The Right Tools

• Dropcloths
• Heavy Duty Roller Frames
  
• Extension Poles
  
• Quality Roller Covers
• Quality Brushes
• Durable, Stable Ladder
  
• Painter's Masking Tape
• Paint Trays and Tray Liners
• Can Opener Keys (ask us and we'll give you a couple for free)

Purchase some canvas dropcloths or, at the very least, some heavy duty plastic ones. Either will protect your carpets, your hardwood floors and your furniture from paitn spills and drips--and believe me, working on a ceiling, you're probably going to have at least a couple.

Canvas or Plastic?

Plastic drops are nice for one reason: they're inexpensive and disposable. Canvas drops are great because they last for years and years and they do a great job protecting your floors or furniture from damage. One of the biggest benefits of the canvas over plastic is the fact that the canvas material will allow paint drips to soak into it. Plastic drops don't and it's not uncommon for paint drips on a plastic drop to remain wet for a long time--long enough for you to walk through it as you're working and potentially track it into places you don't want paint.

REPCOLITE'S RECOMMENDATION: Either will help protect your floors and your furniture, but if you can afford the investment, opt for the Canvas Dropcloths. They'll last you through many years of work and they will do a better job overall.

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Heavy Duty Roller Frames

A sturdy roller frame will cost you just over $6.00 and they're definitely the way to go. Sturdy frames don't spring and bend whenever you put pressure on them like the cheap, $3.00 ones do. They make it easier to apply your paint evenly and quickly and really . . . when you think about it, you can keep and use a roller frame for years and years, so a one time $6.00 investment can get you through many projects.

REPCOLITE'S RECOMMENDATION: We recommend the Wooster R015 roller frame which retails for $6.18. It works with the Wooster Sherlock extension pole system, but it also has a threaded handle so it can work with cheaper, threaded roller extensions as well.

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Extension Poles

An absolute "must-have" if you're painting ceilings is a good extension pole. If you've got an extension pole for your roller, you'll be able to roll that ceiling from the floor rather than climbing up and down a ladder. With a pole, you'll move faster, you'll get less fatigued and you'll achieve better results.

Extension Pole Options

We've got any number of extension poles at RepcoLite. To start with, we've got cheap ($3.00) 4' wooden handled extension that will do a decent job. If you need to reach higher, we've got a homeowner-grade metal adjustable pole. This pole will extend to 10' and retails for just under $7.00. This is a pole suitable for light - medium work, but it will not hold up well if you're going to be using it a lot.

The best extension pole system is manufactured by Wooster. It's called the Sherlock System and it works this way: the Wooster frames actually clip and lock into place on the Wooster extension pole. No amount of working or using the pole and frame is going to work that frame loose as can often happen when you're using a pole and frame with a standard threaded connector.

REPCOLITE'S RECOMMENDATIONS: If you're going to be doing a fair amount of painting in your home, using an extension pole, this is definitely something to look into. You can buy a 4-8 foot extension for $33.00 or so. Now, that sounds like a lot, but remember, this extension will last you for years.

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Quality Roller Covers

These tools can make all the difference in your project--and yet, they're generally overlooked by homeowners. Many times, we see customers invest in high-quality extension poles and roller frames only to skimp on the covers. The problem with this is that all the good tools in the world aren't going to help you if you've got a cheap cover.

A quality roller cover will hold more paint than a cheaper one will. It will make it easier to apply the paint and you'll have less of an "orange-peel" texture left off into the paint film than you would with a cheaper cover. A better cover carries more paint and also will not leave "roller fuzz" on your walls--you know, that annoying fuzz that cheap covers leave off into your paint film.

And really, when it comes to saving money--skimping on your roller covers is just not the way to do it. You can buy a great roller cover for under $5.00. You can buy a cheap one for just under $2.00. For $3.00 or more per cover (which probably means about $6.00 - $9.00 on an average job) you can get a quality cover that will make your job easier.

REPCOLITE'S RECOMMENDATIONS: Pretty straightforward here. Tell the folks at RepcoLite how heavy the texture is on your ceiling and have them recommend an appropriately thick, quality cover.

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Quality Brushes

What's true with roller covers is also true with brushes. So many times, we opt for the $5.00 throwaway brush over the $15.00 one. If they both did the same job, that would make sense. But they don't.

Good brushes carry more paint, they'll leave less brushstrokes, they're easier to control and they'll help you achieve quicker, sharper cut-ins. In fact, once you get good at using a quality brush, you might even graduate to the level of cutting in your rooms without using any tape at all--the way a professional painter would do it.

REPCOLITE'S RECOMMENDATIONS: Get a good, quality brush and make sure you talk to the folks in the store about the best way to clean it out and care for it.