Tips for preparing your home for painting

There’s nothing better than a fresh lick of paint to revitalise a room. A paint job is also one of the quickest ways to increase the value of your home. Before you get started though, make sure you’ve done the proper prep work. A vital step often missed before painting without any handyman help is adequate preparation.

If you don’t put in the necessary prep work, you could end up exerting more effort than required.

There’s more to painting than just colour selection and painting tools. Like most handyman services, you need to follow some planning fundamentals before picking up a paintbrush and getting stuck in.

Check the weather forecast

Paint takes much longer to dry when there is humidity or moisture in the air. Avoid wet weather, and choose a dry and warm day to get your paintwork done.

Prepare a painting greenroom

Set up an area close to where you’re painting as a staging and prep station. Use this area to store your paints and tools, fill your painting trays and pots, and do all the necessary cleaning up.

Have your cleaning solutions, spare trays, buckets, water, and plenty of spare rags and drop sheets ready. A table and chairs will also be useful for prepping paint (and for a much needed break!).

Move your furniture away

Find a temporary storage area to relocate your furniture to while you paint. This will give you more space to paint with ease, and means less objects to potentially trip over. You’ll also save your furniture from any accidental splashes. Large furnishings that are harder to move can be covered with old sheets or plastic.

Check for existing flaws

Flaking or chipped paint needs to be scraped and sanded before applying a fresh coat. Investigate any cracks in your walls to ensure there is no water seepage problems before refining with a plaster and sanding process.

Prepare for the finer details

If you’re not savvy with cutting in, use masking tape as a protective barrier on cornices and skirting before you paint.

Protect the area

Avoid any paint spills or splashes by applying canvas drop sheets to the floor.

If you’re on the lookout for how much does home exterior painting cost, check out our home exterior painting price guide.

Try before you buy

Before you splash out on a huge tin of paint, buy a small pot to trial first. Paint generally looks different once applied, and you might find you want to change the colour up a little once you see it on the walls. Trialling on a small area gives you the chance to change your mind before any huge investments (and lots of wasted paint!).

Not up for painting yourself? Airtasker’s handyman services in London could offer just the helping hand you need.