How do I get dark blue paint to cover a wall evenly?

Question

I am painting my son's room a dark blue. St. Louis Cardinals Navy blue to be exact. We have put on four coats and the walls are still not covered. You can see light spots showing through and where the edges of the rollers where as we rolled on the paint. Any suggestions? Would a roller with a rough nap give the wall a little texture and cover up the lights and darks?

Answer 1

If you didn't prime, you should have, with primer tinted to close to the dark blue. If you used cheap paint, that could explain some of this lack of coverage. A roller with more nap could help; if the one you have been using was one for smooth walls, move up to a semi-smooth. A rough surface roller won't give texture if you use it right, it's only meant to get the paint into a rougher surface, and it will hold more paint. You may be not using enough paint. Don't try to stretch it out. Refresh the paint on the roller often, and roll it out once it's on the wall. To avoid roller marks, I often find it's helpful to work with the edge of the roller that has the least pressure on it pointing towards the new paint. If you have the other edge towards the new paint, it tends to leave ridges if you press too hard in an attempt to make the paint cover.

Answer 2

You probably didn't paint it right. When painting with roller brushes, you don't just go up and down directly. You're supposed to paint with a "Y" shape. for example, going diagonally upward to the right, comingback down the same way, and then going back upward to the left.

Answer 3

Assuming you primered...

You need to "cut-in" as many times as you roll. Otherwise you'll never get that overall finished look. Also, let each coat dry entirely - very important.

Good paint is also important. This is not a sales pitch, but I stick with Behr.

Answer 4

Four coats is a lot.  Try just going over the light spots, let it dry and see where you are.  Make sure walls are completely dry before applying more coats, wet paint can be decieving.

Good Luck!

Answer 5

I have found that when you want to either paint a dark color over a light color or vice versa, you need a primer that has been tinted to almost the same color as the shade you want to acheive.  I tried painting my kitchen red and after 8, yes 8 coats, you could still see through it.

A good hardware store would have suggested this when you got the paint mixed.