How to Prep Your Walls For Painting

If you are looking for a simple spruce up, paint is the best bang for your buck and is one of the most inexpensive ways to create a dramatic change in any room of your house. If you follow my tips you will achieve professional looking results.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• basic painting equipment
• time
• patience

1. Start by washing your walls down with a gentle detergent or a TSP cleaner. Spray moisture prone areas with a bleach solution or a mildew remover in a spray bottle. Use a putty knife to fill nail holes, cracks, nicks and other dents with spackle compound. Once it is completely dried, smooth them lightly with sandpaper. If you have cracked mouldings or casings use caulk instead of spackle. Wipe up excess with a damp cloth.

2. Next, remove all your switch plates, outlet covers and light fixtures. If they can't be removed make sure you tape them will or cover them in plastic. Use a drop cloth on the floor and cover all doorknobs with aluminum foil. Taping is easiest if you do it in small sections instead of trying to use long pieces of tape. Only leave the tape on as long as necessary so you don't peel paint off of taped areas.

3. Don't skip priming especially if it's new drywall or wood. White primer is fine for light colored paints but if you are painting with a darker color you should seriously think about having the primer tinted and don't forget to sand down glossy or shiny surfaces with fine sandpaper to help the paint stick better. Otherwise you can apply a liquid deglosser but that's an extra step you could avoid.

Tips & Warnings

• If you aren't sure how much paint to buy you can ask an employee for guidance. Lowes has a painting calculator on their website at www.lowes.com/paint

[trvlarrngr]

on 8/3/2009 Great info on getting your walls ready for painting. Primer is an important step. Thanks! 5 stars