Painting stripes successfully?

[Eggman]

Just finished reading the Tool Box thread and now I am planning on adding a stripe to the wall. I've been trying to get some small stripes to come out with a clean edge and have not been repeatably successful. How do you do it? I've tried the blue tape and the green tape making sure that the edges are pressed down as much as I can.

Any tried and true methods?

TIA

 

[CombatNinja]

Easy method. Put up your tape as best you can. Then, take your background color and paint the stripe lightly. You just need enough to seal the edges of the tape. You don't want so much that it will rip up the paint when you remove it later. Let that fully dry. Now paint your stripe, wait 30 mins or so for it to start to cure and remove the tape. You should have nice clean edges.

 

[Eggman]

I knew there was a trick to it. Thanks CombatNinja. I'll give that a shot tonight.

 

[casmurbax]

Read this thread. Best thing I ever did was used the vinyl tape.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=130142&highlight=wall+stripe

I did this as well, purchased a 6 inch roll of black vinyl tape.

Use a rotary level if you can.

I will look for a picture to post.
Found some

 

[turbowoodworker]

This. I did the vinyl tape thing. Wayyyy easier than painting a straight line or worrying about masking properly.

 

[glentre]

Painting a stripe is time consuming and difficult to get crisp and even lines. I agree with others suggesting vinyl tape. I did my 30 x 38 garage with tape in about two hours total. After one year, it looks as good as the day it was installed. Just used a four foot level to pencil the lines....no laser or sophisticated measuring devices needed.

Glen

 

[Eggman]

I like the idea of the vinyl tape. However, at three rolls of it at $100 a roll, I can do a lot of painting. Only one edge of it needs to be crisp, the other will be covered by a chair rail type of trim. I have thought about a piece of trim for the top edge, but don't like the idea of two pieces of trim all the way around the garage.

 

[4xdog]

...take your background color and paint the stripe lightly. You just need enough to seal the edges of the tape...

That's a clever tip!

 

[niget2002]

I like the idea of the vinyl tape. However, at three rolls of it at $100 a roll, I can do a lot of painting. Only one edge of it needs to be crisp, the other will be covered by a chair rail type of trim. I have thought about a piece of trim for the top edge, but don't like the idea of two pieces of trim all the way around the garage.

Make your chair rail wider and paint it the stripe color.

I did one in a house where the chair rail was a piece of 1x material that ran around the room. Small piece of quarter round for the top and bottom. Painted those the stripe color and mounted them on the wall.

 

[casmurbax]

What kind of vinyl tape are you looking at that is $100 a roll? How wide of a stripe are you look for? How much area are you looking to stripe?

I bought this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0797HMTKV/?tag=atomicindus08-20

been on for 8 months no issue with it so far. $19.99 6in x 100ft roll

In the link I provided in post #4 the current price for the tape that gentleman used is currently $33.50.

In any even, no matter what you choose to do, best of luck.

 

[Eggman]

The 12" vinyl striping is $113 per 150 foot roll. I'll need 2 rolls. That's $226 plus shipping. The $300 I came up with earlier was based on three 100 foot rolls for 225 feet of wall which was a mis calculation on my part. I thought the rolls were 100 feet of vinyl.

A double trim rail is looking better all the time.

 

[6768rogues]

Fine line tape. It is like plastic masking tape, and is available on Amazon. I have striped cars with it and it leaves a perfectly clean line with no paint sneaking beneath.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

The background paint trick is exactly what I did on OSB with a fairly heavy texture and I still got a crisp line.

 

[like2wheel]

Fine line tape. It is like plastic masking tape, and is available on Amazon. I have striped cars with it and it leaves a perfectly clean line with no paint sneaking beneath.

Works great on a fender, not so much on a wall. Unless you have tin or a wall that's as smooth as a fender.

A product made for this application is Frog tape

https://www.frogtape.com

But Combatninja's solution is the tried & true method.

 

[Git]

I am with CombatNinja - Paint one of the colors past where you want your line to be, apply the tape and then seal the edge of the tape to the wall with a light coat of that color of paint. Paint your stripe with the other color and pull the tape while it is still wet, if you can

 

[Skiff Builder]

Fine line tape for me too.Did not have time to wait for a tape sealing coat of enamel to dry. Working on a non skid surface is an extra challenge. I’ve also used electric tape with success.Frog tape didn't work well with enamel/alkyd.Lots of stripes= good practice.