Chat with a painter made me rethink how I handle seams

Old timer at the hardware store said he never tapes his seams on baseboards because it trains your eye to be steady instead of lazy. Been trying it on my last 4 jobs and honestly my seam cuts are way cleaner now - anyone else skip the tape on certain seams?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_mary19d ago

That trick works great if you've already got a steady hand (and honestly, most people don't). But the thing is, tape isn't just a crutch for shaky hands, it also keeps wet paint from bleeding under the edge when you're working fast or with a thicker coat. I've tried skipping tape on baseboards too and found it's fine for thin, single coats, but you really want tape if you're doing a second pass or using a semigloss that likes to creep.

scott.miles19d ago

Yeah, "paint that likes to creep" got me. Never thought of it that way before.