How to Prep Walls for Painting: A Step-by-Step Guide & Expert Tips

Getting ready to paint your walls but don’t know where to start? Uneven surfaces, peeling paint, and rough patches can make the process overwhelming, especially if you’re not a professional. 

In the worst-case scenario, you might end up with wasted time and money, despite your hard work and dedication.

But guess what?

You don’t have to be an expert to get it right. The secret to a flawless finish begins long before you pick up a brush or roller. Preparing your walls is the basis of any type of successful painting project. Thankfully, you can achieve a smooth, professional look with the right tools, such as a microfiber cloth, sandpaper, primer, and a scraper, and a few tricks, like knowing how to clean the space and smooth the surface.

Yes, you don’t have to feel frustrated about imperfections showing up days or weeks after painting your walls. You just need to follow 5 simple steps to repair, clean, and paint your walls like a real pro.

In this step-by-step guide, we’ll show you exactly how to prep your wall for your next painting masterpiece.

Key Takeaways

• Prepping the walls for painting includes 5 essential steps, such as clearing the space, cleaning, repairing, sanding, and priming.
• Before preparing the walls, you should gather protective supplies (drop cloths and painter’s tape), cleaning tools (sponge and water), repair materials (fiber mash tape, filler, and sandpaper), and priming essentials (stain-blocking or bonding primer).
• Previously painted, wallpapered, and textured walls require extra care.
• Avoid common mistakes, like skipping primer, ignoring repairs, or using low-quality tools.
• After painting your walls, allow the paint to dry completely before moving the furniture back.

Tools and Supplies You’ll Need to Prep a Wall for Painting

Who doesn’t want to make their painting project as smooth and stress-free as possible? 

Prepping your walls starts with having a few simple tools, such as a microfiber cloth for cleaning, sandpaper for smoothing surfaces, a flexible scraper for repairs, and painter’s tape to protect edges. The good news is that you don’t have to break the bank — usually investing just $30-50 is enough to gather all the needed supplies.

Take a look at the checklist of tools and supplies below.

1. Protective Supplies

• Drop cloths or plastic sheeting to protect your floors and furniture.
• Painter's tape to avoid trims, baseboards, and edges. Ideally, aim for 3M or multisurface FrogTape.

2. Cleaning Tools

• A bucket with mild dish soap and water to remove dirt, grease, and grime from walls.
• Cellulose sponge and clean rags to remove dirt and stains.

According to Lou Manfredini, home expert at Ace Hardware, a damp sponge is an effective alternative to sandpaper to avoid dust. As he says: “If you don't want to make a lot of dust by sanding, skip the sandpaper and smooth your spackle out with a damp sponge and warm water. It will get the job done with zero dust.”

3. Repair Materials

• Fiber mesh tape to cover large holes. We recommend either Purdy, Shur-Line, or Hyde.
• A filler or spackling compound with a flexible scraper can help you if your older wall has cracks.
• Sandpaper (or a sanding sponge) if you need to smooth out rough areas.

4. Priming Essentials

• Stain-blocking or bonding primer is great for paint coverage, especially on challenging surfaces.

Other than these essential supplies, you’ll need to have a standard 9-inch roller, a sturdy ladder, a two-inch putty knife, and a six-inch-wide taping knife.

Pro Tip: Remove small items and cover large furniture to make your workspace more efficient. The thing is that larger furniture often makes your work area decluttered, and as a result, you might find it hard to concentrate. 

5 Steps to Prepare Walls for Painting

Clearing the space, cleaning, repairing, sanding, and priming are essential steps before beginning the process of painting to ensure your DIY painting project is manageable and the result looks professional.

Step 1: Clear the Space and Protect the Surroundings

Preparing your walls for painting doesn’t start directly by working with the walls. Before that, you need to set up the workspace. After all, you’re doing this project yourself, without professional help, right? That’s why you should minimize all potential distractions and clear the room of unnecessary furniture, decorations, and items that might interfere with the process.

If you have larger pieces of furniture that can’t be moved but can be damaged, make sure to cover them with plastic sheeting or drop cloths. While this process isn’t directly part of painting walls, it will prevent accidental damage and disruptions.  

Step 2: Clean the Walls

Think your walls are clean enough to start painting? Think again, because even walls that seem spotless at first glance can have elements that badly affect the painting process. 

Most types of walls can be washed with just a sponge and warm water. But ideally, we recommend dusting the walls with a microfiber cloth or duster, as it’s the most effective way to remove loose particles. However, if your wall surface is greasy or heavily stained (which is common in kitchens), mix warm water with mild dish soap or use a cleaning solution like TSP for deeper cleaning.

The last step here is to wipe away soap residue with a damp cloth and let the walls dry completely.

Step 3: Repair and Smooth the Surface

No matter how clean your walls are, imperfections like cracks, holes, or dents can ruin the final look of your paint job. So, what’s the solution?

Carefully assess the walls to find such flaws. Once you find them, use filler and a putty knife and apply spackling paste to fill these minor surface defects. Note that if your wall has deeper damage, you might need to take extra precautions and apply a second layer once the first is dry.

Step 4: Sand and Dust the Entire Wall

This step is required only for paint projects that include rough and glossy surfaces or previously patched areas. The purpose of sanding is to get a smooth, even surface where the paint doesn’t damage the overall look and doesn’t peel over time.

Use sandpaper or a sanding block to sand and dust your walls. These instruments will help you work on uneven areas without damaging the wall. For larger areas, you can even use a sanding pole for a quicker and easier process. 

Step 5: Prime the Walls

The final step before actually painting is to prime the walls. It’s hard to be sure whether or not your walls need to be primed. If that’s what you’re facing, note that the most common reasons to prime include visible color changes and stains. 

There’s one more important consideration, though: don’t just use any type of primer. Instead, choose a primer carefully based on your wall’s condition. For stained or discolored walls, use a stain-blocking primer to prevent bleed-through. If you’re working with glossy or patched walls, a bonding primer works best. Apply the primer with a roller for large areas and an angled brush for corners and edges. 

Expert Tips for Perfect Wall Prep: Specific Scenarios

Newly plastered walls, previously painted surfaces, and textured finishes all need different preparation methods to achieve professional results. Considering this, below we’ll provide additional tips for these 4 specific scenarios. 

For a Previously Painted Wall

To prepare a previously painted wall, you can follow the general wall-prepping steps that we discussed above.  

1. Clean the surface and fill existing holes
2. Lightly sand glossy areas
3. Apply a primer 
4. Let the walls dry

In addition, there are a few other considerations:

When preparing a previously painted wall, it’s crucial to consider the type of paint currently on the surface. For example, oil-based paints require sanding or a bonding primer for proper adhesion. On the other hand, water-based paints can be painted over directly with minimal prep.

For a Newly Plastered Wall

Newly plastered walls require extra attention before painting. Before painting over a newly plastered wall, it’s important to add a primer and undercoat. As experts suggest, drying time is also crucial.

According to a paint expert, Michael Rolland, “Generally, you’ll need to wait up to 4 weeks before painting new plaster. In some cases, it can take even longer for the plaster to dry properly. It all depends on the type of plaster, the thickness of each layer, and even the weather conditions.”

Note that a plastered wall is considered dry when it changes from a dark brownish hue to a consistent pale pink tone.

For a Previously Wallpapered Wall

Often our walls are decorated with wallpapers that feature handmade elements, beautiful patterns, and colorful designs. We can’t deny that wallpapers can add character to a room, but they have one downside: it’s harder to remove them. Therefore, you need to carefully prep your previously wallpapered walls.

The first thing you should do is peel off the wallpaper with a steamer. Then, use light sandpaper to sand the walls and get rid of any remaining imperfections. Finally, apply a primer to seal the wall. After these steps, your wall will be ready for painting. 

For Textured Walls

Perhaps not surprisingly, textured walls also require specific techniques for effective prep. The reason is that they have uneven surfaces. This makes applying paint challenging. 

The best way to overcome this issue is to remove dust and dirt with a microfiber cloth or vacuum before you start working on the wall. After cleaning, inspect the wall to avoid any cracks or damage. Afterward, your wall will be perfectly ready for painting. 

Even after cleaning your textured walls, you need to make sure you’re using high-quality painting tools. It’s not worth cutting corners with low-quality tools, such as brushes and rollers, as they can leave uneven layers or lint on textured walls. Explore the most suitable types of paintbrushes and invest in high-quality painting tools to get the best results. 

Adding Final Touches to Your Space After Painting

Once you understand how to prep your walls for painting and the process of applying paint is done as well, it’s time for final touches. Freshly painted walls are a great opportunity to let your creative potential flow and make your home truly yours. 

The best way to do this is to decorate your walls with artworks. To create something truly personal, you can commission a custom painting from Photo2Painting’s talented artists, who can turn your favorite photo into a hand-painted masterpiece.

If you’re a couple aiming to renovate your home with intimate, meaningful details, consider commissioning a custom couple painting based on a photo from your wedding, your favorite travel destination, or even a candid photo that tells your story. For families, custom family portraits of a shared experience, a beloved pet, or a favorite spot you visit together can add stunning personal touches to your newly painted wall.

Either way, you’ll be letting your walls tell a story that is uniquely yours!

Ready to Paint? Let’s Make It Perfect

As you can see, prepping your walls for painting can determine whether your project ends in frustration or turns out a flawless masterpiece. All you need is just the right tools, following all the important steps, and a little patience to handle the process with care and precision.

As a result, you’ll get artwork or wall decor that stands out and lasts for years to come.

The possibilities of decorating your walls with custom-painted art are endless! And if you wish to complement your newly painted walls with something deeply personal, professional artists at Photo2Painting are here to help!

Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us, and we’ll make sure to turn your ideas into personalized custom paintings that will complete your home’s look. Let us work with you to help you create timeless pieces of art!