Painting: How to Paint a Room Fast

Advice from a pro

1 of 1

Paint pro Bill Nunn

“I use a roller tray instead of a roller screen in a bucket. There's less mess from drips, and you have more control over how much paint you load on the roller. Plus, it's easy to move your tray with your foot—try doing that with a 5-gallon bucket of paint!”
— Bill Nunn

Painting fast would seem to be at odds with getting great results, but that's how painting contractors make their living. You, too, can paint faster without sacrificing quality by using the tips shown here. Some of these methods are contrary to the painting advice you've been hearing for years, but they work—they'll save you time and leave you with a professional-looking finish.

For this story, we worked with painting expert Bill Nunn. Bill is a veteran painter and the president of William Nunn Painting. The tricks and techniques he shows here come from 32 years of experience painting hundreds of homes and apartments. Besides being a super-efficient painter, Bill leaves a flawless finish on woodwork, walls and ceilings.

Clean fast with TSP

1 of 1

Clean surfaces with TSP

Sponge walls and trim with a TSP solution to clean off dirt, oils and grease and prep the surface for better paint adhesion.

You have to start with a clean surface for paint to adhere to previously painted walls and woodwork. Use a sponge and a trisodium phosphate cleaner (or TSP substitute) to quickly wash off dirt, grime and soot. TSP cleans fast and usually doesn't require a lot of scrubbing. Buy TSP concentrate and mix it with water—it's a better value than liquid TSP. A 16-oz. box costs about $5 at home centers.

Use TSP on all of your woodwork. It slightly etches the paint, which helps the paint form a better bond. And use it in kitchens to clean grease from walls, in bathrooms to remove hairspray and around light switches to remove fingerprints. Wear rubber gloves and turn up the cuffs to keep the TSP solution from running down your arm.

Strain out the goobers

1 of 1

Strain the paint

Pour the freshly mixed paint through a straining cloth to remove finish-marring lumps.

Even if you open your paint right after bringing it home from the paint store, you can still have small chunks or strands of hard paint in it. If those end up on the wall, you'll have to pick them out and reroll the area. So spend two minutes straining out the goobers.

Buy a paint strainer at a home center or paint store or use old pantyhose to strain the paint. Place the strainer over a 5-gallon bucket, then pour the paint through the strainer. The strainer catches any debris in the paint. If you really want to be dollar savvy, rinse out the strainer in the sink and reuse it.

Paint window sashes faster

1 of 1

Cut in sashes

Cut in along windows. Avoid time-consuming taping.

Most DIYers slop paint onto the glass when painting windows, then scrape it off with a razor. But if you're good with a paintbrush, you can cut in along the glass. You won't have to scrape, and better yet, you'll leave the paint seal intact between the wood and the glass.

Load your brush and lay off the paint on the sash, staying about 1/2 in. from the glass. As soon as the brush is about half unloaded, go back and cut in closely. Let the brush bristles just barely touch the glass so the paint seals the tiny gap between the wood and the glass. If paint does drip on the window, scrape it off with a razor after it dries.

Groove textured ceilings

1 of 1

Groove textured ceiling edges

Cutting a slight groove along textured ceilings leaves a smooth edge for your paintbrush to follow.

It's almost impossible to paint right next to rough-textured ceilings (a process called “cutting in”) without getting paint on the ceiling. Taping off the ceiling doesn't work either. The solution? Knock off the texture at the edge with a putty knife. Hold the knife at a 45-degree angle to the wall and run the blade along the edge of the ceiling. The blade scrapes away the texture and leaves a small groove in the ceiling. Clean out the groove with a duster or a dry paintbrush.

Now when you cut in along the top of the wall, the paintbrush bristles will slide into the groove, giving you a crisp paint line without getting paint on the ceiling. And you'll never notice the thin line of missing texture.

Cut in quickly with a steady hand

1 of 1

Cutting-in technique

Paint right to the edge on your second pass.

Cutting in along trim that's not protected by masking tape takes a steady hand. And once you get the knack for it, you'll never want to fuss with taping trim again. Sure, cutting in can be hard for some DIYers, but you can learn to do it effectively.

Use a tapered paintbrush. The angled bristles uniformly unload the paint as you cut in. Dip the brush into the paint, then tap (don't wipe) each side against your container to knock off the excess. Brush the paint on the wall, about 1/2 in. from the trim. Then make a second pass, cutting in all the way to the trim. Avoid “pushing” the paint with your bristles or you'll leave a ridge where you're cutting in. Apply just enough pressure to let the bristle ends glide next to the trim. To help keep the brush steady, move your entire arm as you paint instead of moving your arm only from the elbow down.

Cover paint to keep it fresh

Paint dries fast, even paint in your roller tray. If you need to take a break for more than 10 minutes, cover the paint. Place a lid on your 5-gallon bucket of paint and a damp cloth over your handheld paint container. Use aluminum foil to cover your roller tray. If you don't, the film that forms on top of the paint may end up on your walls.

Use extenders to avoid do-overs

1 of 1

Mix in a paint extender

Paint extenders slow drying and help prevent lap marks.

The longer that paint stays wet on walls or woodwork, the fewer lap marks and runs you'll have to deal with. Lap marks are those dark, ugly lines caused by painting over an area that's already dry. If you can keep the paint wet longer, you won't have to worry about them. And the way to prolong the “open time” of paint is to add a paint extender or a conditioner (Floetrol is one brand; at home centers and paint stores).

Pour all the paint you need for the room into a 5-gallon bucket, then stir in the extender or conditioner (following the manufacturer's recommendations). Because extenders and conditioners help level out brush marks and paint runs, you won't have to go back and fix them later.

Cut in one wall at a time

1 of 1

Cut one wall at a time

Damp paint from cutting in will blend with the paint from the roller.

Once you have your paintbrush in hand, it's tempting to cut in along all the trim, the ceiling and the corners in the room. But you'll get better results if you cut in just one wall, then immediately roll out the wall before cutting in the next one. That's because if you roll out the wall right away, while the cut-in paint is still wet, the cut-in paint and the wall paint will blend much better, reducing the chance of lap marks.

Spend less time taping

1 of 1

Tape off horizontal trim

Tape on horizontal trim catches roller spatters.

Taping off all your trim with masking tape is time consuming and doesn't guarantee good results—paint can still bleed under the tape. In short, taping off everything is a waste of time. Instead, only tape horizontal surfaces, like baseboards and chair rail, where paint splatter can land and be noticeable. Vertical surfaces, like door and window trim, aren't as vulnerable to splatter, so don't bother taping them. Just be sure to cut in carefully with your paintbrush so you don't slop paint onto the trim (for help cutting in, see “Cut in Quickly With a Steady Hand” above).

The fastest way to cover walls

1 of 5

Photo 1: Start at the bottom

Load the roller with paint and start at the bottom

2 of 5

Photo 2: Roll straight up

Unload the roller moving it up the wall.

3 of 5

Photo 3: Roll down

Roll back down over the same area.

4 of 5

Photo 4: Reload and roll up

Reload the roller with paint, move over 3 inches and roll up the wall.

5 of 5

Photo 5: Roll down

Shift back 6 inches and roll back down.

Everyone who's painted has a personal technique for rolling walls. Bill honed his technique over three decades. It's methodical, which makes it fast and efficient. It also provides even coverage.

If you're right handed, paint the wall from left to right (it'll feel more natural when you're rolling). Load the roller sleeve with paint and roll from the baseboard to the ceiling to get the paint on the wall (Photo 1). Then roll straight back down (without reloading the roller) to ensure the wall is covered. Load the roller and move over about 3 in. to the right (the unpainted side of the wall) and roll the full height of the wall again to feather out the leading edge (Photo 4).

When you get to the top, move about 6 in. to the left (without reloading) and roll back down to smooth out any runs or lap marks. Then reload the roller, place it on the feathered edge and start the process over. As you paint, roll horizontally where you cut in along the baseboard and ceiling. Only roll about 3 ft. at a time so the paint will stay wet as you roll the walls.