Americans spent more than $340 billion on home remodeling in the year 2018. Part of these costs relates to the recurrent repainting expenses, which are part of the improvement process. Painting expenses should ordinarily be less frequent than most other repairs.
But in certain cases, the process of preparing for a painting job is not comprehensive.
This inadequacy leaves room for possible damages even when working with professionals. But if you can prep your home well before the actual painting, you can save on time and cut on additional costs.
Here’s everything you need to know about how to prep a room for painting.
1. You Need to Move the Furniture
Unless you are painting an empty house, moving the furniture should be the first step. Moving furniture out of the way is an essential part of the interior paint prepping process. Furniture and other movables stand the danger of potential damage during the painting process in case the paint drips.
Various items in your house are vulnerable to paint. You should remove such items to reduce the risk of damages.
Furniture, if not moved before the actual painting process, limits the speed of work due to unnecessary obstructions. It would be best if you considered removing such movables and furniture further away from the walls. This can be done if it’s impossible to eject them entirely from your room.
Once you have removed everything movable from the room, consider covering with a painter’s plastic everything else that may be vulnerable. The approach will save you from the risk of additional costs once the paint is done.
2. Inspect the Walls for Any Other at Risk Items
After you have moved the furniture further away from the walls, you now have a clear view of everything else. Light switches and outlet covers are some of the other at-risk items. You’ll also notice vents and return -sheets on the walls.
It would help if you considered removing such items first as a matter of precaution.
Light switches may pose a safety concern in case of direct contact with the paint. But more often, the interest is on the unprofessional and ragged outcome you are likely to end up with if you paint over such fixtures.
Most of these fittings and items are easily visible to anyone who enters the room. To avoid the disappointments of an amateurish outcome, it would be imperative to remove such items beforehand.
This approach ensures that even when you decide to remove an outlet cover at some point in the future, the clean coat of paint will remain intact.
3. Remove Curtains, Rugs, and Throws
The process of painting can be messy even among professionals. This makes it a vital need to remove everything that may be of value to you before the actual job. Curtains and rugs should be the other items that you must leave, albeit temporarily.
You don’t want to have to incur the cost of replacing those valuable throws once the painting is complete. Hiring a professional minimizes significantly such instances of rogue paint splashes. But even when working with such experts, you can’t risk throwing caution to the wind.
It would help if you considered removing such items of value from the vicinity as part of the main steps on how to prep a room for painting. This will not only safeguard your possessions, but it will ensure that the paint team works with minimal disruptions.
4. Masking is a Prerequisite
Whether you intend to engage a professional or it’s merely a DIY undertaking, masking your floors is a critical precondition before beginning the painting process.
If you are a smooth expecting process during painting, you must ensure that the levels are as bright as possible. Before the entire floor is masked off.
At times, this step is overlooked, primarily due to the cost implications. But once you understand the risks involved in case you assume this critical preparation phase, then taping the surfaces should be a matter of urgency.
If you’re working with a professional, their expert advice would be handy when determining which areas require a painter’s plastic to reduce the risk of damages. Don’t worry even when the rooms seem over masked. You will have an easier time when cleaning up if the specific rooms are well-masked beforehand.
Always consider working with service providers with a proven track record based on client reviews.
5. Consider Appropriate Platform Support
Painting ceilings or surfaces that are more than a foot higher above your head may be strenuous. Similarly, using unreliable support platforms may pose a safety risk. In most cases, such a support platform may be as simple as using a stepladder.
But in other cases, it may be as complex as handling a scaffold system.
It would help if you considered sourcing for the most applicable options before the painting process to make your work easy. But more importantly, you may need to understand the operational procedure for each option before committing to its use.
This will reduce the instances of stoppages and increase efficiency.
6. Wall Preparations Is a Vital Part of How To Prep a Room for Painting
Depending on your service provider, you may need to undertake specific wall preparations steps before the actual painting. It may be up to you to consider washing the walls before the painting process.
But in rare instances, your service provider is willing to offer such additional services as optional extras.
Most often, prepping your walls helps in detecting specific underlying issues in your home, such as rotting wood, which may have the potential of affecting the paint job. Such problems may be easy to detect during the wall preparation process.
7. Vacate the Area
For health-related reasons, you must plan to ensure that your family and pets are not within the vicinity. Kids and pets can be the cause of messy accidents, such as paint spills. But even more severe is the risk of inhaling the odor during the process.
You also do not want any possible interference with the surfaces before the paint dries up. Your only option would be vacating even if temporarily to reduce any potential exposures.
It’s Better to Be Safe Than Sorry
Painting may seem like an easy and fun activity!
But without the best preparations, you may end up having a messy and unsatisfactory outcome. If you have been wondering how to prep a room for painting, then these steps provide the answers you need.
Please visit our services page to explore more painting options from a professional point of view.