Paint Trays

[singeman]

Does anybody know if it's possible to buy a paint tray in Thailand. I am in Aranyaprathet and have been to 3 paint suppliers in town. When I try to tell them what I want, they look at me gone out, even my crude drawing is looked at in bemusement. Please help...

[thatguy]

Hard to find, I got some at my local village paint shop, but the big stores had none. The locals seem to paint out of a 5 gal bucket with a whatever they can find thing to roll out the excess paint stuck inside.

[SiangDeeMahk]

I've bought them at HomePro(s) in Bangkok, and nowhere else. (small paintshops/ hardware stores dont seem to ever have them)

Also nearly impossible to find (as a painting accessory): a thin clear plastic painter's sheet/tarp to protect floors/furniture/etc.

Ended up getting a wide roll of thick plastic blue-woven sheeting, and cut off large peices of it, to suit. (it's the same stuff Thais use as an overhead raintarp (temporary roof). A huge roll of it was quite cheap, in a local hardware store. And it's quite sturdy stuff, so it all can be reused for other tasks, afterwards.

[longball53098]

If you ever watched a "professional" Thai painter in action you will see they almost never put drop cloths down to cover the area. If they do need to cover something they will find what ever is available laying around,,,,,,,,,and then only cover one spot and when they move to the next spot they are too lazy to mover the cover,,,,,,,,,,,,blue tarps work Ok for those of us that drop paint from time to time.

The painter's union here does not require covering anything,,,,,,,,that job is up to the homeowner

[bankruatsteve]

Paint trays for sure in Home Pro; also masking tape and the plastic rolls. If you reallly need the tray, be sure to leave it on the floor and avoid stepping on it.

[SiangDeeMahk]

If you ever watched a "professional" Thai painter in action you will see they almost never put drop cloths down to cover the area. If they do need to cover something they will find what ever is available laying around,,,,,,,,,and then only cover one spot and when they move to the next spot they are too lazy to mover the cover,,,,,,,,,,,,blue tarps work Ok for those of us that drop paint from time to time.

The painter's union here does not require covering anything,,,,,,,,that job is up to the homeowner

I'm not a pro painter (Thai, or otherwise). But I can manage to do a pretty decent job of keeping paint off of things while painting walls, doors, windows or trim with nothing but a few sheets of the daily newpaper (once I get it pried out of my GF's fingers!) and at least a basic command of brush technique..

But ceilings? That's a totally different story. I can find plenty of clever ways to bend the laws of gravity to my advantage while painting virtually anything, EXCEPT ceilings.

So for that, I simply HAD to find tarps to use (especially in an already furnished apartment with some fabric upholstery).

[Pib]

Here in the Bangkok/surrounding area paint trays can be bought at HomePro, Global, Homeworks, etc. But when I see Thai's painting large or small scale projects it is almost always dipping the roller or brush directly into the bucket, with little to no protective covering on the floor/ground. Paint drop cloths/plastic sheets can also be bought in the mentioned stores, but don't be surprised if there is a small drop cloth/plastic sheets selection...actually don't be surprised if they are out of stock due to such a low normal stockage level...wouldn't want to sell too many you know. But they always have plenty of tarps which can bought at a higher price to serve the purpose.

Edited December 3, 2010 by Pib

[pipo1000]

Ok let me be the one with the dumb question.What is wrong with using the 5 gallon bucket as a tray?

My thoughts are that if you roll over the wall a few times the paint is spread equally anyway.

[Pib]

Nothing, except trying to get the paint evening spread around the roller and excess paint off a roller before lifting it out of the bucket to the surface to be painted...drip...drip...drip onto the floor/ground the paint goes. Driip...drip...drip outside on the ground might be OK; drip...drip...drip inside on the floor ain't so OK.

[longball53098]

I found a plastic tray here in the local paint shop but really a poor purchase. The tray interior is too slippery to allow you to roll the roller properly to spread the paint on the roller. It has some ridges in it but still to slippery.

What is needed is what the pros use. A special wire mesh unit that hooks over the side of the 5 gallon can. It hangs inside the can and is designed to allow you to dip the roller in the can and then roll it on the wire mesh to even out the paint on the roller. Any paint shop or hardware store in the USA most likely has them,,,,,,,,,,I asked here and got the usual blank stares. I then glanced at the plastic bag on the new roller and it even had a picture of one of these screens and I showed them in the shop and again got the blank stares plus the mai mee.

I was going to make one but just ended up dipping the roller in the can and taking care not to drip between can and wall. On this web site they have a huge choice and they call them bucket grids

Bucket Grids

[SiangDeeMahk]

just ended up dipping the roller in the can and taking care not to drip between can and wall.

That's great.. now try that "taking care not to drip" trick while painting an apartment's entire ceiling, 2 coats, in an already furnished room with no dropcloths.

(or better yet, don't try it; it'll make a horrendous mess)

You still NEED dropcloths (bucket grid smoothing devices or not), when painting ceilings in already occupied apartments.

[NewLookIPD]

Try lining your plastic tray with aluminum foil - when in Thailand, either import or improvise!

[wpcoe]

I had a Thai friend of a friend whose dad was a professional painter help me when I did the first remodel of my condo. He would load up the roller, slowly lift it to the ceiling and roll the paint on -- without getting a single drop or even droplet on the floor! I was amazed. I watched him closely and still couldn't figure out how he managed that. He was also so detailed that he went along each ceiling-to-wall joint with artist paintbrushes to get the line between the colors EXACTLY perfect.

The only time I attempted to roll paint on a ceiling *I* was covered with spatter.

And, when using a "bucket grid" with the large (5 gallon?) buckets of paint, how do you get started? Do you pour the top several inches of paint into some other container? If you simply put the grid in a new bucket, how does it work?

[quiksilva]

I picked some up last week at Home Pro, it came with a roller for a few hundred Baht. Nothing special but got the job done.

[longball53098]

Recommend if using the grid in a 5 gallon bucket get a used one and clean it out and put the grid in that bucket and only pour in enough paint to a reasonable level most likely less than half the bucket