How a Professional Narragansett Painter Prepares a Room

If you’re a Narragansett RI resident looking to maintain your property values, refreshing interior paint jobs from time to time is a must. At Two Brothers Painting, we know that superior residential painting requires a decent amount of preparation and planning to yield long-lasting results. When we execute any residential paint project, we go above and beyond to ensure that the proper groundwork has been laid before we get started. Here’s a quick look at how we prepare rooms prior to breaking out our trusty brushes.

Assess the Paint Needs of the Room

All too often, homeowners attempt to tackle interior painting challenges without the knowledge and experience required to achieve good outcomes. Knowing what kinds of paints are appropriate for a space based on the existing conditions of the walls and ceilings is vital. For instance, a matte paint would hardly be appropriate for a space where excessive moisture is to be expected such as a bathroom or a kitchen. We factor in the age of the underlying drywall and wood when recommending any course of action.

Remove Wall Hangings and Window Accessories

It should go without saying that anything attached to walls that isn’t going to be painted should be removed right out of the gate. Curtains, curtain rods, paintings and tapestries should be unmounted and stored in a safe place for the duration of the painting process. In some cases, it’s advisable to remove window trim, crown molding and baseboards as well. Baseboard heaters and radiators will typically be left in place and covered with plastic wrap or drop cloths unless extenuating circumstances demand their removal.

Remove Some or All of the Furniture

Ideally, interior painters will move couches and tables into other rooms or an off-site storage facility while they work. Doing so will virtually eliminate the chances of inadvertently staining valuable upholstery. What’s more, having plenty of free space to move around will shorten project completion times. Occasionally, moving a particularly bulky item such as a piano or a bar isn’t feasible. In these cases, carefully wrapping furniture in plastic and moving them as far away from the walls as possible is the next best option.

Protect Flooring With Mats and Tarps

At this point, a competent painting contractor will take great pains to prevent damage to flooring since foot traffic is only going to increase from here on out. Butyl-backed coverings will ensure that painters don’t slip around throughout the rest of the painting process. In addition, specialized anti-skid floor coverings will greatly reduce the likelihood of damage to sensitive laminate and wood flooring materials. Finally, a mixture of absorbent and impermeable floor coverings will prevent paint from reaching sensitive hardwood and tile if a spill occurs.

Tape Up Fixtures and Finish Carpentry

Once everything that should be removed from a room is gone, it’s time to create barriers between surfaces that will be painted and those that won’t. Professional painters will use relatively non-sticky tape to demarcate the boundaries between things like drywall and relatively pristine wood that doesn’t need paint. Wall sconces, electrical plates and trim need to be completely covered before any painting can begin. In the end, painter’s tape is cheap. Painting mistakes are far more costly. Good preparation saves contractors and homeowners a ton of headache.

Fill In Dings, Cracks and Unsightly Gaps

An outstanding paint job starts with a perfectly flat surface free of any protrusions that might impede the smooth application of acrylic or latex. Over time, the nails in drywall sheets tend to work themselves out of the underling studs and need to be hammered back in. In addition, gaps between drywall sheets tend to crack and need to be filled with joint compound. Even the gaps between molding boards expand and should be plugged up with the appropriate caulk before painting commences.

Sand Wood and Drywall to a Smooth Finish

For truly next-level results, painters need smooth surfaces to work with when it comes time to lay down the Behr and the Sherwin Williams. Sanding down drywall joint compound is the first step. Taking a random orbital sander to trim and floorboards is just as important depending on the circumstances. Professional painters are intimately familiar with the level of grit required in their sandpaper to ensure no burrs or chips impede their work. At Two Brothers, we don’t start to paint until everything is perfect.

Thoroughly Remove Dirt, Dust and Debris

You can’t expect a great paint job if you don’t take the time to clean wood and drywall. At the very least, using an industrial shop vacuum to suck up joint compound dust and other particulates is vital. Beyond that, it may be necessary to apply a few cleaners and a little elbow grease to walls depending on their condition. In some cases, applying a diluted bleach solution or a little soap and water might be needed if walls are particularly laden with grime.

Assemble the Necessary Tools in a Staging Area

Painters that get the job done ahead of schedule and under budget always plan for success by organizing their workspace in an efficient manner. Putting every tool and paint product in a centralized location where it’s easy to keep track of things is just common sense. The staging area might be in the center of the room that’s being painted, or it might be in an adjacent hallway. The important thing is that there’s a common hub where all interior painters can work from.

Prime Surfaces With the Appropriate Products

In many ways, priming a surface before painting is the most important step in the entire preparation process. For one thing, primer helps good paint to adhere to surfaces without flaking or wrinkling over the long haul. What’s more, primer will generally fill in barely noticeable imperfections that become far more obvious once the final layer of paint dries. Proper priming is often the difference between a so-so DIY paint job and the kind of results that only top-notch painters can deliver with regularity.

If Want the Best, Two Brothers Is the Team to Rely On!

As you can see, there’s more to painting than grabbing a few tarps and brushes from the local hardware store. At Two Brothers Painting, we go above and beyond to give our loyal clients the best paint job that money can buy. Our famous Two-Year Written Warranty is our calling card as far as quality is concerned. Call us today to see what we can do for your Rhode Island home!