I posted a comment on a interior home paint blog last night wondering what his thoughts were on the best way to paint a wall with new drywall on it. Just eight hours later, I got this in my e-mail box:
Hello Jeff! Thanks so much for your comment on my web site, (below) I am really jammed on time right this minute, but as soon as I get a while, I will e-mail you detailed instructions for preparing and painting new residential drywall. I will approve your comment, of course, but I am attempting to find a way to reply to it right on the site, which is not readily available on Word Press. Sorry for the delay. I hope you are not in a hurry.
Thanks,
Ed Kimble
Wow, wasn’t expecting that. To be honest, I was barely expecting an answer… bloggers typically don’t even bother. The next e-mail I got was this:
You came to the right place with your question, Jeff.
I have some time now to answer you. Sorry for the delay.
Fist, inspect all joint tapes to see if they are smooth and flat. Don’t just look at it, run your hands over it. Sand lightly and apply spackel as needed. Let dry fully and check again and repeat above as necessary. Use a new white dry cotton cloth to wipe the wall down, and make sure that there is no spackel dust left on the wall. Do not wet the wall or wash it. Many instructions recommend this, but this is not good. Now you are ready to start priming and painting.
You can prime the wall with a high quality latex drywall primer. I recommend this. I recommend only Latex products for bare drywall, not oil base. In a pinch, and to save money, you can actually use a flat latex finish coat paint as a drywall primer. Not as good as the actual primer, but OK.
Now you need to inspect the wall again. The first coat will highlight any defects in the spackel, which you will need to correct like I explained in the first paragraph.
If you intend your finish coat to be flat, you can simply apply two coats of a high quality latex flat paint. Semi gloss and eggshell finishes, and any finish with a sheen to it are much more difficult to finish properly. They highlight and magnify any defect. Another problem is that the drywall
tapes and any spackel spots will have no sheen whatsoever, instead be dead flat spots. Many instructions tell you to spot prime tapes with an oil
base primer/sealer. This does not work. The spots need to be primed with a flat latex paint. I will also share with you a trick only I know. Contractors who have been in business for years struggle with this, and they are never going to get it. If you are painting with a tinted (color) finish, the only way to completely hide the tapes and other repairs is to get a quart of flat latex paint tinted exactly the same color. This is a completely unknown trick.
Please let me know if I answered your question to your satisfaction. I will approve your comment once I have exhausted attempts to add to it myself directly on the site.
I think your web site is great, and the link will be published in your comment on my site. Also please consider publishing my link (below) on your site and social
networking sites.
Thanks, Ed Kimble.
This was a greatly detailed response which he spent more than a few minutes creating. He asked for a backlink at the end which is smart but not necessary in my case. For being so helpful, I was going to do it anyway!
Ed, here’s your backlink and thanks for being a great blogger.
Interior House Painting