BACK-ROLLING – IS IT RIGHT FOR MY JOB?

BACK-ROLLING – IS IT RIGHT FOR MY JOB? If you want to paint your house, and you are looking for information, it is possible you have heard the term back-rolling. When thinking of back-rolling many questions may come to mind. Is this something good for painting? Do you need to back-roll your house? Does it cost more, and if so how much more?

Back-rolling is done after spraying a wall, a painter would then immediately use a paint roller and go over the freshly painted wall to “back-roll” the paint into the substrate being painted. There are back-rolling techniques used to prevent roller marks, and uneven sheen spots. Professional painters that know how to use an airless sprayer and back-roll can make the job go quickly, but if it is done wrong, it can leave uneven marks on the paint, this is most common on a non-porous

surface such as metal. Paint Pals recommends back-rolling only on very porous substrates. This is because the roller can help work the paint into the small nooks and crannies, helping to give uniformity to the sheen and fill any small cracks and holes with paint.

If you need to use a primer on a porous or rough substrate it is common to recommend back-rolling the primer, this will help for the primer to adhere to the surface and give a uniform surface for the paint to be applied. Sometimes backrolling is only needed on the primer coat, and not the finish coat of paint, it just depends on what you are painting. Back-rolling is commonly used for masonry surfaces like cinder block, stucco, brick, stone, and cement. A substrate with a lot of texture on the surface, such as old wood with rough grain can also benefit from back-rolling.

A professional painter can tell you if your home or business would benefit from back-rolling, and provide reasons as to why or why not. If you need a professional opinion, call Paint Pals and we can send an estimator to take a look.