Painting driving me mad

[Nightfox]

I decided to paint the living room 3 days ago, not a pro by any means, but have done my fair share of painting without issue. I decorated this same room 2 years ago and it was fine. I bought some Dulux Apple White paint, this is the same color that was already on, so more of a freshen up. Applied first coat, and was happy that all 4 walls didn't need a second coat. It looked clean fresh and awesome.

I sat down and as the TV was reflecting off the main wall, I saw some roller streaks, I went over them right away, this was the day after. That night after it had dried fully, the streaks was there still. But different ones. I applied another touch up with a fluffly type roller and it looked a mess, so I redid the whole wall. This is a pain as the living room has been put back in place now so had to move half of it out, after coat 2, everything moved back in place, it looked perfect looking at it side on etc. This morning it's dried streaky as hell again!! I have stuck to the same fluffy roller ( used a new roller each time) same paint, why will it not go on the wall with smooth finish? The other 3 walls only 1 coat and I found 1 small streak which is not noticable, but the main wall is driving me mad. I dont wanna do the whole damn wall a 3 rd time, is there any tips for touching up steaks? The wall looks greasy even though its cleanly painted, and you can see where my roller has moved (if that makes sense) I used same ammount of paint on roller and went in diff directions, never had this happen before.

 

[emilybronte]

Presumably you stirred the paint well before use?

Were you painting over painted plaster, or painted lining paper?

How did you prepare the wall before painting this time?

If you post a photo of the streaks, someone may be able to diagnose exactly where you're going wrong.

 

[Nightfox]

It's just a plain wall, wallpaper was never on it, and it was white (primed?) when we moved in, we rollered it and it looked perfect. A few years after we did the same thing, and it was fine then, but this time, I have now done 6 coats of paint, and its cost a fortune and the wall is a mess, I was told to use paint pads instead of rollers, I tried this on coat 4 and it did not help. I have just done another coat with a roller, and lobbed the paint on thick, but its drying before my eyes streaky as anything.

I feel dumb not being able to paint a simple wall, but the other 3 walls are fine! The main wall does get all the light so maybe Its picking it up more, but no matter what I do, how I load the paint, or what directions and intensity I use, the wall will not smooth out.

The coat I did just now I used paint pads for all the edges, and roller in the rest, but the pads gone on thicker than roller so I have a nice border round it all! I may just knock this wall down and be done with it.

 

[emilybronte]

Oh dear! How frustrating.

The only think I can think of is that the surface of that wall is uneven, or greasy/contaminated for some reason.

Next suggestion:

Buy some Zinssser Gardz and apply two coats (it will act as a sealant).

Then buy a sheepskin roller (about £10) and a decent cutting-in brush (at least 3" wide) and chuck out the paint pads. You will get a much better finish and if looked after properly they will last you years.

What kind of paint are you using (make, finish, colour?)

 

[Nightfox]

Okkkk I finally managed to get a near perfect coat on the wall, I have noticed there are very small pin like holes around the middle of the wall that seems to be absorbing more paint, I applied it slightly thicker here and it is spot on. Buuttttt I have a small problem. When looking at it side on its flawless now, except for one small area I didn't apply more paint where these pin holes are. My misses told me to leave it be as it looked fine, but when she went to the store, I got a mini roller and applied a very thin touch up in this area, it looks perfect now, but when you look side on, you can see slight mini roller marks lmao. Duuhhhh. My final question is this:

Is there anyways I can feather out this very small area (in middle of the wall so needs covering) without doing the whole wall? What about a very thin application with a brush? Any ideas? I can't cope to do this whole wall again and if there is a trick to the trade for smoothing out a slight smudge without doing the whole wall I will owe you my world lol!

 

[emilybronte]

No. Put a picture over it. Your wife is right, so stop obsessing and pay her some attention instead. She is more important than a wall.

 

[WabbitPoo]

OCD can be a marriage-wrecker. Stop it now.

 

[Solyom]

No. Put a picture over it