DIY Saturday #83 – How to Prep your Walls for a Flawless Paint Job (Video)

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DIY Saturday #83 – How to Prep your Walls for a Flawless Paint Job (Video)

Jan 07, 2012 06:51 am

Guest Blogger #319, Entry #884, January 7, 2012

Happy DIY Saturday and welcome back from the holidays. This New Year is always exciting because it’s when we start thinking about what home improvement projects did we delay until after the holidays, well it is now time to get back on track.
Today, we are going to help you prepare your walls for painting. Wall preparation can be more important than the finished paint, because it will make the difference as to how good your walls will look at the end.

Prepare your walls for a colorful paint project

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Watch a You Tube video for removing wall paper, smoothing out the surfaces, and more. Then my guest blogger will give you tips for prepping your walls for a flawless paint finish.

You Tube Video – Lowe’s – How to Prep Wall Surface Before you Paint

 

Guest Blogger: How to Prepare your Walls for a Flawless Paint Job
 

Painting is the fastest and most economical way to freshen up a room. A new coat of paint can instantly liven up even the dullest of spaces. However, in order to properly achieve the desired look, you’ve got to properly prepare the walls. Without proper preparation you’re doomed to regret not spending another half day prepping.
Preparing a room for painting may sound boring, time consuming, and dull. Well, guess what? You’re instincts are right. Nevertheless, all efforts will be well rewarded once paint starts going up on the walls and ceiling.

Prepare your walls for a great painting job!

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Preparing your walls

1. Free the room of unnecessary clutter. That includes anything from the walls that is removable. It is important to remove light cover switch switches, outlet covers and anything else that screws to the wall like curtain rods.
2.  Move the furniture out. If the furniture is big just push it to the center of the room and cover it with a plastic sheet or a drop cloth. Don’t use old bed sheets as any paint dripped on them may bleed through to your furniture.
3. Meticulously clean the entire room. Sweep the floor, wipe the trim boards with a wet spongs and remove cobwebs from the ceiling and corners. Wash the walls with a solution of water, vinegar, and ammonia. Paint will not stick to dirty walls as well as it will to clean walls. Use a mop with sponge head in order to reach ceilings.
4. To make the walls look flawless patch all cracks, holes and nicks. Make sure to fill in every nail and screw hole that you won’t be reusing. You may have to open cracks up larger in order to get the putty to lie in there properly. Always do two coats of putty. Sand the first coat, wipe down the area, and do a second coat. The finish will be much more professional and well worth the bit of extra effort.
5. If you don’t feel that your hands are steady enough, you can use blue painters tape on trim and baseboards to protect them. Just remember to use the blue tape and not regular masking tape. The blue tape is made to remove easily without sticking to the walls. Before you remove the tape score the edge of it to release any paint from it. If you don’t you may end up accidentally pulling large chunks of paint off your freshly painted walls.

Proper preparation is truly more important than the painting itself. It’s what separates a professional painting job from you regular run of the mill job.
Lucas Jenkins is the author of this article and he has lot’s of ideas that he’d like to share with you on his blog. He’s buying new rugs for his home right now and has written some fresh content about where to buy bathroom rugs. He’s also on the lookout for the out of style, or so he believes but his wife tells him otherwise, 5 pc bathroom rug set.
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