paint touch-ups on walls

[Anonymous]

DS taped up a picture to the wall and ripped it off, which took off some paint with it. It was painter's tape so I'm surprised it happened, but anyway, now we have a small bad-looking area on the living room wall. If I got a sample size can of the paint (I know the paint color and brand), and touched it up, would it look ok? The paint is like 4 years old and I don't know if it faded. If it works, any tips on kinds of brush to use and best technique for making it blend in?

[Anonymous]

Unless the paint is completely flat, you would need to paint the whole wall. There's no way to "touch up" a wall if there's any sheen to the paint.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unless the paint is completely flat, you would need to paint the whole wall. There's no way to "touch up" a wall if there's any sheen to the paint.

The finish is eggshell. I really don't want to paint the whole wall, it's big! No way to touch it up very carefully so it's not noticeable except on close inspection?

[Anonymous]

If it’s the same brand and sheen it should be fine. Don’t start with the whole wall unless you notice its not matching. Use a roller (you can buy a tiny roller with a little tray in a touch up kit).

If the tape pulled away the paper from the wall you might need to sparkle. Either way, use a sanding sponge to soften the edges of the missing spot before you paint.

[Anonymous]

It will show. The best you can do is use the same kind of roll you used when you painted the wall, and make sure your paint is mixed very well. But the fact that eggshell is difficult to touch up is the reason why I use high quality matte paint (BM aura).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless the paint is completely flat, you would need to paint the whole wall. There's no way to "touch up" a wall if there's any sheen to the paint.

The finish is eggshell. I really don't want to paint the whole wall, it's big! No way to touch it up very carefully so it's not noticeable except on close inspection?

Not really, though under certain lighting or angles it would be less noticeable. I would notice it though (and from far away), as would any professional painter.

[Anonymous]

Paint touch ups are a myth - you can always see them
If it was just painted, use paint from the same can and put on as little as possible and use one of those cheap sponge brushes to try and blend it in using as little paint as possible - you may have to do 2-3 coats.

Samples are usually in eggshell I think so you need to know what kind of paint you used. Don't you still have some paint leftover? If not, you just need to paint the entire wall. If it's been 4 years it probably has other marks too. You do not need to paint any other walls but make sure you match the finish.

[Anonymous]

A professional picture installer that we used recommended using a q-tip to dab and touch-up the wall

[Anonymous]

Get a quart.

[Anonymous]

You can touch it up so the white showing through isn't as obvious, but it will still look glaringly obvious in certain light. I have tried many times.

The best thing to do is hang another picture over the spot.

[Anonymous]

Do the wall you lazy

[Anonymous]

No, it so t look good. Do you have extra paint from when the wall was painted? Use that.

[Anonymous]

I am so ocd about stuff like this in general but I touch up walls and don’t think it’s noticeable. I’ve done it with Benjamin moore eggshell and flat and SW. Make sure it’s the same paint, prime if appropriate, use a big roller and feather out the area. Two coats. Voila.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so ocd about stuff like this in general but I touch up walls and don’t think it’s noticeable. I’ve done it with Benjamin moore eggshell and flat and SW. Make sure it’s the same paint, prime if appropriate, use a big roller and feather out the area. Two coats. Voila.

Agreed. I’ve touched up many spots. No big deal if you sand it down, feather it out and use the original paint.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It will show. The best you can do is use the same kind of roll you used when you painted the wall, and make sure your paint is mixed very well. But the fact that eggshell is difficult to touch up is the reason why I use high quality matte paint (BM aura).

Second this. Best paint!