Paint and Supplies

Paint Supplies

Find all the supplies you need to make your project ‘roll’ smoothly—from brushes and trays to sanders and ladders.

Find all the supplies you need to make your project ‘roll’ smoothly—from brushes and trays to sanders and ladders.

Paint Supplies FAQ

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What does the paint roller thickness have to do with anything?

The general rule is that the smoother the surface is to be painted, the thinner your paint roller nap should be. If it is a perfectly smooth surface with no texture, a 1/4″ nap is ideal or a 3/8” works also. If you are painting a textured wall or another rough surface like brick or rough fencing, then a 1/2″ or 3/4″ thick nap works best.

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Paint always seeps behind my masking tape – how do I get cleaner paint lines?

One of the biggest pain points for people who are doing painting projects on their own is getting crisp clean paint lines when using painter’s masking tape. This is especially troublesome when you have heavily textured walls as the texture makes a tough surface for the tape to create a seal against. There are 2 tricks that can help you out with this:

  1. Use a high-grade painters tape (like FrogTape) that is specially engineered to help prevent paint bleeding. FrogTape has a polymer that reacts with the water in latex paint and instantly gels to form a micro-barrier that seals the edges of the tape, helping to prevent paint bleed. It isn’t a 100% guarantee that you will eliminate all paint bleed, but it certainly helps keep it to a minimum.
  2. The best thing you can do, however, is paint over the edge of the tape first with the color already on the wall. So if your wall is already white, and you are trying to add a blue detail, you would put your painters tape down where you want the transition, and then first paint the edge with the original white color and then let it dry. THEN come back over it and paint with the new blue color, using strokes that pull away from the tape, not towards it. By painting the edge with the original color, it helps create a damming effect at the seam of the original color, which then will result in a perfectly crisp color transition.
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Does the type of paint brush really matter?

The short answer is yes! The type of painting project will determine what brush is best to use to get a smooth finish. For example, a quality brush with a flagged tip will work well for trim work or doors. This is because the bristles are split at the end which allows the brush to hold more paint and release paint smoothly on the surface.

If you’re painting a rough textured surface or a flat surface, you’ll want a larger, thicker brush. Other factors to consider when choosing a paint brush include the type of finish you’ll be applying (is it a water-based or oil-based finish). And of course, the hand handle design. You’re going to be holding the paint brush a lot, it should be comfortable!

Brands we carry

Purdy
Wooster
Dap
Frogtape
Norton
3M
Graco