Whether you are getting ready to have one room or the entire interior of your house painted professionally, it is important to prepare your space properly before your painters arrive. This will save you both time and money as it will allow them to get right to painting and work efficiently. Read on to learn exactly how to prep your house for interior painting so that you can have the smoothest experience possible with your painters.
How to Prepare Your Home for an Interior Paint Job
When prepping your house for interior painting, there’s more to consider than just making sure the walls are free of decor and easy to access. Not only do your painters want to ensure the paint job is done correctly, but they also want to be sure that your personal belongings and anything that may need to be moved stays protected and intact.
Follow these simple steps below to prep your house for interior painting before your painters arrive.
Prep Your Interior
The first step is to remove any pictures or decorations from the interior walls that will be painted. You should also remove any valuables, breakables, irreplaceable items, or family heirlooms from the space. This even means removing them from inside of any cabinets that the painters will be moving. As professional painters, we do not want to accidentally break a wedding glass or family heirloom that’s inside of the drawer of a hutch.
You should also move and cover any furniture and rugs that are in the space to allow your painters enough room to set up their supplies and maneuver around the room. If there are large pieces of furniture that cannot be completely moved outside of the space, such as a bed, hutch, or dresser, it is best to cover it with a large sheet of plastic or old bedsheets.
We ask that our customers unplug and remove any electronics, computers, servers, security systems, appliances, etc., from the area as well. It is not a painter’s area of expertise to unhook and rehook electronics and systems.
We identify with our customers which items will come down off of the walls before painting, such as curtain hangers, tv mounts, etc., and which items will be going back up on the walls after we are done with the paint job. Some customers would rather have their painters paint around those items and others prefer to have them off. Just be sure to communicate your preference with your paint crew.
The less furniture, electronics, decor, and items your painters have to work around, the better.
Prep Your Interior Walls
Once you have removed all decor, furniture, and electronics from the space, it’s time to prep your interior walls. We do not ask our clients to clean their interior walls before painting.
However, we do ask our customers to write on the interior walls with pencil (it’s very important that it is pencil) “Do Not Fill” on all wall decor drywall hangers or nails that you will be rehanging items back up on. All other holes, nail pops, dents, etc., will get filled in with mud prior to painting.
If you have animals in the home, there are a few things to consider and plan for before our crew arrives on-site at your home to start on your paint job. Simply let us know that you have pets in the home and we will send over our guidelines for what you should prepare for and do with your dog/pets during your painting project.
Remove Personal Items From the Space
When prepping your home for interior painting, check for personal items in and around the areas that will be painted or accessed by the painters. If you are planning on being out of town or it is not your primary residence, a lock box or a painter’s electronic code needs to be set up for us to enter the residence.
Spaces that will be painted or accessed need to be cleaned up and tidied from personal belongings, kids’ toys, valuables, etc.
Things to Keep in Mind When Preparing Your Home for Interior Painting
Something a lot of homeowners don’t think of when hiring a professional paint company is where they will clean up their brushes, rollers, and equipment. Before the paint job begins, identify with your painters where they can safely clean up their paint equipment.
When the painters arrive, it is a good idea to vacate the area. Make plans to be out of the house for the day so they can work efficiently and also allow the paint to dry before you enter the space again. The last thing you want is to have your child, pet, or even yourself get in the way of your painters or touch the paint before it’s dry.
Once you have prepared your space for our painting crew by following the steps above, you can rest assured that we can take it the rest of the way.
Preparing your space takes a little bit of work upfront, but it will save you a ton of time and money in the long run by hiring a professional painter to get the job done effectively.
Every paint job, home-owner, and interior is different. Therefore, we work with our customers to identify any unique situations that we can help work around and create customized solutions to fit your needs so that you can have the best interior painting experience possible.
If you are in the Raleigh, North Carolina area and have chosen to work with us on your next interior paint job, we are here to make the process as seamless as possible. If you have any questions as you get your space ready for your upcoming paint job or would like to book a free estimate, don’t hesitate to reach out to us!
