How to prepare internal walls for painting?
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Well, you got here is because you want to know how to paint your internal walls? I’m assuming your wall is not new and you want to paint it a different colour but you want some real advice on repainting it.
It’s wise to look for information before you start, and here’s some tips for you.
Test the surface condition:
A simple way to test the condition of an existing paint surface is using strong sticky tape. You need a finger length of sticky tape, press it firmly onto the surface you want to repaint. Rip the sticky tape away quickly. If the paint comes off, you’ll need to strip the whole surface back to bare and prep it. Do a test at various areas such as paint near skirting, eye level and below the cornice.
Preparation:
If the surface is good - no flakes, no bubbles and no cracks – simply wash it down with sugar soap. Sugar soap the basic form of preparation, it removes dirt, mould, grease and smoke stains from all painted surfaces. Read the instructions on how much you need to mix with water.
If the surface is in poor condition, you will need to scrape the old paint off the surface before painting, I know it’s hard work but you want a good result right?? Once you scrape off as much as you can, then use sandpaper to sand off any paint joints. I tend to use coarse sand paper because its quick. You may ask about paint strippers, my advice is don’t bother (it’s messy and the smell isn’t great either), use coarse sand paper to sand off as much as you can then move on to the next step.
Cracks:
Any cracks, holes and dents need to be filled to get an even surface. There will be a separate post for how to fix a hole on plaster walls.
Final check:
Do a final check on the walls, run your hand on the surface and make sure it’s smooth, clean, and free of dust, if your walls are powdery, you need to read my other article about ‘peeling paint‘. If there is any dampness on the surface, you need to find the source and eliminate it before filling and painting. Air dry for 24 hours before you start priming. You may also want to tape around window sills to keep the window sills free of paint. Remove the tape as soon as possible and put on new one for every coat.
Painting technique:
I called this an M motion technique painting for walls. You start in the left hand side of the wall, then around half way, you start painting it with the letter M in mind, the reason for this is because your roller has the full capacity of paint and when you start at the middle, it allows you to spread the paint evenly. Same principle applies on ceilings, start on the left hand side around the middle and paint the letter W in mind.
Framing effect:
Have you ever seen a room being painted but the wall’s top, side and bottom edge about the width of a paint brush has a the same paint but different tone? This creates a framing effect. We have tested it and we are certain that whoever painted that wall, first painted the edges then went back and painted the rest of the wall. To fix this, you need to maintain a wet edge, maybe paint 2 meters of the edge and wall before you move to the next two meters of the wall. We also spoke to tradespeople and they recommended us not to use the ‘Premium’ paint but use the ‘Professional’ paint (these are Dulux terms). What is the different between ‘Premium’ and ‘Professional’? Think of retail paint for mum and dad and trade paint for professional and it is true that ‘Professional’ seems better and easier to apply. Also, it is cheaper.
Painting timing:
Painting is better during day time, you get better painting results, no shade or missing spots. Also, you don’t have bugs during the day time, at night, bugs will follow lights. Bugs need to rest too and they like to rest on the wall and they stick to the wet paint on the wall. There’s nothing more frustrating that finishing painting at night, and the next morning seeing black (bug) spots on the walls and ceiling!
Priming:
Priming, do we really need it? My answer to you is ‘yes’, one of the early houses we renovated we didn’t prime and it caused more work at a later stage because the original base colour seeped through and the finishing was not that great. Therefore, stick to the recommended formula, one coat of primer, two coats of final paint.
With primer, use the same brand of primer and paint, otherwise they may not stick properly, also use water based products for internal walls unless you have some very very specific requirement for oil based primer. Once you have your primer painted, the wall should look better because you have a single white colour that covers all the patches, old paint etc.
Final two coats:
The first coat I tend to do it fairly quickly, as long as the colour is on the wall, I’m happy with it, don’t be too fussy about this coat.
On the other hand, the second coat is much more important. Make sure you have the second coat painted over every single spot of the first coat, this is challenging because they are same colour. Look at it on an angle and you will see the wet paint so you know where have you painted.
Enjoy your newly painted walls…
[...] the paint may peel due to weight. Test it will a piece of sticky tape. Read my article on 'How to prepare internal walls for painting' for more detail information. __________________ Eric Web: [...]