If you are preparing a home for sale, a fresh coat of paint can be one of the best investments to make. Old paint or dirty walls leaves an immediate poor impression with a buyer, but a fresh coat of paint helps assure a buyer that the home has been well maintained. Although it may not necessarily be an issue raised with a Phoenix area home inspection report, the lack of fresh paint can sometimes affect the value of your home.
Before you begin to paint, the room should be properly prepped for painting. We cover how to prepare to paint a room in this do-it-yourself video tip from Advantage Inspection Service.
Tools & Materials Needed
- Screwdriver.
- Drywall repair materials, if needed.
- Painters tape.
- Painting tarps to protect floors and furniture.
Steps To Prepare To Paint a Room
- If you can move furniture out of the room, it is best to do so to give you room to work. If you cannot remove the furniture, then move it away from the walls.
- Cover the flooring and furniture with painting tarps, old sheets or old blankets.
- Remove all mirrors and wall hangings.
- Patch any holes in the walls that need to be fixed.
- Remove all cover plates from outlets and light switches.
- Remove all cob webs and clean the walls and ceilings as needed. Kitchen walls may accumulate a sticky or greasy coating that must be removed before painting.Check with your paint supplier to see what they recommend for cleaning the walls and ceiling.
- Apply painter’s tape as needed to make painting quicker and easier.
- Select the proper paint for the room. Kitchens and baths typically use semi-gloss or eggshell finish paints,while living room and bedroom walls usually look better with flat or satin finish paints. Once again, your paint supplier can give you the best advice regarding which types of paints you should use.
- Determine which types of painting tools you will need depending upon the spaces and corners you have to paint.
Follow up with our How To Paint a Room video.