How To Prepare Walls For Painting In A Few Easy Steps

Painting walls at home is like a leit-motif in a story, it happens regularly and defines, in broad lines, the home décor. It is a process which involves modest efforts, unless having to deal with the burden of relocating furniture and the final cleaning which deprives us of the last drop of energy. In any case, before getting to the moving stage ordeal, you should consider several steps in preparing the surfaces for painting. So, before arming yourselves with the brush and paint roller, here is how to prepare walls for painting.

The first step is cleaning the walls and removing the old paint layer. Because surface dirt can cause poor adhesion, use a light detergent to wash surfaces that are soiled, that are touched often, or that may have any oily residue from cooking.  After they are clean, wipe surfaces with a damp cloth and allow them to dry before painting.

Also, to ensure proper adhesion, sand glossy surfaces with fine sandpaper. Be sure to remove sanding dust. Vacuum surfaces clean and wipe with a tack cloth. At this stage, examine floor, walls and ceiling surfaces for nail holes, cracks, or any other surface imperfections. Use a putty knife to rake out any large plaster cracks or loose particles in your walls and ceilings. Firmly press spackling compound into crevices with a putty knife and smooth until the compound is flush with the surface.

After you took care of covering holes and cracks with plaster coating, apply a coat of primer. Its role is to enable the paint to absorb the pain uniformly which also leads to a lower consumption of paint. Some recommend applying two coats of primer for walls that have been previously painted and one coat for new surfaces. Let the walls dry then for one hour (in summer, in winter you may need more hours).