Preparing Your Home for a Professional Interior Paint Job

Painting your home can be a lot of work. Getting professional painters means that someone else handles the prep work, the painting, and the cleanup. However, there are things you can do to prepare your house and make your interior paint job go faster and easier.

First, you want to make the area as easy to paint as possible. If there are little pieces of furniture, such as end tables or nightstands, move them out of the way. For larger pieces of furniture, you want to cover them with tarps. Not all painting companies will require this. You may want to ask if they will tarp the furniture for you. However, taking care of it ahead of time means you know it is done.

Move your electronics. Do you have televisions, sound systems, gaming systems, or other electronics in the room? You want to move them, especially wall-mounted electronics. Again, this is something you should discuss with your painting company.

Some companies will remove wall-mounted systems and even replace them after they finish the job. However, if that is your expectation, you need to make it clear. If it takes additional time and effort, which it does, you should anticipate paying for that service.

Take your paintings and other wall hangings off of the wall. Even if you want to put them back on your walls, your painter should fill in holes before painting your walls. So, you want your walls clear of all wall hangings. Store them in a different room until all painting jobs are complete.

Remove fabrics from the room. Do you have comforters, blankets, rugs, or drapes? If so, remove them and get them into a different room. Even if your painter is super-careful, there is a risk of paint splatter. Removing soft surfaces reduces the risk that they will get hit with splatter and ruined in any way.

Ask your painter if they are going to handle prepping and cleaning the walls. A good house painter should intend to clean the surface before painting. However, if you are getting a bargain service, you may be in charge of handling the cleaning. Use a good cleaner, like TSP, to remove any stickiness and grime from the surface. The cleaner the surface, the better the paint job.

Finally, plan to be out of the way. It is much more difficult for painters to paint a room when they have to worry about occupants. So, get what you need out of the room before the job begins. If the painters are working in a room that you usually use, such as a kitchen or bathroom, make arrangements to use other places until the interior paint job is complete.