Cleaning Your Walls to Achieve Perfect Paint | SERVPRO® of Western Dutchess County

6/28/2018 (Permalink)

Call 845-831-3600 for your general cleaning today!

If you’re freshening up your home or doing a remodel with a tight budget, a DIY paint project is a common way to extend your dollar further. Before you pop open that paint can, though, make sure you’re taking the proper steps to prepare your walls.

Painting over dirty walls isn’t one of the “DIY horror stories” you often hear about, so most homeowners don’t know the danger until it happens to them. Thankfully, having a paint job that lasts a lifetime is as simple as properly preparing your walls.

Even on a shoestring budget, investing in clean walls will save your remodeling budget in more ways than one. We’ve seen a lot of things go wrong, which is why SERVPRO® of Western Duchess County has put together a list of ways to make sure your paint project goes right.

###Paint Is Likely to Chip or Flake The paint industry has come a long way over the years, but no matter how high-tech your brand, there are some things it just won’t stick to. Painting over dust or dirt might be passable in the short term but will have long-term consequences for homeowners. At first, the paint will just appear uneven, but in time it will begin to flake, leading to the ruin of an entire wall. Fixing this mistake requires cleaning and paint—an expense not in many DIY budgets.

###Greasy Walls Interfere With Binding Dust and dirt is one thing, but painting over grease can be just as harmful to your project. Grease and residue can come in between the paint and the wall and prevent the binding process that makes paint long-lasting. While this is common in kitchens and mudrooms, if your home has central heat or air, this debris can be carried all throughout the house. The paint will dry unevenly, and once this happens, walls must be sanded, cleaned and re-painted to look even again.

###It Will Make it Harder Down the Road You might be itching to sell or ready to stay in the home forever, but eventually, it will be time for a switch in the color palette. Paint that isn’t flaking might look OK aesthetically, but if there’s residue trapped underneath, a professional will eventually have to sand and prime the walls. You might have to cover this cost, or you might have a buyer that requests a lower selling price—regardless, that’s money coming directly out of your budget.

Whether buying, selling or just sprucing up a bit, a professional wall cleaning service is an investment that will save you time and money in the long term. A properly prepared wall will leave you with beautiful paint that will last a lifetime…or until your décor tastes shift!

If you’re doing a remodel or just a change of style, SERVPRO® of Western Dutchess County can help your walls look like new.