Repainting your house can be done quickly or properly

Quick Painting

If your walls are clean, and not a glossy paint, and you just want a new color, or freshening up, go ahead and just paint over it, but...

Proper Painting

There are 1 or more steps to take before painting if you want the paint job to last:

1. Cleaning

Smoke film, oil (cooking or from finger, like around door handles), crayons etc, and other things that aren't supposed to be on the wall, ceiling, or wherever, create a problem. Paints don't stick very well, or at all. Make sure the walls are clean.

2. Filling Holes

Patching and filling bigger holes is obvious, and paint will fill small tack holes, but the finished job will look nicer if all holes are filled, and properly sanded.

3. Sanding

3 reasons for sanding:

• Patchwork - Obviously, if you don't sand patchwork, the finish won't look very nice.
• Better adhesion - When painting over a gloss or semi-gloss paint, a light sanding helps the paint stick. It also helps paint stick where it can't be cleaned very well.
• Smoothing out defects - I often see where patchwork was done and not the greatest, or sometimes see paint runs or blobs. Sanding can make those look better.

Anything between 120 and 240 grit will work and look fine once painted.

4. Priming

3 reasons for priming:

• Patching and holes filled - There are fillers for smaller holes that don't require priming, but larger holes and patches should be primed.
• Big change in color - When changing a color, even the best paints need 2 coats, especially if putting a lighter color over a darker one. A good primer covers the paint better, and is cheaper than paint.
• Painting over oil - Oil paint isn't very common anymore, but is still around. Kitchens and bathrooms used to always be done in oil. Even good latex or acrylic paints don't stick very well to oil paint, especially if it's gloss or semi-gloss. They need a proper primer, or at least sanding.

There are paints now that don't require primer, and some of them work well, but there are still times when it is better, easier, or even cheaper, to use primer first.