How to Fix Uneven Paint on Walls

An uneven paint texture or uneven wall paint colour can be awful to look at. The truth is experienced painters can even fall into the trap of making a mistake like this. Fortunately, it’s relatively easy to fix up these imperfections and get your walls looking their best. Some homeowners prefer to search for professional painting companies instead of doing it themselves. That’s very understandable as the painters do a much more thorough job. If you’ve decided to go at the task DIY-style, don’t feel discouraged. Mistakes are made all the time and the fix for uneven paint on walls is usually as simple as repainting it.

After painting a few rooms, you’ll feel more confident in your ability to do the rest of the house successfully. In case you make any mistakes, here is a quick guide on how you can fix any uneven paint on your walls:

Painting Tools

To fix uneven paint on the walls, you need cabinet paint kit like a brush, the correct colour of paint, and 120-150 grit sandpaper. A lot of instruction given on this list requires sanding. Do not sand overly hard, as you can remove more paint than you intend. Sanding lightly ensures you remove just enough to get the surface smooth before repainting.

Brush Marks

It feels great to finish painting a room. It doesn’t feel so great when you step back and see left behind are brush strokes. These come from not having carefully spread the paint when cutting it. The way to fix brush marks is to let them dry and then sand down the area. Wipe away the dust. Carefully repaint these areas being extra careful when cutting them.

Roller Marks

Roller marks, sometimes referred to as lap marks, occur when one’s painting with a brush without wet edges. The result is a wall with an uneven finish. To get it smooth, sand down the uneven areas until they are smooth as possible. Then, wipe the walls down to get rid of any dust. Prime it up and add on another thick coat of paint.

Drips and Runs

Drip stains happen when a painter overloads their brush. To fix this type of wall-painting mistake, wait until it’s fully dry. You will have to scrap the drips off the wall using a paint scraper. Sand the area down smooth and repaint the section once again, ensuring it’s blending in with the rest of the wall.

Paint Streaks

Just like you can overload a brush, you can also under-load it. Less paint means a lighter-than-expected coat. We may not even realize how quickly paint on the roller is disappearing until the painting is done. The result is often streaks and blotchiness. This fix is one where you don’t have to sand. All you have to do is wait for it to dry and then apply another coat of paint.

Lint Splotches

New rollers can come with lint and dust on them. These transfer onto the wall and ruin even a flawless paint job. Be careful when pulling out new rollers. Ensure any lint and dust is removed. Assuming they’ve already made their way onto the wall, lightly sand down these areas once dry and remove the debris. Wipe away the dust. Repaint it and let it dry.

Patchy Drywall Repairs

Occasionally we accidentally dent, damage, or put a hole in our walls which requires filling or patching a section of the drywall to repair it. If the repair person didn’t prime the area, you might find that the room ends up having a lighter shade. To fix this drywall repair paint problem, cover the section with primer and once it has completely dried, give the entire wall another coat of paint.

Tape Line Paint Removal

A common mistake inexperienced painters make with tape lines is they wait too long to remove them. When they do so, the tape pulls with it freshly dried paint, and the result is broken pieces of paint. To fix this, all you have to do is smooth down the damaged area with your sanding block, remove the residual dust, and carefully repaint the section.

Apply the Right Amount of Coats

Always ensure you apply the right number of coats when painting a wall. Too few and walls will start to look patchy and unfinished. If this is what your wall looks like, apply the first coat and let it dry. Then, add a second coat and do the same. Apply as many coats as necessary until everything’s covered over and your wall appears in a uniform colour.

Paint Bubbles

Paint bubbles happen when the upper coat of paint isn’t properly affixing itself to the undercoat. Usually, this is because of a moisture or heat problem. Therefore, first, identify the underlying issue. Sometimes it’s as easy as correcting the temperature. After the issue is resolved, scrap the paint bubbles and sand the area smooth. Coat it with a primer and then repaint the area.