# Roller Marks



## mt232 (Sep 25, 2006)

I thought I was the worst painter ever.......but I do approx. 3' x 3' squares at a time, this way, then that way....rarely see roller marks, except on darker colors, if I see roller marks thats my signal for another coat.


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## jfarringdon (Sep 27, 2007)

Now the roller marks are about a year old. Should I sand them down first? I really don't want to paint the whole wall or I cannot paint the whole wall because of the size. Will it look like total crap if I sand, prime and paint a 2 foot by 1 foot strip?


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## sirwired (Jun 22, 2007)

You aren't going to be able to get rid of these roller marks with touch-ups. Well-blended touch-ups are REAL tough to do to begin with, and trying to do them a year later, with new paint, and not having completely identical equipment as the original painter is going to be well-nigh impossible.

There are multiple causes of roller marks:

1) Cheap paint
2) High sheens. (They make it more likely anyway)
3) "squeezing" the paint out of the roller.
4) Cheap roller cover.
5) A roller cover of insufficient nap.
6) Covering too much wall space with each roller full.

The best ways to avoid them:

1) Quality paint from an actual paint store, instead of Big Box Inc.
2) Lower sheens. Flat or eggshell/satin is good for almost all walls.
3) Let the roller do the work and "lay" the paint on the wall. Don't squeeze paint out of the roller. (This is a REAL common mistake.)
4) Nothing cheaper than a 3/8" Purdy White Dove. 50%poly/50%wool covers from Purdy or Wooster also have a lot of fans.
5) 3/8" should be about the minimum size for walls, unless you enjoy refilling your cover every 4 sq. ft. If roller marks are still a problem, or you have really tall walls, go bigger.
6) Forget the W, M or N pattern stuff, unless you want a lot of extra exercise. I did a single floor to ceiling 8' stripe with each load of Sherwin Williams SuperPaint Satin with each 3/8" White Dove load. No roller marks at all.

If you follow these tips, you will not have to worry about roller marks at all.

SirWired


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## slickshift (Aug 25, 2005)

jfarringdon said:


> Will it look like total crap if I sand, prime and paint a 2 foot by 1 foot strip?


Pretty much guaranteed yeah

You could sand them a bit, if thyey are "raised" it will help
But you'll need to paint the whole wall using the directions and techniques posted by sirwired


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