Insights
How to Prep a Room Before You Repaint the Inside
A good interior paint job is mostly prep. The painting itself is the quick and satisfying part, but the work that happens before the lid comes off the tin is what separates a crisp finish from a patchy one. Here is the order we work through, and what you can do to help.
First, clear and protect the space. Take down photos, mirrors, curtains and switch plates, and move small items off shelves and benches. We shift the larger furniture to the middle of the room and cover it, then mask the floors and lay down drop sheets. Carpet, hard floors, skirtings and window joinery all get protected before a brush goes near them.
Next comes cleaning. Walls pick up dust, cooking grease and grime, especially in kitchens and hallways, and paint will not stick to a dirty surface. We wash the walls down with sugar soap and let them dry. In bathrooms and other damp spots, any mould has to be killed and washed off first, or it will grow straight back through the fresh paint.
Then we deal with the holes and cracks. Nail holes, dents, gaps and hairline cracks get filled, and bigger repairs to gib or plaster are patched and left to dry. Once the filler is hard, every patch is sanded back flush so you cannot feel or see it under the finished paint. This is fiddly, dusty work, and it is exactly where rushed jobs fall down.
Sanding is not just for the patches. A light sand over previously painted walls and woodwork keys the surface so the new paint grips, and it knocks back any drips, brush marks or rough spots from last time. Glossy surfaces like doors and trim especially need this, because fresh paint struggles to hold onto a slick, shiny coat.
With the surface clean, filled and sanded, we prime where it is needed. Bare patches, new gib, stained areas and big colour changes all want an undercoat or sealer so the topcoats cover evenly and the colour stays true. A wall that is part raw filler and part old paint will flash through two topcoats if you skip this step.
Only now is the room ready for colour. Because the prep is done properly, the topcoats go on evenly, cover well and last. If you want to lend a hand before we arrive, clearing the small stuff and giving us room to move around the furniture saves the most time. We take care of the washing, filling, sanding and masking as part of the job.