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    Home » Misc. » DIY & Hints

    Professional Painting Preparation Tips.

    Published: Aug 4, 2018 · Modified: May 18, 2019 by Susan Moncrieff · This post may contain affiliate links · 12 Comments

    If you are looking for painting tips, this is the place to look!   I've always done most of my own painting.  But, I was doing what amounted to an almost whole house renovation and my contractor included painting in the quote.  I bought a house that is 95 years old.   It's been a ton of work but worth it.  If renovating old houses interests you, please make sure to come back or sign up for blog post notifications.

    painter's tap around locks and light switches

    There was lots left for me to paint so I thought I'd just let the painters paint the portions they quoted. Life is busy so I thought I'd just go for it.  Let those painters paint!

    For nine days they prepped and painted.  Most days it was a crew of 4 guys.  They come to my house and painted for NINE days.  And, it wasn't even a ton of painting that needed to be done.   I was taking pictures of what I thought would be helpful for painting tips for myself. My memory isn't what it used to be so now I resort to taking pictures of things I want to remember - anyone else do that?  When you spend NINE days in the house of a blogger, expect pictures to be taken : ).  As I looked through these pictures, I thought some of these tips would be helpful so I thought I'd share these with you.

    It's all about the preparation!

    1. Look at how they protected my floors. And, interestingly, they used scotch tape and not painter's tape. No pulling a tarp to the section you are painting. Maybe that's why I always ended up with paint drops on my floors or carpets when I painted!  There wasn't a drop of paint on my floors when the painters were done.

    Mudroom with windows covered in plastic and floors covered with paper.
    That fluffy, big-boned cat is Raji.  He's my third child.

    2. In the same picture, look how they covered the windows. No paint can get onto the windows when they are taped up with plastic! Here's a closeup.

    Painting tips. Cover your windows with plastic.

    3. Cover important items with a plastic film so you don't get paint on them.

    Imagine my surprise when I came home from work and saw my toilet like the image below. Another reason why I became an active library member (bahahaha!).

    Painting tips. Cover your toilet and other bathroom fixtures in plastic.

    4. When my kitchen ceiling was being painted, my new kitchen cupboards were protected from the paint. Not a drop or smear of paint on my prized kitchen cupboards! During the day, the plastic film hung down to the floor. When the guys were done for the day, they rolled it up so I could get to my cabinets.

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    Plastic covering cupboards prior to painting.

    5. Items not to be painted were covered. My upstairs doors were painted on the outer part but were stained on the panel part. The parts not to be painted were covered with tape/paper. I think this not only protected them from paint but also from accidentally being painted.  Not that I've ever done something like that - sighhhh.

    Notice also the floor is well protected.

    Sections of doors not to be painted taped off.

    If you noticed the red plastic on the smoke detector (in the picture above), it's there for a reason. The smoke detectors were newly installed. On the plastic, there is a label with clear instructions that the plastic should not be removed until all drywall work and painting has been completed.

    6. You don't always need to remove door hardware. But, make sure it's protected. I'm not sure if the painters always do this to door hardware. I know in the past I've had painters remove door hardware.  I'm suspecting they were a little nervous about removing my original door hardware (95 years old).

    My old doorknob and skeleton key lock mechanism were totally taped up.

    Painting tips - protecting the doorknobs

    So were the old hinges.  These hinges are original to the house and I didn't want to have to deal with taking paint off them after the house was painted.

    painting tips - protecting the hinges

    7. Light switches were dealt with in two different ways. Not sure why but here are the methods.

    One, the light fixture plate was taken off and some tape put on the switch.

    Painting tip - light switch

    The second method, just tape around the plate.

    Painting tips - switch covers

    The preparation portion of the painting took much longer than the actual painting.  The end results were fantastic and I'll be sharing some of the results in a later post.

    It's worth the extra prep. time!  I've always done whatever I can to just get paint on the walls.  Then I'd be scrubbing drips out of the carpet or trying to scrape paint off my trim.   I can see that the time invested in preparation is definitely worth it.

    Funny story

    Let me share that I lived in the house during the last bit of the renovation (including the painting).  I went to my local library to renew my library card.  And, I went and took out books I never had any interest in reading.  Why?   Well, two of my three bathrooms had no doors.  And, for some reason, the painters were always doing something in that one bathroom with a door.   The facilities at my local library are really nice.  And, I'm paying taxes there now : ).   Seriously, can anyone do 'their business' in their bathroom with a bunch of guys you don't know just outside of the door (that doesn't lock)????  Yup, that was my life - NINE days.

    I hope you found some of these tips helpful.  What is your most helpful painting prep. tip?

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    1. jessa lin

      January 25, 2021 at 1:47 am

      Great tips for painting preparation, the pictures really help a lot worth sharing to friends at Painters North Sydney. Thank you

      Reply
    2. james jason

      September 21, 2020 at 2:43 am

      Thank you for these great tips. This is very informative it really helps me to hone my expertise and have more ideas for future transactions.

      Reply
    3. Alamo

      April 22, 2020 at 7:52 pm

      Nice Article. Thank you for sharing.

      Reply
    4. Vivian Black

      April 02, 2020 at 6:36 pm

      You made a great point about protecting the floor and how you should use strong tape to keep the floor safe. My husband and I are looking for a residential painting service that can help us paint our daughter's room when she is born. We will keep these tips in mind as we search for a professional that can help us best.

      Reply
    5. Painter Pros

      February 24, 2020 at 9:51 am

      Just don't leave the tape on too long... some tapes really adhere too well! Nice job on covering that toilet, half the job is in the prep it takes to paint.

      Reply
    6. Austin Saunders

      February 12, 2020 at 9:30 am

      I like what you said about covering important fixtures with plastic so that they don't get damaged while you repaint your home. My sister has been telling me about how she wants to make her walls a different color. I'll share this information with her so that she can look into her options for professionals who can help her repaint her home.

      Reply
    7. Airless spray painting Auckland

      February 05, 2020 at 4:38 am

      Thanks for sharing info.Keep up the good work.painting preparation tips professional painters.We hope you will visit our blog painting preparation tips professional painters often as we discuss topics of interest to you

      Reply
      • momcrieff

        February 11, 2020 at 7:12 pm

        My painters did an awesome job - and they took a long time with the prep. work. I was told spending the time on the prep. work is what makes the paint look good and last!

        Reply
    8. Suchoson

      November 06, 2019 at 4:17 am

      Extra fine paint pens are excellent for detailed parts marking or drawing but require patience as it takes the paint time to flow down to the tip.

      Reply
    9. Nick

      November 05, 2019 at 7:29 pm

      We've just started our new house painting service company. Really appreciate you taking the time to educate us on this. This article is very helpful!

      Reply
    10. Braden Bills

      August 14, 2019 at 9:39 am

      I want to get my living room painted, but I'm not sure how to do it. It makes sense that the proper preparation would be beneficial. Maybe I should get a professional to handle this for me, since they would have the equipment necessary to get everything covered right.

      Reply
    11. Sahriyar Selim

      June 01, 2019 at 10:30 pm

      Your post is very helpful. Thanks a lot

      Reply

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    I'm Susan! I love sharing easy recipes, especially those that take less than 30 minutes and have less than 5 ingredients. I'm passionate about gardening and creating flower planters. My home is 100 years old and sometimes you will see it in my posts! It was a true fixer upper and I love it!

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