How to Roll Paint on a Wall

A roller is a painter's best friend.

Every homeowner should learn the skill of painting with a roller. Roller frames come in different sizes and attach to extension poles. The covers on the frames, called naps, comes in several lengths and are what absorb paint onto the roller throughout the painting process. You can clean out roller naps and reuse them multiple times. The length of nap you use depends on the surface you're painting.

Things You'll Need

• Painter's plastic
• Paint
• 5-gallon bucket
• Metal roller paint screen
• Roller frame
• Roller cover nap
• Extension pole
• Masking tape

Instructions

1. Lay a piece of painter's plastic along the base of the wall.

2. Pour paint into a 5-gallon bucket and then hang a metal roller paint screen from the inner lip of the bucket.

3. Hold the handle of the paint roller in your right hand and hold the roller cover in your left hand. Mate the roller frame and the roller cover by inserting the roller into the roller cover. Push the roller cover onto the roller until it can't go any further. Screw the extension pole into the threaded handle of the roller frame until tight.

4. Wrap a piece of masking tape around the roller nap and then unwrap it to pull away any loose nap fibers. This will keep the fibers from ending up in the paint on your wall.

5. Roll the roller down the face of the metal paint screen until it dips an inch into the paint then roll it back up the screen. Roll it down and up repeatedly until the roller nap is saturated or loaded with paint.

6. Position yourself at the left corner of the wall you'll be painting with the roller in hand. Hold the extension pole with your right hand about 6 inches from the end and your left hand about 12 inches from the roller handle. Rotate the entire roller until the open side of the roller is pointing rightward. Reach up to the top of the wall and place the roller on the wall. Roll down the length of the wall and then come back up again over the same path. Roll down again overlapping a few inches into the unpainted wall. This technique will even out the roller lines created between passes.

7. Load the roller nap with paint again by dipping it down and up in the bucket. Roll excess or dripping paint off using the metal paint screen. Place the roller at the top of the wall again, overlapping the last pass by 2 inches. Roll down and up. Continue smoothing out roller lines between passes and continue applying an even coat of paint. Keep moving the paint across the wall in a rightward and up and down motion. Keep the roller loaded with wet paint throughout the process.

Tips & Warnings

• If the roller nap is making a lot of noise while going over the wall, then there isn't enough paint on the roller.

• Keep the sides of the roller free of gumming paint.

• Ensure the roller is rolling properly throughout each wall pass.