Paint a wall like a pro

Should I use two coats of finish paint or just one? That is the question.

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If you are repainting a wall with the exact same color of paint, then you can use just one coat of finish paint. This will work in most cases. Let me explain. You will need to look at your wall paint finish & make a determination if you want to leave your walls with the same finish paint instead of just the paint finish as you have now. That is.....if you have "flat" wall paint now & you want to apply a fresh coat of "flat" wall paint,egshell to egshell,semi-gloss to semi-gloss, & gloss to gloss.

If you have "flat" wall paint on your existing walls & you want to install a semi-gloss paint for your new paint finish, lets say, then you may want to install two coats of semi-gloss finish paint & not just one. You will get a better full body paint finish since the first coat will have the tendency to "soak" up into the "flat" paint wall surface you previously had thus the reason for the need to install two coats rather than one.

Another reason that you may need to install two coats of finish paint instead of just one is if you are changing the color of your walls. One coat generally will not cover very well. It depends on how different your new color looks compared to your old wall color. Installing two coats will assure a "full body" paint finish. Consult with your local paint store to help with your decision.

In some extreme conditions, if you have an existing semi-gloss wall & you want to repaint with semi-gloss paint but you want to change the color from a dark wall to a much lighter wall, you may have to install a "primer" or "flat wall paint" prior to then installing two coats of the new lighter semi-gloss wall paint. I've had to do this before. It was a hard lesson to learn since I installed two coats of the new semi-gloss paint & it didn't cover very well. I even installed a third coat of semi-gloss finish paint before consulting with the paint store. That was when I came to the realization that I just learned a costly lesson. It's always good to ask questions when you are at the paint store so you get a clear picture on what you should do.....it never hurts.

I hope this helps you with your next painting project.

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Paint On!

Joe