Just started doing “turnover work” for a couple of 40 units buildings. It includes small punchlist items that need to be taken care of before new tenants move-in. Majority has been patching small dings, screws holes and painting. The manager insists on me painting just the small patched areas but they stick out like a sore thumb. The paint is supposedly the same original paint that is on the wall now but it just never looks right unless I do the whole wall. I have been using e-z sand 5 to patch everything and then going over it with the supplied paint.
This is not my usual type of job but it’s good repeat work in slow times and helps fill in a few days a month. I usually focus on carpentry work so any painters out there I’d be glad to hear your insight. Am I doing something wrong or is there a legit reason I could give the property manager, as to why things doing match exactly.
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Not (much of) a painter, but I know that paint will change color over time (either fade or darken), so that new paint, even if exactly the same color (which is rarely the case) will not look the same.
You're not doing anything wrong unless you're trying to get by with 1 coat. You need 2 coats when painting over compound.
Paint changes color as it ages. There are lots of causes such as smoke, dust and light (especially sunlight). But age alone is sufficient and it happens more with inexpensive paints.
A technique that I've used to minimize (but not eliminate) the apparent color change is to use a very dry roller for the 2nd coat and feather the paint into the surrounding area. If I'm touching up a dime-sized patch, I might feather it out 2 feet in every direction. The same technique can be used with a brush, but it's much harder to feather.
I think the patch texture make be throwing off the sheen too. Sometimes patches are too smooth... I can always spot a spackled spot on my walls.
BTW, this reminds me of a story I read from an AutoWeek columnist - back when they were still a paper rag. He was recounting working with a legendary parts painter, who was renowned for getting an exact paint match every time.
His method? He requested a sample part already painted the correct color that he would try to match. He would then get the color as close as he could. Then he would paint BOTH parts with that color.
Customers were always given two parts that looked like they were painted the same color... because the were.
His customers regarded his talents as magic.
Thanks for all the responses. I have been going over with one coat so maybe two would make things blend better. For dime size patches I have been making a 1'x1' square of new paint as cleanly as possibly but from a few feet back it is still visible. It almost looks like a different finish or color. These are white walls i am dealing with by the way.
Ill try 2 coats. Thanks.
The last thing you want to do with a paint "patch" is have a well-defined boundary between old and new. You need to fuzz the boundaries.