In Praise of the Precise Line
Anybody who has ever restored an old house will know of what I speak: the imprecise line.
Few things are worse.
For, no matter how beautiful the colors of your walls, no matter how luscious your draperies are, or no matter how artfully designed your decor is, imprecise lines will ruin everything.
And what the Hell, you may be asking, is an imprecise line?
This is when old paint is glopped on the edges of trim. And what was originally a precise line becomes, over time, an imprecise line.
Oh. The. Horror.
In the Cross House, the high base, luckily, has an easily removed upper strip. Before painting the walls the strip is removed. The walls are then painted. The strip is refinished. And when all is done the strip is replaced. Note the — I shudder with pleasure — precise line. (Note: wall color not accurate.)
When trim cannot easily be removed, extra extra extra caution is required when painting. A high-quality brush, with an angled edge, makes this a billion times easier. (Note: wall color accurate.)
All the vertical trim at windows and doors must be carefully scraped of glopped-on old paint. But the results are worth it.
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Oooooooo…… precise lines are important!!
Imprecise lines are just an assault on the senses!
I’m dealing with this on the outside of my place at the moment, I am wanting the trim to pop from the body color and it is so hard to get both paint colors to match at a semi straight line. It is worth it though, even if your like me and use a tiny little artist brush to get those lines close. Once you stand back and see it…the results are oh so worth the time..
I like crisp, precise lines on my exterior work too. I even cut in along tbr profile of siding where it meets vertical trim.
I often find it easiest to paint the trim color first, and overlap it somewhat onto the siding, then paint tbr siding and cut in the line then. This works especially well with clapboard siding
Pretty much read my mind on how I am doing it! Of course I have to touch up after the body color is applied, no matter how careful I am…I always seem to splash some on the trim…
I agree, there is no other way to really paint the trim on Clap siding…I am sure some people try but it is near impossible in my mind…
Great post! Nothing worse than imprecise lines! You are so good and wonderfully detailed. Cross House is looking amazing!!!
I find myself marveling repeatedly over your dexterity and control. Do you do any of the fine arts, Ross, like sculpture, painting, or modeling? Anything?