prepping drywall before painting

[87GN]

I've finished my first attempt at hanging and mudding drywall. I've got the joints sanded. Before I paint it what should I do to make sure it is flat? Should I apply any sort of sealer before paint or use a primer? The walls were previously wall papered. If I went back to wall paper, would this hide the imperfections? Thanks.

 

[LEVE]

Yes, use primer/sealer. It helps to make an even paint job... It's well worth the money.

 

[38 Dodge Coupe]

I agree with LEVE. Prime the walls. If you find an imperfection at that point you can still fix it. Of course you will need to prime that spot so it does not blush through. As far as checking if the seams are flat- I use my largest drywall knife and sometimes will hold it against the seam to see if there are any dips or high spots.

 

[Todd.Brock]

I am currently in this world. I have stripped some paper that will take drywall mud right over top of imperfections and then a primer over it. My second project the drywall paper just bubbled. I bought a water based product called Gardz that glues down the paper. Works in 80 %Of the time, except IT would cause the paper to bubble. I ended up using Gardz, then skimcoated walls and still had bubbles. Cut the bubbles, more Gardz , mud sand prime paint. Repeat. I still have three small bubbles that was caused by the Gripper brand primer I used. They are staying put. I should have just used 1/4 drywall over existing drywall and been done with it

Old painter told me to use oil based kilz. Won't cause the paper to bubble because of the solvents evaporate faster.

I am working on a dining room where paper peeled. My plan is to sand off rough spots, bought some spray can kilz to hit the areas, spackle, spot prime again and then prime the whole damn thing with Valspar Gripper. And then finally paint. Curses to who ever thought wallpaper on the ceiling with borders at top and bottom of wall was a good idea.

Good luck. Wall paper ***** ***

 

[ddawg16]

Grab a drop light and hold it close to the wall.....if you have any serious issues, it will show up nicely.

I've been happy with the Kilz stuff from HD. It will actually give you a 'slight' texture to help cover up some of the small stuff. Once primed it will help you find more mistakes. Nothing wrong with putting more mud over primer.

Caution.....if you have a high spot and it's already primered, it's not as easy to sand. So, make sure all your high spots are sanded before you prime.

A straight edge is a good way to see just how flat your joints are.



If this is your garage, I would suggest a good semi or high gloss exterior paint. Reflects light better and saw dust does not stick to it as well...and it's no big deal if it gets wet.

 

[87GN]

Thanks to everyone for the responses. It's in my spare bedroom. What I spent on tools, I probably could have paid someone to do this. Then again, I have the tools, but hope never to do drywalling again. I'll stick to Corvettes.

 

[Hpozzuoli]

Zissner 123 primer is the only primer I use. Most little Imperfections will be covered with the primer. Run your hand all over the mud joints and feel for any lips going from drywall to mud. Those show up even after primer. Feather your mud lines out a minimum of 12". The wall doesn't nesscessarily need to be razor straight....just smooth. No need to skim unless there is divots and lots of imperfections.

 

[JunkYardDawg]

Zissner 123 primer is the only primer I use. Most little Imperfections will be covered with the primer. Run your hand all over the mud joints and feel for any lips going from drywall to mud. Those show up even after primer. Feather your mud lines out a minimum of 12". The wall doesn't nesscessarily need to be razor straight....just smooth. No need to skim unless there is divots and lots of imperfections.

^^^this^^^

Except... I use Kilz. That stuff is like armor, and makes an excellent base for latex paint.

 

[Prometheus]

I just finished painting my garage and used Gardz on everything. Gardz is actually just a straight sealer, originally intended to be used after wallpaper removal to seal any wallpaper residue from coming through the paint job. Supposedly will prevent water penetration too, but so should good paint. Worked awesome for me, even better than the 1-2-3 I've used in the past. Only downside is that it's clear. Why a downside? Harder to see imperfections than if it was solid white like 1-2-3.

I like 1-2-3, but Gardz just seals better IMO. My regimen was Gardz, and SW Exterior Superpaint x2. No matter what somebody's marketing department says, 2 coats of paint over a primer or sealer is the way to go. Hope that helps.

 

[myredracer]

Before applying primer sealer, wipe all the surfaces with a damp rag to remove drywall dust. There will be a lot of dust on the drywall, esp. joints & corners and the primer sealer will not adhere as well. You want to aim for getting sanding of all joints, corners and screws/nails 100% finished properly before painting anything on the surfaces. It pays off big time to get this stage correct and there's no easy way out. Patience is our friend here. Going back afterwards to fix up spots should be for when you inadvertently missed something.

Imperfections in inside and outside corners don't show up much compared to joints in adjacent sheets (esp. ceilings) and that's where you need to focus on getting it looking good. It can often *look* okay before applying primer sealer but when it's on you can see how poorly you did some spots (BTDT). The trick is to never put on too much mud that will need to be sanded off. There should be very little dust on the floor. If needed, just add another thin skim coat layer in low spots.

Use a trouble light or flashlight almost parallel to the surfaces to highlight up and downs. Filling low spots after the primer sealer is on is okay, but sanding down high spots does not work well.

If you don't have one, get one of the drywall sanding blocks that have a foam core and sandpaper on the outside. They are fantastic at getting inside corners looking really crisp and clean looking.

Any good brand name primer sealer is fine. Don't cheap out on paint...

Everything you ever need to know about anything is on a Youtube vid and drywalling is no exception. When you see how to do it right, it makes the work so much easier and gives better results.

 

[jvitez]

All good advice here.

My 2 cents: don't cheap out on paint!

No need to use the most expensive zero VOC platinum armoured latest whizz-bang spec but don't use $15 a gallon paint either. "Professional" labeled paint is generally lower quality as it's meant for commercial structures, apartment blocks, etc that get repainted quite regularly. I've found that 2nd or 3rd from the top is the sweet spot with most brands.

Use a good to excellent quality primer, then two top coats of paint. You've worked too hard to reduce the life of the job by using cheap paint. I use kitchen and bath paint as it has fungicide in it for high humidity areas. I'll be heating my garage with lots of melted snow so I opted to pain an extra $5 a gallon for K&B vs standard paint.

 

[Kevin54]

Make sure you use a good primer. I bought Glidden and it covered fantastically. The paint on the other hand sucked. I used almost 3 gallons to paint a 7'x24' room. The paint was by Porter Paints and is called Hi-Hide. B.S......it was white paint over white primer and was an eggshell. It didn't cover in two coats. Worst paint I ever used.

 

[nadogail]

Kilz, Zissner , they are both good products who have earned their fine reputations.

 

[404]

If the drywall feels rough or scratchy after the primer, scuff sand it to knock off the rough ****. Paint will not hide them.