Shiny paint doesn't mean oil base paint; you can get shiny latex too. Generally, oil base paints go on trim, doors and windows, wood parts of the home and sometimes in the kitchen and bathrooms. If you are repainting, find out first what is on the surface. Latex won't adhere to shiny oil based surfaces. When I repaint shiny white trim in a home over with white shiny paint, I use oil base to cut my time down. This saves me from priming first which is a step that is unnecessary for this type of result. But don't forget a lot of new homes these days are painted with shiny latex. Homes that are over 20 to 25 years old, chances are the trim and shiny surfaces are oil based.



Some considerations you should be aware of before starting are clean-up and disposal. Cleaning up after painting needs solvents to wash the tools with. To get rid of left over paint materials and paints, check your local laws on disposal.

Now let's get down to it. To start, make sure your surface is properly prepared and sanded. Your brush should be a bristle. It should be about 2 1/2 inch and a sash type. Dip the bristle 1/3 into the paint and scrape off lightly the excess paint but be careful not to scrape it all off or you'll have no paint to work with. Let's take a door frame. I generally start in an inside corner and fill it in by dabbing in the brush and pulling the brush to the opposite side. When the upper frame is totally covered in paint, I go back over the top of the frame in one even continuous stroke. Now I go down the side again applying the paint onto the frame until it's completely coated and again pull from the top down in one even stroke. Likewise, all surfaces of the frame should be done in the same fashion, including window frames.

Doors are a little different; I brush all the panels first. As you can see, there are a lot of corners to be brushed. Be careful to watch for drips; don't put too much on or you will be forever correcting runs. Once you are done brushing all your doors, you need to roll the door using a light pile roller (? inch or less). Work from one edge to the other, then back again until it looks nice and smooth and even.

Wall painting is best done in panels; one wall at a time. Brush all the edges and try not to leave any heavy marks. Roll down a w-pattern to distribute the paint on the wall, and then roll backwards. Roll carefully forward and try not to leave lines. Go top to bottom filling it in correctly.