Painting in the South

What is it about painting in the South? So far I'm 1 for 3 since moving here in the acceptable paint projects department. The one that was okay took tons of prep and was done at the beginning of summer, so I guess there weren't any extremes of temperature or humidity.

I painted the front door of my old house in the spring. Mistake. It looked great from the road, but it was a drippy, blobby mess. At first I thought it was because I was being too heavy with the first coat, so I figured I'd keep going, apply the paint in a really, really thin coat, then go back when everything was dry, sand down the drips and give the door one last good coat. Ha. It wasn't me - it was the humidity. As I continued painting I realized no matter how carefully I applied the paint it was sliding in blobby drips down the door. I made it worse by trying to go back over them and "fix" them. By the time I got done with that damn door the last thing I wanted to do was go back and sand it and paint some more. So I just left it. And then I sold the house. Problem solved.

Okay, now I'm just wanting to paint an accent color on the parts of my dining room walls that aren't trimmed out. It's cold out, but it's not humid, plus we're indoors, unlike the front door project. So I tape everything off and even prime. This whole thing is taking me days because I'm alternately running by Home Depot after work, taping, priming, painting, etc.

Now, I do learn from experience. Unfortunately, I usually have to have the same experience at least a couple of times before I remember it. I finally start painting my accent color, a mustardy-carmely kind of yellow, and I'm about 1/3 of the way through with the first coat when I look back over where I started and to see those familiar blobs of paint sliding down the wall. Damn it. So do I realize I haven't got good conditions to paint in? Of course not. Just like the last time I think I'm being too heavy-handed with the paint, so I keep painting and try really hard to spread it thin. Fortunately, this time it doesn't take me long to realize what's going on and for the whole red front door fiasco to come rushing back. I wash my brush out and give up for the night.

I was eager to try this paint. It's a new Behr Flat Enamel. So, in theory, you can get all sorts of ickies on it and just scrub it clean, similar to glossy paint. Except it doesn't look tacky or highlight every imperfection in your walls. Sara has a bad habit of running up and down the walls, rubbing her body all the way, which has created a greyhound-level ring around the living room. If this stuff proves itself in the dining room then I'll paint the whole living room with it.

Anyway, now in the dining room there are blobbies in the paint. And I don't feel like going back and sanding. It would have helped if I'd started in the far corner, but no - I've got to pick the most conspicuous spot to screw up. I figured out that if I ran the space heater in the dining room it would help, so the second third went a lot better and I put a first coat on the last third tonight. I'll finish it tomorrow or Sunday. I probably should go back and sand down the blobs and redo them, but I dunno. I've really got better things to do. Unlike the front door paint, this surface is flat and the blobs aren't glaringly obvious...especially when you turn the dimmer waaaay down ; )