Priming & Site Prep | DIY PAINTING
When embarking on a DIY painting project, whether it's sprucing up a basement rec room, covering an old color in a guest bathroom, or painting a new home, the initial stage is quite similar across all types of spaces. Begin by wiping down the walls with a dry rag or broom to eliminate any drywall dust, particularly essential in new construction scenarios.
1. Product Selection
Since not all primers are universal, it’s imperative to consult a professional like myself or your local paint dealer. For drywall, you’ll want a good drywall primer, like Sherwin Williams’ Premium Wall & Wood. For most remodeling projects, when painting over a dark color or light stain spots, Sherwin Williams’ Preprite ProBlock works tremendously well. Plus, it’s a primer + sealer. Both of these options are water cleanup, and great for use inside finished homes, since they lack the fumes of an oil based product.
That being said, if you’re painting over persistent water, smoke, or grease stains, an oil primer is necessary. I recommend Sherwin Williams’ Extreme Block for most purposes. If you need extra adhesion, due to priming vinyl or other troublesome materials, get Sherwin’s Extreme Bond or Benjamin Moore’s Stix.
Don’t cut corners with primers: the better primer you use, the easier time you’ll have with your top coats. Think of your new wall as a dry sponge, eager to drink up whatever you offer first. A lower grade primer will fail to adequately seal the wall surface. This will prevent your paint from coating evenly, as it too will soak in.
2. Application
Ok, now you’re home, you've got your quality primer, and you’re ready to rock and roll. Let’s prime your wall!
Cut in your corners and ceiling line with a brush, making sure to give it plenty, and brush it out gently, smoothing out any heavy brush lines. With a high nap roller (1/2-3/4 inch), start rolling top to bottom, working right to left. With a full roller, start in the center of the wall, then work your primer up toward the ceiling cut in, then down to below where your baseboard trim will cover. Remember that thirsty sponge? You don’t “runs” of excess primer, but neither do you want to “dry roll”— Especially with this crucial coat of primer. Take your time to back roll, ensuring a well-coated, even surface.
3. Site Preparation
Give your wall 4-24 hours to dry, depending on ventilation and home humidity levels. First thing you will want to do is sand over your walls, knocking down imperfections, burs, rough spots or areas of heavy primer that didn’t get rolled out. Use a circular pole sander, or hand sander, with 180-220 grit sanding paper, as needed.
Now, take a good spackling, preferably Dry Dex’s pre-primed heavy-weight variety. It applies pink and dries white, so you know when it’s ready to sand smooth. Using a flexible putty knife, take good work light around with you and fill any small voids or air bubbles. Wipe it fairly tight: you don’t want to have to sand off a mountain of this stuff. It’s the real deal and will hold up great- it just takes a bit of elbow grease to sand smooth if you pile it too thick! You may want to give 4-8 hours before sanding, again dependent on conditions and the extense of the spackling needed..
Once you’ve sanded your touchups, caulk in your trim if already applied.Not all caulking is created equal, in terms of stretchability or paintability. I’d use White Lightning Fast Dry, or Sherwin William’s Sher Max if you are filling large gaps. If trim is not installed yet, you can skip the step until that point. If you plan to caulk in and paint your trim, it is recommended to do this before your final coat of wall paint.
Apply a smooth bead of caulking, and let it dry.
Next step- Painting your space. It’s time to add some color!
