Cambridge Home Renovations: How To Prepare Your Drywall For Painting

Painting is perhaps one of the easiest and least costly home repairs you can make. Fresh paint can also drastically change the look and feel of any space in your home. For these main reasons, painting is likely the one home update that you feel confident tackling on your own. You are not alone.

Though time-consuming, painting is a straightforward process that doesn’t require significant prior knowledge or training. However, this changes once drywall repairs become involved.

Drywall repairs become necessary when you patch over holes in the wall, install new drywall or want to change the texture of a wall. If you plan to or need to make drywall repairs before applying a new coat of paint, know that the process involves multiple steps and, unlike painting, does require prior knowledge and experience. If you do not complete a drywall repair correctly, not only will your paint not stick correctly to the surface but also, the texture of your wall will look off. For these reasons, you should hire drywall services in Cambridge for help with drywall repairs.

Preparing Your Drywall for Paint in 4 Steps

Preparing drywall for painting is a task you should leave to the professionals. However, if you feel confident that you can complete it on your own, it is important that you familiarize yourself with the four main steps involved in the process.

1. Sanding

Sanding drywall is a crucial step in the entire drywall repair process, as sanding is what ultimately creates a smooth, even surface to which the paint can adhere. Sanding drywall is a tedious and messy process and one that most contractors loathe to do. However, there are tools and tricks of the trade that can help make the process less gruesome.

For instance, though dry sanding is great for reaching tight spots and ceilings, wet sanding with a sanding sponge can help keep the dust under control. You will need sandpaper to smooth out areas in which the mud already dried, and an electric sander is helpful for completing large projects.

2. Remove Dust

Once you completely sand the drywall, it’s time to start cleaning up, and not just because you don’t want to live in a dust-infested home. Cleaning up the dust helps you remove tiny particles of drywall that could prevent the paint from adhering to it properly. To thoroughly clean up the dust, use the suction attachment on a heavy-duty vacuum, if you have one. Suck up all the dust first, then take a black cloth and run it over the drywall. If you can see the dust on the towel, take the vacuum to the wall again. Do this repeatedly until you cannot see any dust on the black towel.

3. Prime the Drywall

Once you clean the dust from the drywall (and other areas in your home, if applicable), you must prime it — or, in other words, clean it. To prime the drywall, mix one gallon of water with one cup of white vinegar in a large bucket. Soak a sponge into the mixture and begin washing the drywall. Once the water begins to turn brown, dump the mixture and create a new one. Repeat the process until you sponge the entire wall and the water is coming out clean.

4. Dry the Drywall

Finally, let the drywall dry. Not only should all the mud be dry but also, so too should the priming solution. You can use a fan to speed up the drying process or you can wait for one to two days for the wall to dry on its own.

Let Your Cambridge Handyman Connection Help

Preparing drywall for painting may be a four-step process, but it’s a tedious and lengthy one. It is also a messy process, especially if you don’t have the experience or know-how to properly prep the area. To remove the stress from what should be a simple painting project, and to ensure the drywall work in your Cambridge home is flawless, invest in drywall services in Cambridge. Contact Handyman Connection to schedule your estimate today.