I'm in the process of painting my garage, which has been professionally drywalled and trimmed. I used Sherwin Williams best primer and paints (PrepRite Classic Latex Primer; Duration Home [walls]; ProClassic Waterborne Latex Enamel [trim]), which I had been told were great paints. I am also using Purdy brushes to cut in and do the trim work.

I prepped and primed the walls and trim. I then painted the walls with two coats of the Duration paint. I'm in the process of doing the trim with the ProClassic Enamel.

Because I don't have the steadiest of hands, I decided to use 3M Painters Tape (the blue stuff) around the walls by the trim. I applied the trim paint, waited two days, and then tonight, I peeled off the tape. It ended up peeling off a large amount of the paint on the walls. This is not due to the tape being on the walls for too long. During the taping process, I had to take the tape off (I put it on wrong) and I noticed that there was an area that peeled after only having tape on for a few seconds. I figured that this was an isolated problem, so I continued to tape prior to painting the trim.

As I'm painting on weekends and after work when time allows, the paint and primer were allowed to dry for days in between coats, so I know that that can't be the cause. But I'm wondering what I could have done wrong. It just appears as if the Duration paint hasn't properly adhered to the primer. I figured that by sticking with a quality, name-brand product, I'd avoid some of the problems associated with cheap paint. And the paint isn't old...I bought it about two weeks ago and applied the first coat literally hours after bringing it home from the store.

I'm tempted to try to free-hand the trim, but it just doesn't look very good--I don't paint for a living and haven't yet acquired this talent. I've also tried to use a metal edge as a guide/guard, but this has proved to be a bit problematic, as the ProClassic Enamel is a bit gummy when being applied. Now, my tried-and-true method, which has worked for me for years--painters tape--has proved to be rather problematic as well. Any suggestions? Anyone else have similar problems? Thanks.

Scott
Caledonia, MI

tape