Home Maintenance: Preparing to Paint Montana

You've bought your paint, you've got new brushes and rollers, you've spread out the drop cloths, and you've opened up the stepladder. You're ready to paint. Whoa! Stop right there, Mr. or Ms. Inabighurry. You've forgotten the most important thing: surface preparation. The real secret to a beautiful, long-lasting paint job is making the walls and ceiling really clean and perfectly smooth.

The following tasks don't take that much time to do, but can make the difference between a long-lasting paint job and one that you have to redo way before you're ready:

• Prepare the room. Remove lamps, irreplaceable knick-knacks, and as much furniture as you can and then push whatever is left to the middle of the room. Remove anything attached to the walls, including pictures, window treatments, and switch and outlet plates. Loosen ceiling light fixtures and wrap them in plastic trash bags. Take off all the window and door hardware. Finally, cover every inch of everything—floor, furniture, and radiators—with canvas or heavy-plastic drop cloths.

• Clean the surface. You can wipe away fingerprints, crayon, pen marks, dirt, and dust from walls, trim, and doors with spray cleaner and a damp cloth.

If your house is relatively new, make a bucket of soapy water and wipe the walls and ceiling with a damp sponge. If your house is older, you need something that cuts through the accumulated crud: a synthetic trisodium phosphate (TSP) solution.

If you have mildew on the bathroom wall, you need to kill it and cover the remaining stain with a stain sealer primer made to hide stains.

• Prepare the surface. Fill nail holes, cracks, and other imperfections with patching compound. Scrape any loose or flaking paint on windows, sills, and woodwork. Sand patches and any bare areas on windows, sills, and woodwork. Lightly sand or use a deglosser to knock down the shine on glossy trim. Lightly sand walls if they are uneven, brushmarked, or bumpy. Fill gaps between the trim and the walls (especially along the baseboards and door trim) with caulk.

• Clean again. Vacuum the room to remove sanding dust and paint flakes (don't forget to do the windowsills and trim). Then wipe down everything with a tack rag or barely damp cloth.

• Prime. Prime any bare wood, all patches, and any still-visible marks or stains.

• Mask the windows. Use wax paper, or a layer of thin plastic taped to the windows to prevent paint splatters on the glass.