Initial Steps for House Painting

House Painting, like all building-related tasks, requires preparation and necessary groundwork. Therefore, to achieve the desired result from your residential painting or commercial painting, you must first address the necessary backgrounds for house painting. House painting can involve various stages and points that, by considering them and following the sequence of these stages, you can proceed with the house painting.

The Importance of Preparation for House Painting

Usually, after a while, the walls and ceilings of a house become uniform and dull, or they get dirty due to cooking or other reasons. At such times, the need for house painting and coloring arises. However, everyone who wants to do house painting primarily thinks about the result and quality of the work. Because although house painting is one of the inexpensive and cost-effective ways to change the appearance and beauty of a building, if the preparation for house painting is not done properly and the work is done without it, not only will the house painting not improve the building better and more beautifully, but it can also make its appearance uglier and less desirable.

Therefore, it is necessary for everyone who intends to paint their home to first complete all the tasks and stages required for building preparation so that the building is ready in every aspect for painting. Incomplete or improper preparation can lead to your failure even before starting the work. This effort will save you time, money, and your health in the long run when painting your residential home.

The Stages of Building Preparation for Painting

If you want to achieve the desired result and guaranteed quality from your house painting, you must give special importance to the steps to consider before painting the building. Complete all the stages and tasks required before starting the house painting, despite their time-consuming nature, to achieve the desired and extraordinary result from the painting. Preparation is one of the most important stages and tasks during house painting, for which you must perform the following steps:

1- Setting a Specific Date

The first step in preparing for building painting is to determine a precise and specific date. Therefore, if you intend to proceed with painting and decorating your building, it’s best to establish a date that is suitable in all aspects and start your building painting based on that.

2- Gathering Furniture and Covering Them

Another step in preparing the house for painting is gathering furniture and household items and covering them with cloth or sheets to prevent them from getting painted. Therefore, first gather all living items such as furniture, decorations, etc., and place them in the center of the house. Then cover them with a cloth so that paint does not splash on them and they do not get soaked in color. This way, you can move around more comfortably and worry less about paint spills during house painting.

If the house is newly constructed or no one lives in it, you can open the handles, hinges, etc., and place them in special plastic bags to prevent them from getting painted and facilitate the painting process.

3- Cleaning Different Surfaces of the House for Painting

The next step is to focus on the walls, ceiling, and generally the surfaces you intend to paint. By doing this, you can increase the lifespan of the paint and have an easier painting process.

In many cases, people paint their houses during renovations and remodeling. In such cases, the walls are usually dirty, or the ceiling, etc., may have dust. In this case, it’s better to start by giving the house a thorough cleaning and removing any dirt or grime from all desired surfaces. This step is especially important in the kitchen and bathroom.

4- Covering Surfaces That Should Not Be Painted

Usually, in all buildings, there are surfaces that should not be painted or their color should be different from their surroundings. Therefore, it is better to cover surfaces that should not be painted, such as moldings, doors, and windows whose color differs from the walls and ceiling, with tape, paper, or newspaper during building painting preparation. This way, you can easily paint around them. When covering these surfaces, make sure there are no gaps or holes that could cause them to get painted.

5- Surface Preparation and Priming

In many cases, the surfaces intended for building painting may have unevenness or various fine and coarse cracks on walls and ceilings. Additionally, if the building painting is for repairs, we may encounter peeling of the previous paint layers and damage, all of which need to be addressed during preparation.

To address these issues, precise and proper surface preparation is essential to prime the wall substrate for painting. Using putty, you can fill in all cracks and holes in the building, and with sandpaper, you can smooth out all protrusions uniformly.

Furthermore, remove all fixtures such as clocks, frames, etc., from the walls, or detach any nailed hooks. Then, fill in all holes and gaps with putty or plaster.

6- Floor Protection

One of the most important points before painting a building is to properly protect the floor. Often during building painting, the floor becomes splattered with paint, making cleaning it quite challenging and difficult.

The best practice is to cover the entire floor before starting building painting, especially if the house floor is dark-colored. It should be noted that many floor coverings cannot even be cleaned of paints using materials such as acetone, gasoline, etc., as they may damage the floor coverings.

7- Covering Fixed Items Prone to Paint Splatters

In homes undergoing repairs, renovations, or repaints, there are often fixtures and equipment that cannot be easily moved to other locations. Therefore, it is essential to first cover such items using nylon or covers to prevent them from being exposed to paint splatters.

8- Removing Plastic Covers from Switches and Outlets

During building painting, an important consideration is removing the plastic covers from switches and outlets. It’s better to open all the covers of switches and outlets before starting work and place them elsewhere to prevent them from being coated in paint during the painting process. Once the painting job is complete, reinstall the switches and outlets in their original positions.

9- Choosing the Paint Color and Preparing It

Now that all the mentioned steps have been completed and the conditions for building painting are ready, you can start the job. However, it’s better to keep in mind that before starting building painting, first select the desired color and test it on the wall. If the color matches what you want, then you can proceed. Therefore, first choose the type of paint according to the walls, ceiling, etc., as well as their previous coating. Then, move on to the next step, which is preparing the desired color.

10- Priming and Putty Work

Another task that you must do in the preparation stage for building painting is putty work. Using putty, you can eliminate various holes and cracks that have formed on the walls or ceiling.

For this reason, one of the most essential and fundamental tasks in building painting is putty work, which is considered one of its important elements. This means that a layer of this paste-like material can strengthen the light insulation effects on the wall and create a smooth and uniform surface for painting. Additionally, it is used to fill small holes, cracks, and to cover nail heads and screws.

Painting a house or building may seem like a daunting and challenging task to many, but nevertheless, if you want to paint your home yourself or entrust it to a skilled painter, proper and correct preparation of the house for painting can alleviate many of the difficulties and problems of building painting.

Therefore, before painting, take all the necessary steps so that you tire less and paint the building with energy and time savings.

To start painting the building, first gather all the room items, remove the paintings, and open the windows. Use a long-handled brush to dust off the ceiling and walls. If the wall paint is washable, apply a warm water and soap solution with a sponge on the walls and clean them with a clean cloth. Prepare the building surfaces for painting by removing any potential stains, spots, or unevenness, so that the desired surface is smooth and ready for painting.