What Do You Need Before Painting?

 

Tools for Prepping Walls 

  • Safety glasses or goggles 
  • Respirator or face mask 
  • Ear protectors 
  • Rubber gloves 
  • Pry bar 
  • Paint scraper 
  • Wallpaper steamer (rent if needed) 
  • Can opener or widening tool 
  • Fan 
  • Hand sanding block 
  • Orbital sander 
  • Screwdriver 
  • Putty knife 
  • Sponge 
  • Cap or scarf 
  • Old clothes 

 

Materials for Prepping Walls

  • Spackle (compound) 
  • Fine-grit sandpaper 
  • (100 – 120-grit silicon carbide) 
  • Detergent and ammonia or tri-sodium phosphate (TSP) 
  • Self-adhesive drywall tape 
  • Primer or adhesive pad 
  • Sizing (for wallpapering) 
  • Tools for Painting 
  • Drop cloths 
  • Ladders 
  • Buckets 
  • Paint edger 
  • Brushes, 4″, 3″, and 11/2″ 
  • Angled sash brushes, 1 1/2″ and 2″ 
  • Roller pan with screen 
  • Roller covers with appropriate naps 
  • Roller handle 
  • Roller extender 
  • Paint guide 
  • Materials for Painting
  • Masking tape, 2″ wide 
  • Newspaper 
  • Adhesive pad or primer 
  • Paint thinner (with oil-based paints) 
  • Aluminum foil 
  • Rags

Use a paint roller for large areas, and small brushes for smaller areas. Corners, trims etc. will need more specialized tools. A paint pad may come in useful for tight maneuvering in areas like small bathrooms and closets where there may be lots of trim and little room for a roller. Pads should have beveled edges and a curled rear edge.

Always choose a roller with nylon bearings, a comfortable grip, a threaded hole for an extension, and a beveled end. Purchase the right roller for the right paint job that you are doing, as rollers come in many different types, with their naps differing according to their use. Purchase a metal or plastic grid, called a screen, to go in your pan to ensure that the roller is properly loaded. 

Natural bristles are recommended for oil-based paints while synthetic filament brushes (nylon or polyester) are suitable for water-thinned paint, although they work in solvent coatings as well. Do not use polyester brushes with shellacs and lacquers. 

Types of Paint. There is generally two types of paint, latex and oil (alkyd) paint. Originally referred to the use of rubber in one form or another as the resin, or solid in paint, latex paint uses water as the solvent or thinner. Alkyd paint is one of the most well known type of oil paint in the market. It utilises a synthetic resin as a binder in the paint, which is normally oil. 

Estimating paint. The general estimation of the amount of paint required for a painting project is about a gallon of base coat for every 400 square feet. Multiply the perimeter of the room by the height of the walls which will give you the square-foot area of the walls. For ceilings, multiply the length by the width. Add a little more for touch up. Purchase all the you need in one order in order to reduce the possibility of mismatching the colours should you run out.