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I am planning to paint my house but i don't know how to prepare a good surface before painting the walls. Please give me some ideas and suggestions?

Ethane Jos
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  • What color is the wall now, and what color are you going to? Are the walls damaged at all? Is there any paint chipping or peeling off of the walls? – MDMoore313 Jan 07 '14 at 12:31
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    See also [What is your top tip for painting?](http://diy.stackexchange.com/q/5611/2196) and [How do I prepare an already painted wall for new paint?](http://diy.stackexchange.com/q/1380/2196) – BMitch Jan 07 '14 at 12:57
  • Interior or exterior? – Ecnerwal Jan 07 '14 at 14:50

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I assume it's drywall. It's tough to advise without knowing the existing conditions, but you'd probably be safe with a primer. If it's a new wall that has not been painted, it depends if it's finished with drywall mud. If not, you'll need to mud the wall and sand it prior to applying primer.

Nick
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Assumptions:

  • Interior.
  • Repainting
  • It's been a longtime since the last time.

Here's my plan for our dining room which has 2 story loft. It has a paneled ceiling, so that is being ignored.

  • At ground level remove all the plug and switch covers. I put the screws back into the electrical device, as being harder to loose.

  • Wash the walls. This gets the loose crud off. In my case the dining room is next to the kitchen which also has a wood stove,so the walls have a film of grey that is hard to remove. A scant teaspoon per quart of wash water will help with grease.

  • Washing the walls will also help you find all the nicks and dents. Picture frame nail holes. Small holes and cracks, patch with dry wall mud. Serious cracks (more thatn 1/8") probably mean something going on with your foundation. If they haven't changed in a couple years, mud, tape, mud.

In my case I'm making one pass at ground level cleaning, then a pass patching. While I've got the sander out for the patches, I do a run over the walls to catch bumps, previous paint drips. Sand those too.

(If the paint job dates back to the early 80's, test it for lead. If the paint has lead, you have a different problem beyond my scope.)

Then the scaffold comes in and I do a second pass with 1 story of scaffold. If you don't have wheels for your scaffold, put a thick sock on each leg, or several layers of rag, and tape them to the leg. I prefer to do one operation per pass even if it means moving the scaffold every 10 minutes.

Part of the prep pass is taping the edges unless you are better with a brush than I am.

Once I finish the prep pass, then paint. If the wall is clean you can probably do it in one coat if the colours are similar. Covering dark with light is tough, and will likely take 2 coats.

Painting happens from the top down. Drips are more obvious because I haven't been there yet.

Sherwood Botsford
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