Interior Painting Steps Used by Crowder Painting

We use specific interior painting steps in order to insure consistent quality and your satisfaction. These are broken down to the initial consultation and proposal, help with choosing your colors, preparing the surface(s) for painting, the actual interior painting and clean up.

Unless you have specific needs, these are the painting steps that will be used when we paint a room or whole house.

Interior Painting Consultation and the Painting Proposal

One of the most important interior painting steps is the initial consultation. At this point it is necessary for us to know the exact extent of your interior painting project, now is a great time to ask questions. We too will have questions, such as;

• Will you be doing any of the work yourself?
• Will other tradesman be involved with your project?
• Do you have product or manufacture preferences?
• Have you started looking at colors or sheens?

These questions as well as others will give us a good understanding of your current project and possibly point to your future needs. We will also offer options that can save you money or enhance the look you’re after.

The painting proposal will contain a full description of your project plus the interior painting steps we will use to successfully complete the job. The painting proposal can be hand delivered, faxed, mailed or emailed for your convenience.

Choosing Interior Paint Colors

One of the most stressful experiences can be choosing a wrong paint color and having to pay to repaint.

Click To Enlarge

Our goal is to paint a room once with the perfect color. To this end we include 3 separate paint samples to help you with choosing your paint colors.

The samples can be applied to a wall, the ceiling and adjacent trim to help you see and imagine the color scheme. We can also provide sample boards, painted pieces of poster board that can be used for color comparison when shopping for carpet or other accessories. More color samples can be supplied for a small additional fee.

Interior Paint Preparation – Vital Interior Painting Steps

The preparation of a surface is one of the most important interior painting steps that needs to be done. Correctly accomplishing this step insures lasting quality and a great look.

Covering and Protecting

Click To Enlarge

All items, or as many as possible, are removed from the area that will be painted. All remaining furniture items are moved to the center of the room and covered with light weight plastic or canvas drop cloths. The floor is protected with butyl backed canvas drop cloths.

At this point we remove all wall hangings and any anchors that are no longer needed. You let us know which to keep and we take care of the rest. Now all switch plates and outlet covers are removed. Plus all lights and other attached items are removed or loosened depending on design. This produces a better professional look.

All items that can’t be removed are covered and protected with masking tape, paper or plastic. This includes protecting the base with a strip of wide blue painter’s masking tape, covering windows and doors with plastic or a strip of masking paper and protecting all uninstalled items with masking paper or plastic. The extent of the masking depends on the type(s) of painting techniques needed to complete your job.

Drywall Repair and Caulking

Click To Enlarge

All small holes, removed nails and anchors, are filed with light weight spackle. Anything larger becomes a repair. Most repairs are small and are patched with joint compound and retextured (if applicable).

Other common drywall repairs are cracked or loose corner bead and cracked inside corners. Small cracks are filled with spackle and larger cracks are properly repaired. This could involve replacing a piece of corner bead, taping and finishing with drywall compound.

All repairs are blended with the surrounding surface. Cracked inside corners are caulked if the crack is small, otherwise large cracks are properly repaired. Crowder Painting can successfully do larger repairs. From a dent left behind from a door knob to large cracks or damaged walls, we can patch it and match many textures.

All cracks and gaps in painted wood work are caulked with an elastomeric caulking compound prior to the painting. These include gaps in the base and casing to the wall plus the door stop and frame.

Sanding and Priming

Painted wood work is checked for smoothness and sanded smooth if rough. Even the walls are checked for smoothness and lightly sanded if needed. All patches and raw wood is primed with an appropriate primer, oil base primer for wood work and acrylic primer for all drywall repairs. Fast drying stain blocking primers are our primary choice for most priming needs, especially stains resulting from water damage.

Interior Painting Techniques

The preparation can and often will take the most time and effort. Now it is time for the actual painting. From this list of interior painting steps this is the one we enjoy the most. You will watch your room be transformed before your eyes. All finish paints are top of the line and are not thinned with water.

Painting Walls and Ceilings

Click To Enlarge

We prefer to brush and roll the walls and ceilings. This provides a great finish and reduces the chance for excessive dust or overspray.

The exceptions are painting acoustic ceilings and new construction. Unpainted acoustic ceilings are best sprayed and homes under construction can be sprayed to reduce the labor costs. In most citations we will employ both spraying the paint and back rolling to achieve a great look.

Back rolling is a technique that uses a roller to push the paint into the walls porous surface to form a better seal and provides a pleasing texture. Back rolling is an effective technique for applying wall board primer to a smooth as well as textured wall or ceiling and is equally effective with the finish paint..

Painting Windows, Trim and Doors

Click To Enlarge

Existing windows and woodwork is hand brushed with the finest finishes and application tools. Doors can be brushed, rolled or sprayed off site depending on the existing finish (how it was applied) and your desired look. In most cases two (2) coats are applied with ample dry time between each coat.

Existing stained woodwork can be revitalized in place with the application of stain to hide scratches and a durable clear finish for protection. New woodwork and doors can be pre-finished off site then the nails filled and recoated after installation.

Clean Up - The Final Interior Painting Step

At the end of each work day the areas that we are painting are cleaned of excessive dust and all supplied are organized. All trash accumulated that day is removed. We try to keep your life uncluttered and stress free.

After all work is finished the area(s) are cleaned, swept or vacuumed, and your furniture is put back to its original position. Now is a good time to rearrange the room. It is at this time we do a final inspection and touch up where needed.

These interior painting steps guarantee consistent quality and a lasting outcome. Whether you want a new look for a single room or an entire house Crowder Painting can help and provide perfect results.