paint
I put that painters tape on the edges by the ceiling and cut in next to it (overlapping the tape with the paint somewhat).
A couple of hours later, I pull the tape, and small sections of paint come off with it. How do I avoid this?
Is it sufficient to just take a small brush afterward and touch up the area? It always seems to look crappier.
In the end, I ended up using DRYLOK® LATEX CONCRETE FLOOR PAINT
It's holding up well so far, we'll see how it does over the next few years.
Double sided tape has a drawback. Well, it has two drawbacks.
Having said that, you probably tore off more than just a layer of paint. I'll bet you actually tore off the surface layer of paper on the drywall.
Can you repair this by just painting over the spot? Well, it depends. Will anyone ever look at it? Sorry, but it will be painfully obvious what you did. So this depends on how critical the observer is. If I was your landlord and I saw a poorly done patch when you were moving out, I'd mutter a few obscenities under my breath, then quietly mention to you about how you just forfeited your security deposit.
The problem is that paint won't match that well. The color difference will be obvious. Plus, due to the hole in the surface, there will be small shadows that will be quite obvious, so you will need to fill in the surface so it is smooth, BEFORE painting. Anyway, if you tried to paint in just that small area with a brush, one would easily see the texture differences from painting with a brush compared to what was an original roller applied paint surface.
All of this means you really will need to spackle over the hole, feathering it out over the surface of the wall at least a few inches in each direction, and then sand smooth. Once you have done this far enough out, repainting the entire wall will make sense anyway.
Lessons to be learned:
Best Answer
Mistakes are bound to happen, and yes you can touch it up with a very small crafting paintbursh (like the ones kids use for waterpainting). You will probably never notice.
The best solution however, is to not use painters tape on corners and ceilings. Typically in professional painting, tape is not used. If you use a small 2" cutting paintbrush, and apply by pulling the paintbursh at an angle toward you, keeping the smallest amount of bristles near the corner / edge, you will be fine. The only time i apply painters tape is around trim - and this is more to prevent drippings and splatter, than to protect a clean edge.
If you get paint on the opposite wall using this tapeless method, it is most easily corrected by fixing it immediately when the pain it still wet. Simple use a all-in-one paint tool (or a putty knife) with a damp cloth (i use old t-shirts) pulled tight over the edge, then scrape away the paint that got on the opposing wall.