Faux Finishing

Common mistakes to avoid Part 1: Lap lines or seams that are too dark

If you’ve ever used finger paint as a child or experimented with water colors, you will remember how the colors you use are like a film and the paint underneath is changed to look like a mixture of what is on top and what is on the bottom. Because Faux Painting Glazes are used to make paint dry slower (open time) in order to be able to work with the paint to achieve different effects, the glaze also makes the paint transparent. In other words, the paint is no longer opaque and will no longer block out the color on the wall but whatever is underneath will show through slightly. Therefore, if you fail to “feather out” the glaze in an area where you know you will not be getting to for awhile and allow the glaze to dry, then when you join the next section to that area, you must be extra careful not to overlap the areas too much or you will get “lap lines” or “seams” .

There are a few things you can do to tone the lap lines down if this happens. Use any step that seems easier and achieves your desired finish.

1) This is the preference of this author - When you come back to add deeper hues or a second coat, work off the existing dark area. Alternate the darker hues of the color to the left and right of the lap line. how you cannot notice the lines anymore. Adding shapes of darker hues (use same colors as before) adds depth and dimension to the wall. In addition, the colors are darker and deeper.

2) If you don’t desire to add deeper hues, then you can try to break up the area with a mixture of rubbing alcohol and diluted dishwashing liquid. Dip a cloth or paper towel into the mixture and rub the lap lines very lightly until the paint begins to come off. This method does take time and you must be careful not to take off the base coat. Once the area has been taken off (doesn’t come off completely but enough), then with a chip brush dab some color very lightly onto the area and blend into the adjacent areas. Remember that the glaze dries darker than when it is wet, so don’t add too much glaze. When it dries, if it’s too light, you can always go back and add a bit more.

3) When you come to a section that has already dried, before you add the next section, you can break up the dried glaze by first adding some clear glaze and work it into the dried area where you will be butting up the next section. Blend the section as best as possible.

4) If you find that you don’t like the way the wall looks, remember that you can always paint over the wall with the base coat and start again. Keep in mind that faux painting is meant to give movement to the wall by having some areas dark and others lighter and is not meant to have uniformity that only machines can achieve. As long as there is some consistency in the faux finish as far as the over all look, then it’s better to leave well enough alone sometimes. Take a look at the finished wall...beautiful, don’t you agree? You can no longer tell where the lap lines or seams used to be.

Faux Finishing Tips and Techniques

Here are Five Free Faux Painting Tips for Your Next Finishing Project
1: Preparation- Fix walls first
Tape off your ceilings and baseboards with low tack masking tape. Blue tape works great. Use a cloth drop cloth instead of plastic. Drips will soak into the cloth and dry quicker so you don’t track paint thru the house. Fix holes or cracks on the walls first and remove dirt.

2: Base coat
Water based Latex Paints in “satin” or “eggshell” is the best type of paint to use for your base coat.

Make sure you paint the patches where you fixed the wall with the same base coat as the rest of the wall. If not as you can see by the picture to the right, the patches will show through. That’s because glazes are not like paint which is opaque. So the texture of the wall must be the same unless you want to have places where the faux finish looks different. Hint - you can paint designs on the wall with a different texture and when you faux paint the wall, the designs will be enhanced yet subtle.

3: Practice first
Always practice your faux painting technique on boards first. You can save money by purchasing poster boards at any stationary or office supply store. Paint the board with the same paint you are using for your basecoat. Test out the glaze on a small section to see if your mixture needs to be darker. Any glaze can be darkened with a drop or two of acrylic paint.

Tape your board onto a section on the wall instead of painting on the floor. That way you can practice the technique just the way you will be doing it on the walls.

Once you are happy with the board then proceed to a discreet place on your wall first. Remember, there are no mistakes in Faux Painting; if you don’t like what you see, just paint over and start again!

4: Lining your trays
If you are mixing your own glazes, line your trays with a plastic bag. This saves time and mess because you don’t need to wash the tray afterwards. If you need to quit and continue your project the next day, bring the back of the plastic bag to the front and tie up the bag with a knot. That way the glaze will not dry out and you can use it the next day.

Then, keep your tools in a plastic bag, also when you are not using them. You can safely keep them overnight, too. However, we don’t recommend going more than one day without washing out your tools.


5: Mixing Glazes
Mix just a small amount of glaze first. Usually it is 3 parts glaze to one part paint. After you mix a small amount, try that out on your board first to see if the color looks according to what you desire. If not, then add more glaze or more paint until you are satisfied. Then put aside a small puddle of the glaze to the side, fill your tray with the rest of mixed glaze and match the new mixture to the small puddle that you have set aside.

When you run out of glaze, then do the same thing. Set aside a puddle of the mixture before you totally run out. Then refill tray with glaze and keep adding paint until the mixture is the same density in color. Place a small puddle next to the puddle you have from the mixture you were using to compare the two. This is very important, because if the next tray of glaze is not the same, you will notice a difference on the walls.