Skill level: 3

🔘🔘🔘⚪️ ⚪️

Time to complete:

Experienced: Variable

Handy: Variable

Novice: Variable

Materials:

1. 12inch baseboard-masking paper
2. SP solution
3. bleach
4. water
5. lightweight crock filler
6. painter’s masking tape
7. 220-grit sandpaper
8. latex- or oil-base stain-blocking primer

Tools:

1. Bucket
2. rubber gloves
3. drop cloth
4. 4-foot stepladder
5. sponge
6. Phillips screwdriver
7. 3-inch putty knife
8. sanding block
9. 2-inch nylon brush
10. 9 inch roller with ⅜- or ½-inch nap
11. roller tray
12. brass-wire brush
13. tack cloth
14. mineral spirits

1. Move furniture away from walls and protect floor and baseboards with 12-inch masking paper and a paper/poly drop cloth.

2. Set popped nails or screws (see …), repair cracks and holes (see ….), and fill dents with lightweight crack filler.

3. Let the crack filler dry according to the manufacturers instructions; then sand the area using o sanding block with 220 grit sandpaper

4. Treat any areas of mildew with a 3-to-1 water/ bleach solution (see ….), protecting your hands with rubber gloves. Rinse with water.

5. Rinse the entire wall surface with clean, fresh water and let it dry overnight before priming and painting. Ilf walls are dirty, first clean the entire wall with a TSP solution.)

6. Spot prime all of the repaired areas and stains with a latex, stain-blocking primer. If stains are still bleeding through, use an oir base primer.

7. Prime the entire wall with the same primer for uniformity, particularly it changing colors. The primer con be tinted to enhance the final coat.

CLOSER LOOK

TSP=SQUEAKY-CLEAN WALLS

Trisodium phosphate (TSP) is a powerful cleaning product that many painters prefer because it cuts through grease and dirt easily. The phosphate also causes algae bloom in water bodies, however, so its use is restricted in some areas. Substitutes for TSP are available – ask your paint department. If you do use TSP or a similar product, rinse all residue from the walls with plenty of fresh water before it dries, because the residue will prevent the paint from bonding. Read the instructions.