# Can’t match touch up paint to original coat



## cocomonkeynuts (Jan 12, 2018)

Is your touchup paint from the original can that was painted on the wall? To me it looks like someone tried a color match in a slightly different product/sheen


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## Scm495 (May 23, 2018)

cocomonkeynuts said:


> Is your touchup paint from the original can that was painted on the wall? To me it looks like someone tried a color match in a slightly different product/sheen



This is a different can, same color/finish...I have tried it from the original can as well and I get the same. Exact. Result. It is an eggshell finish so I know it will never blend perfect, but I know it can blend better than this just not sure how to do it


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## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

*Re: Can’t match touch up paint to original coat*

If you did some drywall repair there, it could be that the worked area is smoother than the rest of the wall. But that's not what it looks like --- looks like the sheen is different.
When touching up a wall years later, I just assume I will need to repaint the whole wall corner to corner.


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

In the professional painting world, there's no such thing as "touching up a wall." No matter how hard you try, you won't get it to blend. Even the original paint won't work because the paint on the wall has aged, has dirt on it, etc. so the color will always be a bit off. New paint in the same color will be from a different batch, so, it too, will be off.

What you've done is actually pretty good. That's about all you can expect. The next, and proper step is to do 2 coats on the ENTIRE wall for a much better blend.

I can't tell real well from the pictures, but, it appears that you have an orange peel stipple on the walls and perhaps you didn't get a decent enough orange peel match which would throw off your touch-up efforts.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

That repair was also done wrong and will always show.
Someone used to narrow a knife and did not feather it out right.
Trying to use Kilz primer, big mistake.
What nap roller are you using? 
It should have been 1/2".


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## Scm495 (May 23, 2018)

Kilz primer? Not sure what that is....I did the repair, I’m not the greatest but I used joint compound and a 6 inch knife, and a used a 3 inch brush to paint, for some reason using a roller sticks out more when it dries 






joecaption said:


> That repair was also done wrong and will always show.
> Someone used to narrow a knife and did not feather it out right.
> Trying to use Kilz primer, big mistake.
> What nap roller are you using?
> It should have been 1/2".


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## Scm495 (May 23, 2018)

I’m in building maintenance not professional painting, so touch ups are a main part of my job, unfortunately I have to do a lot of them as quickly as possible 




Gymschu said:


> In the professional painting world, there's no such thing as "touching up a wall." No matter how hard you try, you won't get it to blend. Even the original paint won't work because the paint on the wall has aged, has dirt on it, etc. so the color will always be a bit off. New paint in the same color will be from a different batch, so, it too, will be off.
> 
> What you've done is actually pretty good. That's about all you can expect. The next, and proper step is to do 2 coats on the ENTIRE wall for a much better blend.
> 
> I can't tell real well from the pictures, but, it appears that you have an orange peel stipple on the walls and perhaps you didn't get a decent enough orange peel match which would throw off your touch-up efforts.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

Some paints touch up better than others, as *Gymschu * pointed out touch ups never completely blend. The lighting and angle of sight determine how noticeable [or not] it will be. When you use a certain brand of paint often you learn what you can easily touch up and what requires more work. I used to paint a lot of new residential construction which involves a lot of touch up just before the house is turned over to the customer. I learned when a simple touch up would suffice and when I needed to reroll a portion of or an entire wall. You can't always just touch up in the middle of a wall. If the repair isn't perfect that makes the job harder.


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## klaatu (Mar 9, 2015)

Paint takes some time to actually cure to it's true sheen level. Let it go for a few weeks and see if it gets better. Some paints are worse than others. If it doesn't, re-paint from corner to corner.


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## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

*Re: Can’t match touch up paint to original coat*



Scm495 said:


> ... used a 3 inch brush to paint, for some reason using a roller sticks out more when it dries



Roller leaves different texture than brush. Before you re-paint the whole wall, roll a couple of coats of paint over the repaired areas, just so that you have the same texture below.


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## woodco (Jun 11, 2017)

You need to paint corner to corner. You could wait and see, but you might as well just redo the whole wall. You might even be able to skip the cut-ins. Its a fact of life with painting. Sometimes, you'll get lucky and it will blend, but you can never count on it. And some paints are notorious for bad touch up. I've had the worst luck with Sherwin Paints, myself, to the point where I refuse to use them unless absolutely necessary.

It could be something like the original paint was only single coated over a bad or nonexistant primer, so the sheen hasnt developed properly in the first place. Im not ruling out the possibility of a paint mix up there either, even though you say its the same brand and sheen... Those are pretty drastic differences. 

The first picture looks like you used a brush. You dont want to do that for a patch that big. It makes the paint level differently than with a roller.


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

*Re: Can’t match touch up paint to original coat*



Scm495 said:


> I’m in building maintenance not professional painting, so touch ups are a main part of my job, unfortunately I have to do a lot of them as quickly as possible


Mystery solved. As previously stated, the brush is what did you in. Use the same tool, likely a roller in this case, to do your touch-ups and they will blend so much better. Remember, too, that after priming, you may have to roll the patched area 2, 3, even 4 times because the paint is going to soak in ever so slightly into that porous patch material. A good investment is a Whizz Roller. It's so good for touch ups as you don't need a lot of paint and so much faster than brushing.


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## Scm495 (May 23, 2018)

The paint in the whole building was sprayed on lol



Gymschu said:


> Scm495 said:
> 
> 
> > I’m in building maintenance not professional painting, so touch ups are a main part of my job, unfortunately I have to do a lot of them as quickly as possible
> ...


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## Domo (Nov 9, 2018)

*Re: Can’t match touch up paint to original coat*



Scm495 said:


> I’m in building maintenance not professional painting, so touch ups are a main part of my job, unfortunately I have to do a lot of them as quickly as possible


Yes, you have a choice. Do it quickly, or do it correctly.

Not being a professional painter, your clients will sadly expect a less than perfect job.

As far as doing the job quickly, you have already spent more time asking and answering questions than it would have taken to roll the entire wall, side to side and floor to ceiling.

As the maintenance person, you should ask the owner of the property whether they want a "blow and go" touch-up to get the next renter/tenant in - or do they want a professional repaint of the entire wall. In the same manner, when working on plumbing, you can ask if the owner wants to reuse the hardware, or replace it.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

*Re: Can’t match touch up paint to original coat*



Scm495 said:


> The paint in the whole building was sprayed on lol





Sprayed walls should have been back rolled. If the paint was sprayed only that makes doing touch up a lot harder.


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

Most, if not all of us pros on here do, or have done, property maintenance painting. We understand the "touch-up and go" method. It's a necessity for apartment repaints and the like. I applaud your efforts to get it right, but, let's face it, perfection is rarely necessary because the next tenant will just "muck" it all up anyway. It used to bother me a lot that my touch-ups didn't really blend in........but, in the end, half the time I was back in the unit redoing things 3, 6, or 12 months later.

So, I guess it boils down to what the landlord/maintenance company is willing to pay for your efforts. If it's "blow and go" money, I wouldn't sweat it. If they want near perfection, then they need to be paying you more for that. Just one man's opinion.


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## mathmonger (Dec 27, 2012)

*Re: Can’t match touch up paint to original coat*

Best technique I have come up with is rolling out a section that is much bigger than anybody would think necessary. At the edges, use light pressure and an almost dry roller and you can feather it out to nothing. One big shiny section is less obnoxious than a bunch of polka dots at eye level. That's my theory. Once you have the roller in your hand, it only takes a minute. Still much quicker than moving stuff and cutting in and doing the whole wall.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

I often use that technique although I have used some paints that didn't feather well at all. One of the biggest things with touch up is learning/knowing the paint you are working with.


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## ron45 (Feb 25, 2014)

Try this, it was my little secret.

Use a cup and a stick or something that can add small drop of water to the paint.

Add the water a drop or two at a time to the left over paint in a cup until you reach the color of the faded wall.

Use a piece of white paper and dab some of the paint on it and dry it with a hair dryer.
Hold that up to the wall.

Yep. Just like in the store.


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## woodco (Jun 11, 2017)

They sure as hell shouldnt be using eggshell if they want to touch up.


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

Basically, for maintenance reasons, you should have a strategy. One strategy could be touching up with paint. In that case, you should use flat paint as touch ups will usually work (although not with a brush over rolled walls). Another strategy could be cleaning instead of painting, in which case you would want a fairly high sheen paint. They clean better, but touch up worse.


If you want to use a brush, then you have to stipple it on, using the tips of the brush to create a finish similar to a roller. If using a roller, use mathmonger's technique. Of course the mini roller is usually more convenient than the big one.


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