Interior House Painting Tools – The Basics

Interior house painting requires a variety of painting tools – here are some of the ‘must-have’ basics.

House painting certainly requires its share of tools; but before you start your project make sure you have the basic interior house painting tools together. Starting a job without having the proper tools can quickly lead to frustration and time wasted heading back out to the paint or hardware store. Let’s take a look at the absolute must-haves you should always keep close at hand through-out your entire painting project.

5-in-1 Painters Multi-tool

Okay, you can find these tools in many formats, 3-in-1, 4-in-1, and probably 8-in-1! Basically just make sure you find one that can act as a crude scrape, has a sharp or pointy corner you can use to dig out holes in the wall or pop open paint cans, and also has a half-moon style paint roller squeegee. This tool has a lot of uses and I’ll probably write up a post on this tool alone someday.

Multi-Tip Screwdriver

Use this to remove face plates, remove hardware, open cans in a pinch, and unscrew anything else you might run into. Usually you’ll find a screwdriver with a good variety of bits inside of the handle or attached somehow. I cannot stress how important it is to get a good screwdriver; this will see a lot of use even when you’re not painting. Maybe some of you folk out there never lose a bit but it seems no matter how I try, I’m always losing at least one and it’s usually the bit I need at any given moment is the one I’ve lost. So it’s not a bad idea to buy a screwdriver that where the bits retract from the handle, this’ll save you the major hassle of losing or misplacing bits.

Small Hammer

Okay, I am no carpenter so I can’t really give a good analysis on hammers. But occasionally you’ll run into a situation where you need a hammer to give something a good whack. It might be something that’s been stuck together with paint, or something that’s well stuck to a surface. Either way it’s a good idea to keep a small hammer around just in case the need arises.

Measuring Tape

Use to measure surfaces for paint coverage, plot lines for designs, and probably a few other uses that have slipped my mind. Again you never know when you’ll need a measuring tape for a last minute change in plan or to double-check your intended plan. Plotting out designs to mask off will be virtually impossible without some kind of measuring device and a tape measure obviously works wonders. You can also use your tape measure to plan out your drop cloth placement or protective plastic usage if you are very unfamiliar with their dimensions.

Retractable-Blade

Use this for cutting a wide variety of things such as painters tape, protective plastic, and anything else. You can use your knife to dig out cracks before you fill them and also cut a good clean edge out of drywall holes before you patch them. There’s always something that needs cutting open – caulk tubes for instance.

Sanding Block

A sanding blog is a good instrument to wrap sandpaper around. This will help you to achieve an even flush surface when sanding down patches on your wall. Make sure you pickup a few packs of good quality sandpaper. I suggest you buy a few different packages; 80-grit, 150-grit and something 180-grit or above. With a good variety of grits you’ll be able to tackle any surface you might find. This is also a good item to attack extremely stubborn stains with.

Clean Rags

Clean rags are incredibly diverse and useful. From wiping your brow after an intense session with the paint roller, to cleaning off that ‘oops!’ paint drip you’ll find clean rags come in extremely handy. I suggest you pick one a large package of these as I’ve seen them used up very quickly in the hands of inexperienced painters! Definitely use these to keep yourself clean but be aware of where you are putting your dirty rags as they can transfer paint or dirt to other surfaces! One particular problem is hanging a rag from your pocket; if you happen to get paint on it then you can easily paint other surfaces!

You might not think of these as interior house painting tools but just wait until you absolutely need one and you’ll quickly realize their importance. If you don’t have something on the list go buy it. There is an impulse to skimp on these purchases but the reality is that these tools will be kicking around your house for years to come. Be sure your interior house painting tools are of a high quality and you’ll ensure your investment does not go to waste!