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Comment by mauvehaus | Hacker News Reader

I've never hired anybody to do interior paint, so I'm wondering: do pros ever actually tape a ceiling border? I've always just cut in by hand. I've found that it's usually high enough that any minor imperfections aren't noticeable.

The last time I did a wall or ceiling, the crown molding had been painted so many times, it would have been nigh impossible to tape it and get a satisfactory result. But I've been living in old places.

Are you in a newer place with fewer uneven spots to tape around?

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> do pros ever actually tape a ceiling border?

Nope. They either use something that looks like a trowel, or freehand it.

I've never seen a pro use tape, unless they are spray painting. My guess is that it takes to long when you're probably being paid by the job not the hour.

Yes, and when you paint as much as they do they get good at it. I've seen a guy who's freehand looked better than what I can do with tape - and he was much faster.

I often get frustrated and resort to tape, but although it seems better while I'm doing it, I remove the tape and invariably discover that it's hard to (or at least, I'm bad at) taping straight.

I have seen a pro calk the edge, then it was easier to tape over it straight.

I do all my own DIY and I tape off everything.

Learnt that lesson the hardware, I do not have a steady hand.

Also if you go the tape route, buy trade tape (in the UK it's commonly known as Frog Tape (though that's a tradename there are generics), comes off without lifting paint, doesn't suffer from creep and is brightly coloured (green) so you can see it against the underlying wall.

>Are you in a newer place with fewer uneven spots to tape around?

Hah. 200 years old.

I've used masking tape when I've been making changes in color or it's been around new cabinetry, windows, etc. As I say, when I'm touching up, I'm usually pretty sloppy. No crown moulding.

Tape is good for perfectly symmetrical timber edges like door and window frames (tape the wood, not the wall).

For everything else it's way faster and neater to do by hand, but it takes a lot of practice to get right.

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