A dust sheet that leaks is usually the gap at the skirting
I rolled a living-room wall in March and found a line of emulsion on the floorboards when I pulled the sheet back. The sheet had been down. The paint had not gone through it. It had run the last inch of wall, slipped behind the skirting, and come out on the timber I thought I had covered. There was a gap the width of a pencil between the sheet and the wood. I had thrown the sheet. I had not closed the edge.
A dust sheet is a lid for the floor. It only works if the lid meets the skirting. Tape holds that meeting. I run the sheet up the face of the skirting a little and tape it there, or I tape the sheet to the floor tight against the wood. Either way there is no tunnel. Paint that finds a tunnel will follow it. People blame a thin sheet. The sheet was fine in the middle of the room. The leak was the edge I walked past.
Masking that bleeds is usually the wrong tape is the line on the frame. Same roll can do the skirting job if it actually sticks to the wood and the sheet. I burnish that edge too. Dust on the skirting is a tunnel you built. I wipe the wood first. A tape that sits off the paintwork is a gap with extra steps.
When I check a room I walk the perimeter before I load the roller. I look for a sheet that has crept, a corner that has folded back, a radiator pipe the sheet does not hug. I tape those. I also look at my feet. If I am standing on a crease that pulls the edge off the skirting, I will paint a gap I cannot see. I move the bucket off the hem.
A roller that sheds is usually the cheap sleeve is the coat I am about to put on. A loaded sleeve at the bottom of the wall is the usual source of the run that finds the gap. I do not start a wall at the skirting with a dripping first load. I start a bit up, then cut down. Sugar soap that streaks is usually the rinse is the wash before this. I let the skirting dry before I tape. Wet wood will not hold the tape, and then the sheet falls off halfway through the wall.
Thin plastic bunches and walks. A proper canvas stays put but still leaks if the edge is open. I would rather have a modest sheet taped than a huge one I trip on. Newspaper is not a sheet. It prints the floor and then tears.
UK year is mostly about what the floor is doing. A cold room in January and the emulsion sits wet in the gap until you move the furniture back. A warm week in July skins the drip on the board and you sand it off later. Windows open will lift a light plastic sheet and open the edge for you. I shut the gale or I weigh the hem. I do not trust a draught to leave my tape alone.
Skip a sheet you shake out from last year with last year's lumps still in it. Those lumps print. Skip taping only the corners. The middle of a long wall is where the hem opens. Skip painting the skirting the same day you have a sheet taped to it and then wondering why the tape took the new gloss. Do the walls, peel, then the wood. Skip trainers with wet soles on a sheet. You walk paint to the hall.
If there is already a drip on the floor, I wipe it while it is wet. A dry ridge on oak is a day's sanding for a minute I skipped at the edge.
I do not need a heavier sheet because the last floor took a line of paint. I need the hem closed at the skirting, taped, and checked before I roll.
If I later add a buy link here, it will be a paid promo.