For those who are planning to Prepare Walls Ceilings and Other Surfaces for Painting in your home, then this is your ultimate surface painting guide. Here, I’ll personally tell you some of the steps that I do when I paint at home.
For beginners, it’s best to hire a professional painter, but if you are determined to do it on your own, it’s not impossible as long as you follow the basic preparations.
Here’s what you need to do:
How to Prepare Walls Ceilings and Other Surfaces for Painting
For painting your walls, there are certain steps that you need to do before you start. In this way, you’re sure that you’re doing the painting process well:
Clean the Walls First
The very first thing you need to do is to clean your walls. This is a crucial step in the painting process because you want to make sure no dirt and grime are ruining the quality of the paint once you start. There’s no actual strict way to clean your wall. Usually, what I do is grab my sponge and prepare warm soapy water. I dip the sponge and wipe off the dirt and grime on my walls until they’re clean. Using a detergent will do since it acts as an excellent cleaning agent.
Remove Molds and Mildew
Sometimes, molds and mildew are forming on the surfaces of our walls. At times, they can’t be removed by simply dabbing a soapy sponge. So, don’t miss this part and locate any mold and mildew sightings on your walls because they can grow through the new paint, and it’ll be harder to clean them up after. This time, use bleach water – four parts water and one part bleach. Professionals usually apply this solution and leave it for a few minutes.
I make sure the solution seeps, and then that’s when I scrub off the molds and mildew. I use an old toothbrush for this since it’s easier to handle.
Sand the Surface
Now that you’re walls are clean, this is where you start sanding them. Sanding is not always needed, but it’s ideal to do this when there are rough parts on your walls or if you’re painting on a glossy or matte wall. This way, you’re sure that the paint is applied smoothly since the surface is even and rough enough for the paint to set in properly. You can use sandpaper or a sand block for this process. For water-based painted walls, fine sandpaper will suffice. For oil-based painted walls, go for medium-grit sandpaper. When sanding, there would be dust everywhere, so wipe off the surface with a damp cloth after.
Prime the Wall
Now, you’re ready to prime your walls. Priming the wall is needed since this acts as the foundation. You need to prime your wall so that you can make the most out of the paint, especially when your walls are porous or when there are stains that need to be covered. This step smoothens the surface, giving a uniform finish. When priming your walls, pick one that fits your paint as well.
How to Prepare Ceiling for Painting
Preparing to paint your ceiling has the same process as when you’re painting your walls. There are just a few differences to make this DIY painting process seamless and successful:
Clear Out the Area
Before anything else, since you’re painting the ceiling, there’s a high chance that paint will drip. So, you’ll have to clear out the area so that your furniture won’t get painted all over. If they’re fixed, you can cover them up with newspapers. Include your floor as well.
Since you’re also mostly looking up when painting, you don’t want obstacles in your way, so it’s safer for your to walk around when painting this way.
Clean and Sand the Ceiling
Before going to Prepare Walls Ceilings and Other Surfaces for Painting, cleaning is important. This is where you start cleaning your ceilings. Just like cleaning your walls, make sure that there is no dirt, grime, or dust on the surface. There are also instances when there are molds and mildew on our ceilings. You can use the same bleach solution for this. Once you’re done, make sure to dry the ceiling before you start painting.
Protect Your Lighting
You can remove the lighting, but if you can’t or don’t want to, just make sure that you cover up the base so that you won’t accidentally paint on it. You can use painter’s tape when covering up the base and the edges of your lighting fixtures. And just to be safe, turn off your lights during the whole process.
Start Painting
Now, you can start painting. Unlike the walls, I prefer to paint starting the corners of my ceiling since it’s easier for me to paint when the edges are already covered; it makes the overall process easier and faster.
How to Prepare Other Surfaces for Painting
Painting other surfaces would require the same method. You have to clean the surface and make sure there’s no dirt, grime, or dust on it. Then, you have to prime it before you apply the paint. Do remember do that depending on the surface you’re painting on, there are different requirements needed when priming and painting on them. So, make sure that you research how to prepare the surface when painting before starting.
Conclusion
We’ve now reached the end of our ultimate guide for painting surfaces. I hope you find this guide helpful. For all the DIY paint enthusiasts out there, I hope your painting project goes well. Painting our home is one of the most enjoyable things we can do as a project, but it can be stressful too when we don’t know what we’re doing. Hopefully, this guide gave you the motivation to Prepare Walls Ceilings and Other Surfaces for Painting. Now, you’ll get something out of this. Good luck!
