Done well from the start, home painting jobs last for long and result in breathtaking rooms. Now, the secret to painting your home and still have complete peace of mind is to follow a certain procedure – in the right order too.

Chances are high you may look for a local painter to do the job. Even better, if you ask us. But it’s still good to know which is the right interior painting service procedure – to have some control over such a home improvement and most importantly, to be certain it’s done right.

So, what needs to be done before a house painting service begins?

Naturally, the very first steps have nothing to do with your walls. The first thing you should do is remove everything from the room or house, so that the painters will be able to move around freely and your furniture/items won’t be damaged. So, leave each room completely empty. Then, cover the floors. That’s it.

Now, you are all ready to prep the walls. How to do that? We’ll show you right now.

Wash walls before painting – if needed

For a DIY painter, like you, this is nearly half the job. Now, if you are planning to hire a professional painting company, discuss that matter with them from the start. They don’t usually clean walls.

The main question here is whether it’s absolutely necessary to engage in this additional chore before painting the walls or not. Well, the answer is not easy since it depends on the wall and the room.

When it’s necessary to clean the walls before you paint them?

When there’s dirt, grease, oils, stains of all kinds, mold, grime, moisture in the room. On most occasions, suffices to mix warm water and some mild soap to wash the walls. The objective here is to remove the dust, dirt or even mold from the walls, and not to sweep them under the rug by painting over them.

In which cases you can skip washing the walls?

• When it hasn’t been long since this wall was last painted
• When the dust in the room is limited
• When there’s no pets in the house, no hands on the walls
• When there’s no fireplace in the room

Repair drywall and address all blemishes

Even if there’s just some signs of nails on the wall, the holes should be covered. Naturally, if there’s some serious drywall damage, especially noticed in the corners, it should be addressed. To take it a step further, if there’s some suspicion for water leaks around the house and similar threatening problems, it’s best to take care of those first before you get started with your house painting job.

Caulking is as important as drywall repairs. Caulks fill the small gaps between the wall and the window frames, trims, baseboards, ceiling moldings, etc. It’s an important step for a great finish result.

Sand the surface to make it smooth

By sanding the surface before painting, you accomplish two things. First, you make the surface smooth and this results in an impressive finish. Second, you make the surface as rough as it needs to be for the paint to adhere well.

Prime before painting walls

Consider the prime the base of your house painting. Without it, the paint won’t adhere too well – or as easily as if there was a prime, and won’t look as good. Primes help paints to look well and last long, cover stains that cannot be entirely removed with washing, and provide an extra layer of protection – something extremely important in moisture rooms (like bathrooms) and on porous surfaces.

If this is a DIY home painting job and a wall free of stains and imperfections, you can use paints that already contain primers. But overall, it’s always best to get a separate primer and paint, to achieve the utmost results. Best of luck!