You are absolutely right. I am picky about brushes & even pencil my initials on them so that _someone_ doesn't grab them. I use them correctly (no paint into the ferrule), clean and store them properly.

the cost of painting is not of the paint price, but of the proper preparation, attention to detail, to's and time involved.

Don't get me started! LOL

After further consideration I believe I will drop Wooster Easyflo from my personal list. Although it performed better than the other 6 brushes for brush marks and the paint flowed on very nicely , the Wooster Chinex FTP did produce slightly less noticeable brush strokes in my test.

I plan to get one more, different brush with Chinex fibers to test to determine whether it was the Dupont Chinex fibers or the tip rounding technique Wooster used on this fiber that caused this favorable performance.

My favorite are the Wooster minks. I find the nylon/polyester blend leaves fewer brushmarks than Chinex, but they do wear out quicker. I will use a roller where ever I can though over a brush.

Thanks paintguy. I appreciate the tip.

Where do you get them?

Next question: Which brush do you prefer for a polyurethane water based top coat.

I've heard of adding something to the paint to keep it wet and flowing longer to reduce brush marks but you guys haven't mentioned it - I forget the name but I think it's 'flow' something. Do you use that as well or doesn't it work as promised?

paintguy, Your post is one of the most informative, best written posts I have read. Thanks!

I used a Purdy brush when I painted my bathroom cabinets. Its true, a good brush makes all the difference.

I agree that brush quality makes a huge difference for paint jobs. However, when I painted my kitchen cabinets I just used small foam rollers. No brush marks. They came out looking perfect. Of course, I used high quality primer and paint, and did all the painstaking prep work.

Thanks Iam702. I have Purdys, but I got a new to test. It finished in the middle. I like my Purdys but learned it is the brush within the brand. I just picked the wrong brush for the test.

Jnavarro31. After a great deal of testing, I also decided to do the primer and top coat with a roller...but not foam because I personally have issues with bubbles. The poly will be done with a brush.

I bought 9 pieces of two different very short nap 4" rollers. I tested both brands and they both performed well. A Wooster is larger round and I will probably use that. I used similar when I did my kitchen cabinets a few years ago and was happy.

Sanding between coats (primer and top coat [I am using a sandable paint top coat]) made a really nice finish on my recent tests.

I have done so much testing. I am done with that phase. Just cleaned all doors and drawer fronts after stripping and ready to sand, clean again and prime.

Wow. This is amazing! Clearly all of you know your stuff. I'm painting a room for the first time - it's a bathroom with new walls in a 1980s house.

Any chance you have favorite links to tutorials on best practices that you'd be willing to share? (Trust me, yes - I would hire a kickin' pro to do it if at all possible but it truly isn't right now.) Or particular bloggers who've done their homework?

Zellycat,

I watch 3-5 vidoes on Youtube on a topic. Sometimes several times.

Go to Youtube and type in "how to paint trim" , " how to mud drywall", "how to clean a paint brush", "how to redo an 1980s bathroom", how to change some obscure electrical part. Seems like everything is there.

That's the start if I don't know about things, then generally a google search on specific DIY tricks follows. With that foundation you at least have a start.

I don't have favorable feelings about inexperienced bloggers showing you how do something. You will know them when you see them. They must get paid for the clicks.

Fine Homebuilding has good tips:

http://www.finehomebuilding.com/section/video

This old house videos:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/video/0,,21008813,00.html

Familyhandyman:

http://www.familyhandyman.com/

The manufacturers often produce good tip pages and videos:

https://generalfinishes.com/videos

http://www.behr.com/consumer/how-to/interior

You are amazing. Thank you thank you thank you for your time! Awesome. Yay!

The bathroom painting went well, thank you. If you're around I do have a question though - the rest of the house has drywall done by a different person and I'm painting those walls now and the drywall mud that he used to cover the screws is coming off in strips/clumps when I paint. It has been weeks so it's not wet. Is that a common problem or did I get a really BAD recommendation for a drywall guy?

I used zinzer 1-2-3 in the bath and am using Behr drywall primer now, so I didn't know if mayne Behr has too much liquid in it's formula?

It doesn't happen immediately but if you roll paint on and then roll over the same spot within 5-10 mins later you roll that mud right off the wall and it sticks to the roller.

Having wiped the drywall dust off the walls with a microfiber cloth until my bare finger came away clean I wonder if compound goes on in layers - and he was not cautious - and there was too much dust left for proper adhesion between layers? (It gives me that sense as it peels onto my roller.)

I don't know what to do. It's a lot of sq ft. Is this a common or easily diagnosed problem?

It sounds a bit odd, but you should check the adhesion when the paint is dry, not after 10 minutes.

I wasn't checking the adhesion, sorry I must have been misleading - I was saying I'm trying to paint the wall and the compound is coming off onto my roller as I paint, even though the compounding was done a month or more ago. Is there something that would cause that? Is there anything I can do to prevent it?

A few questions:

1. You had dry wall installed and the mud was put on the new drywall?

2. Did you say you used 1-2-3 and now you are using Behr drywall primer? Or did you use 1 -2-3 and are now using Behr paint?

3. Would you please repeat the steps that took place at this spot. Example: a. fresh drywall b. mud (dried 30 days) c. 1-2-3 (dryed overnight) d. Behr primer? paint?

Will add that mud is the most water soluble thing you will use in construction. When it is primed it is sealed to a degree depending on the primer, but 1-2-3 is an excellent sealer.

If you prime or paint over unsealed mud and you come back 10 minutes later you set up a perfect mud removal process. The mud becomes perfectly wet (saturated) and can be removed easily. A great way to achieve some removal of the mud after it is saturated is to roll over it with a somewhat dry roller. The nice stickiness of the paint or primer will gently remove some of the saturated mud for you. :-)

Mud is designed to dissolve with water or moisture, thus the primer to seal it.

One coat, let it thoroughly dry (read can, some require a 4 hour dry between coats).

PS. Dry mud can suck moisture out of paint. Once it is sealed with primer that will not happen. This is why when you have a dab of mud over screws or nails or holes, once thoroughly dried, you lightly brush a coat(s) of primer (or paint) over the small area. That seals it, otherwise the mud will "flash" through.

Yea, there is a period of time after you apply primer (or any paint really) where it is not dry yet, but it is also not completely adhered. You don't want to go back into areas with your roller that have already started to set up. DIY'ers do tend to overwork the paint and what you should do is really discipline yourself to roll a section and then leave it be.

Yup. Sounds like I went back into the area with a sticky roller. I think he also didn't wipe well between layers and there was grit that helped it come off but following the advise of working quickly, I was able to prevent it in the rest of the walls, thank you.

Coincidentally, today I was wondering if I have to prime over mud, or just thirsty drywall - and here's the answer in your helpful responses. Yes, yes I do! (Or clearly it will be problematic with the paint.)

Just as a note - I had used 1-2-3 in the bathroom and it went well. Used 1 can of Behr in the problem room above but since it was a problem , went out and bought more 1-2-3 and finished the rest of the room with that in case the brand of primer was part of the problem.

Thanks all!

@bobjax - so what paint are you using for your cabinets? I have 50s era wall cabinets to strip and paint and most of that will have to be in place as only the doors are removable. I have to paint them as-is. They're really not cabinets as we think of them today but more like closed-in shelves.

I tried 3 primers and I chose to prime the doors with a Sherwin Williams deep tint primer because the final color is espresso. I rolled the doors with a very short nap 4 inch roller I bought off Amazon. I can give more detail if interested about the two I tried. That was lucky because I could sand the primer and get rid of the orange peel.

The paint I used was part of a Cabinet Transformation kit (long story how I got that, not my normal choice. ) But the color coat is an amazing product, not like a paint more like a colored primer. But you have to top coat with a poly that they supply. So darn many steps and every coat requires sandy to get it smooth again. Nothing worse than layers of brush strokes or orange peel from rollers.

Learned a BIG lesson about orange peel. My rollers are completely matted down when I paint which is good. So HOW did I get orange peel? Concluded it was the same effect you get when a rain drops beads on your car window caused by surface tension.

So I tried (on the back of one door) to press the heck out of the roller to break that surface tension on the surface. Then I rolled normally. It worked. Lemon peel was greatly reduced, definitely not noticeable. like a miracle. Don't know if it would work the same on latex. Besides latex might have more leveling agents which I guess breaks the surface tension like soap does.

Now the poly coats. What a pain. Brush marks, sanding, then more brush marks. I decided to put the doors back on come back to it when I can spray (from spray cans) a final coat. That will be in the fall or winter when the humidity is lower. I have about 4 months here in Florida where the humidity is low enough that it does not mix with the spray as I spray and mess up the finish.

Next set doors on cabinets I will probably use the rest of the primer I rolled on and use cans of Krylon to produce a smooth finish. I did this on my kitchen cabinets. Worked great.

I color match the spray paint and roll a latex of the non removable trim on the cabinets. Probably will use a regular Behr latex for that.

On the closed end shelves in the kitchen I used a latex.

If they are white they can yellow over time. Talk to Sherwin Williams about a non yellow white paint to get educated about white paints designed not to yellow.