Wallpaper can be a great way to increase your home interior's appeal, but over time it can easily get faded, show signs of wear and tear, and you'd probably want to get them replaced, perhaps treated to a more permanent and more durable fresh coat of paint. While it can be complicated to prepare your surface for painting after removing wallpaper, it is doable - with the right tips and tricks, you can even do it on your own! So, if you're currently thinking of replacing your old, running down, and shredded wallpaper and painting it over with a fresh coat of paint, well, we might have the right tips and tricks that could help you succeed in doing this. Without further ado, here are 5 Tips in Painting Your Walls After Removing Wallpaper in Milford, CT.

1. Remove Remaining Glue First

After you've successfully removed your wallpaper off your wall, you'll inevitably find some glue still stuck on there and will want to remove them first before painting over this surface. Giving your wall a rigorous scrub first will help remove some of that glue, but to help you further remove that adhesion on your wall and give it a smooth, muck-free finish, use TSP (trisodium phosphate) or a solution of vinegar and water to wash and scrub down your walls. Just remember to use gloves while doing this, as TSP can get rough on your hands.

2. Sand The Area

After scrubbing the area clean, you will want to further clean it by sanding the whole area. This will ensure that you have removed all the muck and residue from the wallpaper glue and that your surface will be smooth and even, which is ideal for painting. In doing this, though, try to not overdo it, or you might sand down your surface to a more uneven one - which is an entirely different problem for you to stress over and solve. 

3. Patch Up Any Holes Or Cracks

Before painting, you might want to check for any holes and cracks on the surface first and patch them accordingly. This is important because the paint won't be able to conceal these holes or cracks and will inevitably cause more problems if you don't patch them up early. To do this, you can use a joint compound paired with a wide putty knife or a drywall knife to fill in any holes or cracks present on your surface.

4. Use Primer

After you're done cleaning the surface, making it spotless and an even surface to paint on, you will need to apply a coat of primer to it first before painting. Primer is essential, as it provides your paint with a surface that will be in its best state for painting - it will make your paint color look brighter and more vibrant and make your paint adhere to the surface better, making it look better, longer. Most paint problems arise from the lack of primer usage or skipping primer, so if you want your paint's quality to remain pristine and crisp for a long time, you should not forget to use primer first. 

5. Paint From The Top First

Lastly, when you're done cleaning all the muck from your wallpaper and the surface is already primed, it would be ideal to paint from the top first. This is to avoid getting drip marks running down your fresh coat of paint, which will happen if you paint from the bottom first and will be harder to fix later on. By painting from the top, you are letting paint marks drip down the surface you'll essentially be painting over as you make your way down, which is easier to fix than the other way around.

At New Haven Painters, we offer affordable, reliable, and durable painting services in New Haven, Branford, Milford, Orange, North Haven, West Haven, East Haven, and the surrounding areas for CT! Book a FREE estimate below to get started, or call us at (203) 606-2346 to talk about your project.

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