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This isn't a really hard question to answer. It's a matter of common sense. If you are not good at painting, you can always hire a handyman who may charge a lot less for the job that a professional who does it exclusively for a living. A professional uses all the same basic painting tools like anyone else, and applies the paint just like any one else can.

The big difference is that the professional knows how to roll out the paint so that it is distributed evenly in any given area where they are applying the paint. There is method to doing the job right, and with a little practice, anyone can do a decent job, or even a very professional looking job at that.

I can take a ceiling that has heat stains from the radiators along that part of the wall, and also light smudge marks etc. as well as losing its bright look, and use regular paint to get a one coat, totally even looking job done. It's a matter of making sure you use enough to do a one square yard at a time, and making sure that you do not overlap a heavy coated area with more paint. This is where many run into trouble. They don't work the paint so that it evenly fills the space, and worse, they do not feather the paint that will be covered with another light coat as they begin the next square yard of painting.

All the edges of where you leave off should be feathered so that when you apply more paint, its lightly rolled over the feathered part so that the paint is applied evenly without any tell tale signs of overlap. To do two coats when one could do the job is only a waste of time and money. I have had professional painters who I hire from time to time when they are in dire need of work, and cut the costs drastically, look at the work I've done, and ask who did such a good job. When I tell them I did it, and used only one coat, they look at me as though I'm blowing smoke.

That told me a lot about professional painters. All professional painters are not the same, and if I can do it right with one coat, and a professional who does it for a living uses two coats, then there is something wrong. I know that it sounds impossible to use only one coat without it showing up miserably, but it's true. It's all about how much you apply and how you work it in so that it's evenly distributed.

By painting a square yard at a time, you apply the paint within that yard with a big X, and then some between the areas of the X. Then it's rolled so that all the paint you applied first can be evened out as you roll the paint. Keep rolling in that one spot until there are no uneven rolls, or overlaps. Then feather the edges so as to be able to apply another coat of paint a little bit away from the feathered edge, and then begin rolling the paint towards and over the feathered edges so as to give a very non overlapped, and even look.

The feathering is another aspect of it, in that it allows for only one coat, because it simply doesn't show overlaps if it's done correctly. If you have money to waste, then by all means get a professional. But be prepared to spend hundreds if not thousands for a job that would only cost you for the materials and paint. As one who has mastered the art of one coat painting, I can understand how difficult it is to believe that it can be done, and with regular paint as well.

This is because I use to get frustrated in my early attempts to get it right. But like anything else, practice makes perfect, and if you practice and it's not perfect, then you can always hire someone who can get it right.

Learn more about this author, Richard Serra.
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