No-problem Paint Prep
The question I get asked the most when I am giving an interview is, what is the biggest mistake people make when painting rooms. My answer never changes, taking time to do the prep work. Lets face it room prep is a pain the butt and take a lot of time, but in the end it will save a lot of trouble. What does room prep entail you ask? Just follow the steps below and you are certain to have a professional looking paint job that is stress free.
-Remove any furniture you can. Put the remaining items in the middle of the room and cover them with a tarp.
-If the walls are dirty with grease, for example, you will need to clean them with TSP (Tri-sodium phosphate according to the manufacturers instructions.
-Use a putty knife to fill the holes with spackle. When it dries, sand and prime. Fill any cracks with acrylic painters caulk.
-Remove the switch and outlet plates with a screwdriver. A great tip is to tape the screws to the back of the plates so you don't misplace them.
-Use painters tape to mask off molding and base boards. Make sure you press the tape down firmly to avoid any paint from getting underneath.
-Get all materials ready for your painting finishing project. Using a small table is a good idea to set your paint and tools on to avoid spills.
- Cut in, paint along the trim first and or the corner of the rooms. This creates a border and it gives you a guide for rolling the paint.
-Use the appropriate roller for the texture that is on your walls. For a wall that has little or no texture, use a roller with a smaller nap 1/4-1/2 inch). For walls with lots of texture you will use a roller with a bigger pile 1/2-3/4 inch).
A few notes for prepping for a decorative/faux finish...
-If the walls are in really bad shape they should be base coated before you think about applying a decorative finish. A linen white color with an eggshell sheen works great.
-On most decorative finishes sheen matters-if the wall has different patches of sheen the finish will not be consistent and will look patchy.
-Walls need to be in decent condition, a common misconception is that a decorative finish will hide the imperfections on the wall and in some cases it is the opposite. They actually show up more. Holes must be spackled, sanded and primed.
-Marks on the wall need to be washed off. Or if stubborn repainted.
Walls are best faux finished on an eggshell sheen. Flat paint doesn’t allow the tools to move around well enough and is too porous to manipulate the paint. A semi gloss base coat is too slippery and the paint doesn’t adhere as well.
-If you need to basecoat a wall it is best to wait for 48 hours before applying the faux finish. What happens is the wet paint from the faux finish reactivates the base coat and leaves tool marks. In the biz they are called holidays-not the laying on the beach, soaking up the sun, drinking a margaritas kind of holiday either. But stick with these tips and you may be at ease with your paint project.
Please log onto HGTV.com and keyword Danielle Hirsch for some more tips.
Danielle Hirsch
Paint Contractor & Color Expert
Host/Co-host HGTV Color Splash
Wow! What a great and helpful post! I've painted so many walls in my life, sometimes I forget to stop and think about the basics!
-adrienne
adriennebreaux.com
allthingsaustindesign.com
Posted by: Adrienne Breaux | June 25, 2008 at 07:09 PM