It may be hard to know what to do first when starting an interior house-painting project. This simple guide will make your interior paint job a pleasant one. You can use this article as a guide and checklist of things you will need. This article will also show you an orderly way to accomplish your interior painting project with very little aggravation.

Order:

When painting a room always do thorough prep work before painting. After your prep, paint ceilings first, followed by the walls, then finally the trim. When rolling a ceiling you are sure to drip paint onto the walls. You don’t want to have spent time painting the walls and trim only to touch up sections from ceiling splatter.

Paint the walls before you paint your trim. You don’t want wall paint dripping or splattering onto freshly painted base boards.

Prepping:

Prepping includes sanding, patching, priming, and caulking. Always sand the walls and trim before you paint. Sanding will ensure proper paint adhesion. Paint will sometimes peel from a wall if it isn’t properly sanded. The paint film needs something to “grip” when applied. Scratching the old coat will give the new paint film plenty of grip.

Patching should be your next task. Patch the small holes and any damaged wall with drywall mud for large holes and a ready make patching compound for small holes. Use a lightweight patching compound for quick dry time and less shrinkage. Sand the patches once dry. Don’t use caulk for open face wall areas. Caulking will flash and show up through the finish paint.

Spot prime the patched areas with an appropriate drywall primer. This will ensure the patches don’t flash through your finish paint.

Caulk corners, base boards, door casings and around window frames. Caulking provides a seal for windows and a finished appearance for the base boards and door casings.

Painting:

Paint the ceilings first followed by the walls and then finally the trim. You will find that this is the least aggravating way to paint. When painting the ceilings and walls I have found it is better to cut or brush the edges before rolling. Do this to get a better-finished look, especially when using sheens such as satin and semi-gloss paints.

Using proper tools will help as well. Use lamb hair rollers rather than the polyester blends. Lamb hairs work far better and make the job less aggravating. They hold more paint and splatter less. You will cover far more painting distance per roller dip.

Color selection:

Color Selection is a whole other area left for another article, but generally as a rule paint ceilings and trim a lighter shade than the walls.

Following this simple small guide will make your interior house painting project a pleasant, orderly and hopefully fun experience while avoiding aggravating pitfalls.

Article originally published at Source by Sharon J Gaitan