This is a great time of year to prepare your home to receive holiday visitors. Organise yourself and hire an experienced painting outfit, and you may even be able to do a complete home makeover in time for guests.
Ask any painters in Perth and they’re sure to tell you that preparation is the key to a perfect paint job. In fact, the majority of a house painter’s work consists of making surfaces 100% ready to receive fresh paint. If you will be paying your painter an hourly wage, you may be able to save a serious amount of cash by doing much of the pre-paint prep work yourself.
Here are six simple steps that will ensure your hired painting professional can get right to work instead of puttering around with preparation tasks:
1. Get rid of the clutter
Clear the clutter out of each room that you intend to have painted. Remove everything from tabletops and countertops and stow your stuff safely in a big box or basket in another room where it will be out of harm’s way.
2. Take down paintings, posters and switch covers
Remove everything that is affixed to or hanging on the walls in the room you mean to paint. Carry artistic works to another room or stash them away in a closet where they will remain out of the way until you can rehang them. Unscrew switch covers and outlet covers and use a bit of clear adhesive tape to attach the screw or screws directly to their respective cover. Keep them in a large zipped storage bag and keep them in another room until ready to replaced.
3. Patch nail holes
With a wide-blade putty knife, patch all holes left when you removed artwork from your walls. It only takes a small dab of spackling paste to fill a hole where a nail used to be. Once dry, lightly sand the patch so it’s level with the wall surface. Prepping the surface now will save time and money once your painter has arrived.
4. Move heavy things to the middle of the room
Take down curtains and drapes and stow them securely in a room where they won’t be accidentally splashed with paint. Put pillows into big plastic bags and remove them to a safe part of the house. Large items such as couches and beds may be shoved to the center of the room and covered with a tarp.
5. Clean sticky and greasy kitchen walls
If your plan is to have your kitchen painted, you may save on labour costs if you prep greasy walls a few days in advance of the painter’s arrival. Dip a sponge into a bucket of hot water to which you’ve added a cup of white vinegar and a handful of baking soda and give the walls a good scrubbing. Your new paint will adhere much better.
6. Find a safe place for your pets on painting day
We can’t stress this one too much. If you’ve seen an over-exuberant family pet stomp merrily through a painter’s roller tray, you understand why it’s important that your dog, cat and other assorted pets spend painting day at another location.
As is the case with many things, proper preparations are imperative to a first-class job. When you’re ready to know more about how to get ready for your painting crew, contact us at your earliest convenience.
