the existing paint on the wall. If we want to get technical, this issue is a sub-issue of the above mentioned sheen build problem. Wall Touch Up Problem #4, Patching Issues If the color looks good from the front but off from the side, the problem is uneven sheen build. If you are not sure if this is your issue, it is much easier to see sheen level from the side. Touching up a wall with sheen will make the touchup up area look shinier than the rest of the wall. The 2nd coat also serves the function adding some durability to the paint and making it wipeable. A 2nd coat helps to even this out, and will produce a smoother appearance. The 1st coat usually doesn’t absorb evenly into the builders grade finish or primer, producing splotchy results. Paint with sheen generally require 2 coats to look even, and this is due to the reflective properties. Wall Touch Up Problem #3 -Uneven Sheen Build And yes, this is also the reason you can still where you did the color tester patches on your walls. This is the worst case scenario, and will never look right. Although most commonly we get the call when someone has used a brush to touch up a rolled wall area. Even the same roller with someone different using it can change the texture of the finish. ![]() I shudder to think at the amount of time a professional pushes a roller up and down against a wall over the course of a career! But a different roller will produce a different texture 100% of the time. Professional painters spend a lifetime honing their craft, and finding the right brushes and rollers in an important part of that journey. And by applicator, I am referring to the tools used as well as the individual driving them. The applicator used to apply paint to a wall has everything to do with the uniformity of appearance. Wall Touch Up Problem #2 – Use Of A Different Applicator This is a good example of how NOT to touch up walls. Even the highest quality paint tends to look different a few short months after application. You might be thinking, “this paint was completely uniform before I touched it up with the exact same paint, how can you say it was faded”? The answer is that the paint fades uniformly. However, as full of thumb, any paint that has been on the walls longer than 6 months will not touch up perfectly. Yes sunlight and UV rays have an effect on paint. Yes higher quality paints last longer and you tend to get what you pay for. But paint starts to fade fairly immediately once it goes on the walls of your home. Please note – this answer differs from what the guys at my local Sherwin Williams store tells me. I am referring to the length of time that the paint has been on the wall. This list will cover the most common issues we run into with professional painting in Mechanicsburg… Wall Touch Up Problem #1 – Age Of The Paint This paint is too old to use for touch up in Mechanicsburgīy age of the paint, I do not mean the year the can was produced and purchased. In that case (and if you actually want to know the reason why this is happening), read on. One additional coat will normally take care of it, unless you are dealing with patching. The answer is that you will most likely have to cut and roll the complete wall from corner to corner. For this reason, I am starting this blog with the solution BEFORE I get into the explanation of why. Technically it is second, directly behind “can you start tomorrow”, but you get the idea. ![]() Why doesn’t my touch up paint match is at the very top of our Frequently Asked Questions.
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