How to handle residential interior paint touch-ups

[vavet]

If you have any of the original paint and it hasn't been too long, that's the best case scenario. Some people say you can never do a perfect touch up job unless you paint the whole wall. A landlord I had in college showed me how to feather the edges. You might be able to find it, but it's not going to jump out at you.

What about the paint itself. Don't really want to buy a gallon when you need a pint, but sometimes that's the only way to get the same base. If you match the finish (eggshell, satin, etc) is that good enough?

I'm going to conduct a little test. I have two rooms to touch up in two different colors. For the bedroom, I bought a gallon of the identical paint when the room was painted about 10 years ago. That was a Sherwin Williams color. The other is a Benjamin Moore color. I bought the color sample jar intended just to try out a color for that one. At least it is eggshell. I might've wasted $7 on the sample or I might've wasted $40 on the gallon.

 

[P0234]

As long as it is the same sheen and the color is even close, you'll be fine. I've had really good luck with HD's paint match system, even on difficult colors. But as you said, the key is to feather the edges. No one is going to spot the difference. Worst case you paint a whole wall, but I've never had to do that. Also dirty walls might be a problem, you're not going to match dirt very well.

Now crappy drywall work, that definitely stand out.

 

[rlitman]

Home Depot will mix you a sample size of their Behr Marquee paint in ANY sheen. Every other place I've tried only stocks one sheen of sample bottles, and who knows what sort of paint is in them. Now I'll say that I'm not a huge fan of Behr's paints, but at least you can get a semi-gloss sample of it when that's what you want.

 

[Monza Harry]

I've only used same brand and type, not always from the same original can [commercial setting they always had paint for remodels and touch up. To feather what I did [and neither I nor the boss could find the repair after it was dry,] was to just brush/roll/ back roll after brushing and then with the lightest dip in the paint was to "dab" the brush radiating out from the repair to thin the paint as we moved further from the repair [No Brushing at all] to create a "Dot Matrix" kind of repair over paint to blend the new and old paint. If that isn't clear I can take another run at that explanation later. Harry

 

[vavet]

I've only used same brand and type, not always from the same original can [commercial setting they always had paint for remodels and touch up. To feather what I did [and neither I nor the boss could find the repair after it was dry,] was to just brush/roll/ back roll after brushing and then with the lightest dip in the paint was to "dab" the brush radiating out from the repair to thin the paint as we moved further from the repair [No Brushing at all] to create a "Dot Matrix" kind of repair over paint to blend the new and old paint. If that isn't clear I can take another run at that explanation later. Harry

Makes sense to me.

The successfulness of inconspicuous touchups might also hinge on the depth of color. I think dark colors will be harder to hide than lighter colors. Better lit rooms will be easier to find.
The first color I touched up was a purplish-light gray in a bedroom. That's where I bought the gallon. The touchups look great.
The other color is a silvery-blue. I used the sample can from the Benjamin Moore store for this one. It's in the kitchen with better lighting than the bedroom. It might not be as scrubable. It might not hold up as well. It's certainly not obvious where I did the touchups.

 

[Monza Harry]

Makes sense to me.

The successfulness of inconspicuous touchups might also hinge on the depth of color. I think dark colors will be harder to hide than lighter colors. Better lit rooms will be easier to find.
The first color I touched up was a purplish-light gray in a bedroom. That's where I bought the gallon. The touchups look great.
The other color is a silvery-blue. I used the sample can from the Benjamin Moore store for this one. It's in the kitchen with better lighting than the bedroom. It might not be as scrubable. It might not hold up as well. It's certainly not obvious where I did the touchups.

This was a beige-ish colour very neutral [commercial standard kind of hue], so, in a staircase with poor light good hiding scenario, but even with a light with a long angle it didn't show I forget how many "Dab outs" I did but definitely more than 1 (3-4 IIRC)

 

[P0234]

I've only used same brand and type, not always from the same original can [commercial setting they always had paint for remodels and touch up. To feather what I did [and neither I nor the boss could find the repair after it was dry,] was to just brush/roll/ back roll after brushing and then with the lightest dip in the paint was to "dab" the brush radiating out from the repair to thin the paint as we moved further from the repair [No Brushing at all] to create a "Dot Matrix" kind of repair over paint to blend the new and old paint. If that isn't clear I can take another run at that explanation later. Harry

I do something similar with a roller. You just run the roller dry in a circle around the repair. Once you are happy with the repair, just keep rolling out from the center without adding any paint to the roller.