Fixing a not-so-great paint job

sadie_2007

17 years ago

Husband and I bought our first house & made a bad mistake. House has a lot of issues and big problems. Anyway, in a fit the other night, my husband emptied out the kiddo's room and started painting. I think he wanted to make something pretty and get us out of our house funk.

The color actually looks great, but this was his first paint job, not terribly well planned. He didn't do much wall prep, not sure how well he rinsed off the TSP, only primed where the previous owner had painted on some "art." He didn't do the trim or ceiling. There are spots on the wall where it looks like the roller ran out of paint.

I'm thinking, well, the kiddo is moved into the playroom/study/guest room, and I've got 3 days with no work, why not do this right? But I've never painted before either.

Should I approach this as if we're starting over completely & treat that initial coat basically as a primer? He painted it yesterday. If so, does the following make sense?

1. Fix up the wall dings, nail holes, etc. Sand where needed. Prime just the repairs.

2. Clean ceiling. Do I have to prime it before painting it? I plan just to do a flat white matched to the trim, pretty much what's there now, but Low VOC.

3. Clean and fix up/sand molding. Paint after ceiling is complete. I don't think I have to prime this b/c the sanding should make it pretty toothy.

4. Repaint walls, 1-2 coats.

Also, if anyone could tell me the best way to color match the white trim, I'd really appreciate it. I'm trying to match the color b/c there are indoor painted shutters over the windows, and they look fine -- no need to repaint. I'd like the rest to match. But I can't get the shutters off thanks to the previous paint job.

I know this is horridly long. Thanks for any help. I'm a complete newbie at all house issues.

Sadie

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Comments (3)

Faron79
17 years ago
Hi Sadie!
>>> At least you did SOME TSP washing!! This needs to be rinsed WELL.
>>> If you only SPOT-prime, these areas will look BETTER than the rest of the wall!!
>>> For your BEST look throughout, PRIME EVERYTHING...EVEN THE CEILING, AFTER you've done the proper prep:

1) Wash ALL walls/trim, rinse well, let dry.
2) Fill the dings. SAND repairs with 220 paper/sponges.
3) Sand ALL trim lightly with 220 sponges.
4) Get out the shop-vac and vacuum all dust off.
5) Take some Advil...
6) Spot-prime any wall/ceiling fixes, Then...
7) PRIME EVERYTHING. Repaired spots now have 1 THIN-coat of primer + a FULL coat. Use Top-quality primers/brushes/rollers. If you paid $30 per 5-gal for a primer, all you've done is put thin chalk & water on the walls. Good primers are $50+ per 5gal. Good Enamel-Undercoaters run towards $90 per 5gal.
* If you don't prime, the sheens of your topcoats will be very uneven, due to uneven absorption into the walls. It makes a BIG difference.
8) Sorry...priming trim (even with sanding!) gives the BEST look & performance.
9) Lastly TWO topcoats of all paint, 3 hrs. apart. More for darker colors, which will need Gray/tinted primers.

>>> Bottom line....DON'T be in too big a hurry to paint! Lot's of necessary prep needs to be done first. You'll be glad you did!!

Faron
sadie_2007
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks a lot! I'll see if I can take this on this week, and if not, I'll just move the kiddo back in and plan this for a better time. She won't care, and her room is so tiny that it's not a big deal to move her in and out.

Appreciate your post. I'm going to print it out for reference.

Sadie
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nsf798
17 years ago
personally, i would just put on a second coat & call it good. if it's a child's room, most likely it'll get repainted in a few yrs. if you make it way too complicated, it will seem way too daunting & it'll never get done. you've got 3 days, more than enough time. i personally wouldn't want to hurt dh's feelings by redoing the entire room too. you said color looks good, just put on a second coat & it'll look great & you'll both feel proud & be happy. good luck.

Fixing a not-so-great paint job

Comments (3)

Faron79

sadie_2007
Original Author

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nsf798

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Fixing a not-so-great paint job

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Faron79

sadie_2007Original Author

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sadie_2007
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