What color is it? What paint is it?

It's true, many pastel colors make it difficult to hide the cut in. When using pastels it's best to cut and roll each wall over tinted primer.

Never attempt to cover a white or dark with a pastel color, prime it first.

1. Prime the wall with similar pastel color.
2. Cut in no more than 1" from corner and 2" from ceiling line.
3. Roll on paint immediately following the cut in. Be sure nap is overlapping most of the cut in. You want to hide the brush marks.

When using yellows or blues, I brush then roll the cut in with a 4" roller, then proceed to lay paint on the wall or I roll the entire wall and then cut in the last inch or so. Whatever it takes to conceal the brushed areas.

Painting with pastel colors requires more finesse, therefore should always be upgraded in price.

How to fix it? Roll on a third coat without the cut in. Maybe.

He was able to paint another coat of "cut In" with a brush and altho the sheen seemed a little shiner (same can of paint) it was not two shades off like before..but what seemed odd was the brush cut in was way darker...and the roll lighter..when he brushed another cut in (which to me would have made it darker) it lightened it up to match the wall.thanks..

It sounds like he's rolling too thinly, and the "dark" is full coverage where brush coverage overlaps roller coverage.

Unless he's trying to cover a dark paint with a pastel, in which case a high-hide white primer is needed before the pastel coats.

I cut in a wide swath - 4-6 inches, feathering it out well, let it dry, then roll the walls in roughly 3x3 sections, re-filling the roller with each section. I feather the roller sections into the edges and into each other so there are no hard lines.

I'm having this experience with white (over off white) ; using primer in paint (Sherwin Williams). This is my first independent effort. Thanks for possible options. It seems maybe "4 rolls" per wall + will be needed?? Someone started the job for me and "2 rolls" per wall + is not cutting it.

^^^ What he said ... It's all about the number of layers.

And I forgot about the feathering by tipping the roller - I do it

I don't do 2 coats when I cut in, because brush coverage is heavy. I do one well-feathered wide band.

I have not been able to pull it off successfully. I am defaulting to a local professional. Maybe if I'd tried with a color rather than white, it may have been less difficult. Thanks!

I've always tapered the edge , spread out the paint under the edge as much as possible, the same as you would with drywall mud.

My husband has cut in all round the ceiling,skirting boards and corners.Instead of feathering out he has left a straight line and let it dry.He has then used a pad to emulsion rest of the walls (white soft sheen) which has now left it looking darker.What can I do to solve this problem.

Help I have had the same problem. Painted over cream with a light Grey paint! Now all the cutting in is dark and the walls a nice light Grey. We did give the walls another 2 coats to try and even it out. It’s also dark down lines of where wall meets. Please can anyone help and tell me how to fix it! Beyond stressed about it. Photo doesn’t even show how dark it is. Thanks in advance

The only way I’ve found to defeat this problem is to roll the wall first using a weenie roller smushing the paint into the corners and rolling it out. I keep a wet wedge along the ceiling, door frames, and baseboards cutting in as I roll. I only need to cut in about a quarter inch using the brush. Even the best paints require two coats minimum. I also find taping off the walls and painting the ceiling after the walls have been painted nets a razor strait line. Just remember to let the walls dry thoroughly and remove the tape while the ceiling paint is wet. Tape a second time for the second coat and again remove while paint is wet. I also paint trim after the walls taping off the walls. Never let your painter over spray your walls when spraying the trim, you’ll end up with the walls showing the shadow. This is completely opposite what we’re told to do by “professionals”.

It's called "picture framing" can happen when your painter loses his wet edge. Because the texture of a brush and roller are different.

Look 8 posts back to my wordy description....

There's honestly NO TRACE of thicker &/or darker edges at my house!

:-)

Faron

Did anyone try light sanding over the cut in that is too dark? I am doing an off white over a grey and my trim line must have been too think so it shows a distict line. Just did 3 rolls and didnt really change anything. Help!

Did you find anything that solved the problem. We have the same issue where the light grey paint looks darker at the top of the ceiling compared to the rolled walls. We also tried rolling the walls again with no luck. There must be some way of fixing this. Would sanding lightly and a drop of water work as we have been scouring the internet for a solution.

I know Houzzers hate old posts with a new life, however Brian also commented this year and didn’t get a reply. And I’m not sure all the above posts are truly answering the issue that I, and others, experience. We have a room with a contrast wall where we have that weird banding from the cut in a couple years ago. We are re-painting the other 3 walls and while up on the ladder and cutting in I can see on the contrast wall it is shiny for the cut in, like semi-gloss while the rolling is eggshell. My husband rolls heavy, he cuts in 2 inches heavy, I cut in 3-4 inches not as heavy. We use Cashmere Sherwin Williams and Purdy brushes. In our case the look difference is sheen. It’s strange and searching the internet doesn’t answer the sheen issue. I get the color replies being heavy vs light, but that’s not our issue. Why the sheen difference using the same paint with the brush?

Agree AlwaysCold, no one seems to answer correctly. my experience is not thickness. not a wet edge makes no sense. they are two distinct areas, away from edge. i am wondering if the brush painted is more reflective, and therefore looks darker. a rolled surface acts more like the way an opal diffuser would, well, diffusing the light and making it brighter or lighter.