Painting - Painted room...couple of questions...assistance needed

My buddy and I painted the living room in his new townhome last night. We painted a light beige color (SW Softer Tan) over the builder's satin-finish white walls. The walls are a knockdown texture (medium to thick texture). We used 3/4" nap 50/50 (lambswool/poly) Purdy rollers and SW Superpaint in satin. We painted with a 5 gallon bucket & grid. We used extension poles for both rollers and made sure to use even pressure and to NOT apply the paint too thin. We backrolled over each area to smooth the finish. The poles made the job VERY quick and VERY easy.

Overall, the room came out good. Our coverage was very even for the most part (except for a spot or two that came out thin). However, after stopping up there today to see how the room looked, you could see several tiny pinhole white spots all over the walls where the paint just didn't quite get in the crevices. You have to get very close to see them, but they are there. We're not talking about applying the paint too thin - just spots where paint didn't quite make it.

So I have a couple of questions. We're going to paint his entire townhome as well as mine after I close next month, so I really want to perfect our technique/supplies.

1. Would we have been better off with 1" rollers to get the paint in the crevices a little better? Or should we have just applied a little more pressure with the roller? Once again, we made sure to use very even pressure, kept our rollers wet, and backrolled everything, but there are tiny pinhole spots in the knockdown texture that are still completely white. The pinhole spots are throughout the entire room and you have to get very close to see them.

2. Providing we don't repaint the entire room right now to fix #1 above but still want to touch up the couple of thin spots from rolling too thinly in a spot or two...will it look like crap if we were to just touch those up without putting a second coat on the entire wall? I've heard that satin is difficult to touch up without redoing the whole wall.

3. We used 2" angled Purdy brushes to cut in where the ceiling & walls meet but found that it's very difficult to get a straight line without getting very slight amounts of paint on the very edge of the ceiling. I suspect it would be easier if the walls weren't textured, but because of the texture, you really have to "work" the paint in when trimming with a brush. As a result, the trim lines aren't quite as "clean" as they could be. Would we have better luck using some kind of a straight edge against the ceiling to keep the lines cleaner? Or maybe even a tiny artist's brush of some sort? Suggestions?

Thanks so much for your help!!

#1 Without seeing the wall texture I believe 3/4" was the correct size cover to use. It may have been in your rolling technique. On rough surfaces it is best to first smear the paint on, really loading paint onto the wall, after maybe 2-3 roller's worth of paint smeared on you then backroll it to even it out. This helps the paint to flow into all the crevices helping to give complete coverage.

#2 It is hard to say if it will touch up. I would try and see, if it doesn't blend in then repaint that wall - if necesarry you can thin the paint for the recoat.

#3 This one is kind of hard to answer. You used a good brush but I suspect you lack the experience for this type of cut in. With practice you will get better at it. It is possible a straight edge may help you but remember that because of the texture, the straight edge won't fit tightly against the wall/ceiling. Sometimes dragging a puttknife edge across the wall/ceiling edge will create a line easier to cut to.

hope this helps

#1
It is hard to tell from here, but doubtful a 1" would have made a difference
#2
I don't have a problem touching up satin
Heck I can touch up glossy oil paint
I use a light touch and roll a larger area than just the touch up area to blend better
#3
If you can get a straight edge in there it may help, but you can't rely on it to gice you a straight line
I don't do this myself, but perhaps a smaller brush may be the thing for you to touch this type of thing up

#1
I haven't painted many textured walls, but I've painted quite a few popcorn ceilings. I always apply two coats. For me, one coat just won't cover well on popcorn (e.g. you get pinholes).

#2
As Slick said, touching up takes a light touch. With practice you'll get a feel for it.

#3
An artist's bush may work, but it may be a very slow process. A straight edge could help with cutting in, but as Mark said the straight edge won't fit tightly. I like Mark's suggestion of using a putty knife. Try a 6" or 8" putty or joint knife. It should be easier to handle that a long straight edge. You'll probably need to wipe it often as paint is bound to bleed behind the edge.

Also, a good paint store will have a variety of edging tools that are popular with DIYers.

Actually what I meant was to take the edge of a putty knife and score a line along the wall/ceiling edge. Sometimes this will give you a better edge/line to cut to. Whenever cutting in uneven surfaces you usually have to search for the way [s] that works best for that particular job.

Actually what I meant was to take the edge of a putty knife and score a line along the wall/ceiling edge.

Makes sense. Thanks!!

Thanks for everyone's suggestions!!

as for question 1, maybe move to a lambs wool nap?? doesn't seem to mat down nearly as bad, anyone else agree?

I always prefer 100% lambswool covers. IMO the 50% lambs wool covers are no better than the 100% synthetic covers. A lot depends on what you are used to. Since I only use lambs wool I get good results but struggle when using synthetic covers. The same might be true for those who always use synthetic since they are a lot different.

As for question #1, I believe that it was rolling technique more so than choice of covers.

As for question #1, I believe that it was rolling technique more so than choice of covers.
I would concur
At this point seems proper length and good quality covers were used
I don't think a switch to 100%s would make a difference