Expert Information And Advice On:     

Preparing a Room for Painting

Whether it's painting a room for the first time since being built or repainting a room, it lends a fresh, long-lasting lease of life to your home. It's easy and a moderately inexpensive home improvement that can really change the entire feel of the room. Here are some simple steps to follow in prepping the room for proper painting..

Wall Surface Preparation

This is always tedious but it's essential for good results. Remember paint will not adhere properly to surface that is incorrectly prepared. Doing these seemingly painful steps, can prevent you from having to paint again in the near future so look at the big picture here!

Painting New

Wood: sand smooth, cover resin-oust knots with knotting, and fill all small holes with putty.

Gypsum Plaster: make sure it's clean and thoroughly dry. Brush or vacuum the wall to remove all joint-in cement dust. Fill holes with cellulose filler.

Bricks, Concrete and Plaster: leave to dry for 12 weeks if using oil-based paints. If using water-based paint, clean thoroughly.

Repainting Previously Painted Materials

Strip off flaking, crazing or bubbling paint using a scraper. Some have even used a blow-torch or heat gun to get some seriously stuck on paint, but not on fibrous or gypsum plaster for obvious reasons. Alternatively you can use alchemical stripper (wear rubber gloves and make sure the room is well ventilated).

Small areas can be scraped clean, sanded or wire-brushed. Fill all cracks, dents and chips with a cellulose filler or putty and sand smooth. Remove any mould or efflorescence (a white, salt deposit that leaches out of damp bricks).

Some wallpapers, if sound, maybe painted over (but a sealer may be required). Check with the wallpaper supplier or manufacturer if neither know nor try a small area first to see if the wallpaper colors can be seen.

If there is any doubt strip off the wallpaper. Newer wallpapers come off fairly easy by either soaking the paper with warm water or to use a spray product you can find at any home improvement store. The spray products usually only require soaking for a short time and act to breakdown the glue used to adhere the paper to the wall.

However, if actual wallpaper glue was used and applied with a brush (as opposed to the newer wet and hang type of wallpaper), you could be in for a real tough project. Depending on how the original drywall was prepared, you can tear the drywall paper or even pull some plaster when removing. This would create a need to redo the walls prior to painting.

Either way, the big thing here is proper cleaning of the walls. The adhesive from the paper will leave residue that needs to be properly cleaned or you will find streaks in the painted wall or worse, areas where paint just won't coat properly. If necessary, you may need to sand lightly to remove any tough residue.

With nail pops in gypsum plaster, punch the nails heads further in with a nail set and fill in the hole with drywall repair. This, of course will take time to dry, sand, reapply and dry again. If you are trying to get this completed quickly, you may wish to purchase the dyed plaster repair that starts out pink but turns white when completely dry. This will allow you to monitor the repair without getting dizzy, starring and waiting!

Once you have successfully prepped the walls for painting, it is time to take a nap it is time to start painting your room.