Repair Drywall Before Painting

Using an interior spackle or drywall compound (mud), cover all areas where paint has been removed.  Indicator spackle is shown.  It goes on bright pink and dries to white when ready for sanding.  Press it on to fully fill holes and remove bubbles.  Leave it protruding slightly from the wall surface.  It will be sanded down and there will be slight shrinkage with drying.  Do not leave large areas of smooth, paintless board uncovered.  If you merely peel and paint, the difference in thicknesses will be obvious.  Also, do not attempt to sand the paper face of wallboard.  It is more likely to ball up and tear than to become smoother.Use a ball peen hammer to drive the nails back.  The goal is to get the nail head below the surface of the board without damaging the gypsum so much that it no longer holds the wallboard.  The ball peen hammer will countersink the nail and create a neat pocket to hold spackle.Nails often loosen and protrude over the years.  This could be due to using the wrong size or type of nail or perhaps the framing is not stable, letting the wall deflect.  Address each popped nail head and carefully examine above and below for slight bulges that indicated another nail in the stud preparing to emerge.  These usually appear in groups up and down a stud.  Fix them all, even if there is no current damage to the paint.View the list »
With a putty knife, remove all loose and peeling paint.  Do not count on the new paint to glue it down.  If it has lost adhesion to the substrate, more paint will only add weight and stiffness resulting in more cracking and peeling.  A large section of paint has loosened here above a door.  Since this is an interior wall and not near a heat vent, the most probable explanation is that the gypsum wall board was dirty/dusty when originally painted.

Home Improvement newsletter

If you are reading this column, you are probably not one of “those people” that think a coat of paint solves everything. How many times have you seen walls layered in paint that fails to hide the problems beneath? This graphic list will explain some of the steps that should be taken before the finish can of paint is opened.

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Again, if you are not one of “those,” then you already have taken off the switch plates and outlet covers. How many homes have you seen that had light switches covered in dirty fingerprints and scratches because some lazy soul rolled right over it with a paint roller rather than spending two minutes with a flathead screwdriver?

Please note that this article relates to non-lead paint conditions. If you are dealing with pre 1978 paint which may contain lead, take appropriate testing and protection measures.

View the list
  • With a putty knife, remove all loose and peeling paint.  Do not count on the new paint to glue it down.  If it has lost adhesion to the substrate, more paint will only add weight and stiffness resulting in more cracking and peeling.  A large section of paint has loosened here above a door.  Since this is an interior wall and not near a heat vent, the most probable explanation is that the gypsum wall board was dirty/dusty when originally painted.
  • Nails often loosen and protrude over the years.  This could be due to using the wrong size or type of nail or perhaps the framing is not stable, letting the wall deflect.  Address each popped nail head and carefully examine above and below for slight bulges that indicated another nail in the stud preparing to emerge.  These usually appear in groups up and down a stud.  Fix them all, even if there is no current damage to the paint.
  • Use a ball peen hammer to drive the nails back.  The goal is to get the nail head below the surface of the board without damaging the gypsum so much that it no longer holds the wallboard.  The ball peen hammer will countersink the nail and create a neat pocket to hold spackle.
  • Using an interior spackle or drywall compound (mud), cover all areas where paint has been removed.  Indicator spackle is shown.  It goes on bright pink and dries to white when ready for sanding.  Press it on to fully fill holes and remove bubbles.  Leave it protruding slightly from the wall surface.  It will be sanded down and there will be slight shrinkage with drying.  Do not leave large areas of smooth, paintless board uncovered.  If you merely peel and paint, the difference in thicknesses will be obvious.  Also, do not attempt to sand the paper face of wallboard.  It is more likely to ball up and tear than to become smoother.
  • Use a 4x4 orbital sander or a hand sanding block to smooth and level all repairs.  Hold the sander in one hand and a running  vacuum hose in the other to control the dust.  Vacuum the walls with the brush tool before painting.  Canister and shop vacs are best suited for this.  If all you have is an upright carpet sweeper, your hose attachment is wimpy and almost useless.  This goes for ALL uprights that sell for under $1000.  Get a REAL vacuum or use tack cloths to remove dust from the walls.
  • Some areas may have water stains or other chemical reaction damage that will bleed through.  Cover them with a stain blocking primer such as Kilz or Zinser.  In this case, the drywall paper face reacted with the spackling, turning it yellow.  This is always treated better with a stain block primer rather than trying to apply enough finish coats to hide the problem.
  • After the surface is completely prepared and cleaned, you are finally ready to paint.  The result should be like this, a smooth clear surface without blemishes.
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, Kansas City Home Improvement Examiner

Duane is a practicing architect licensed in several mid-western states. He has worked primarily out of Missouri and Kansas with stints in southern California and Seattle, Washington. He grew up with do-it-yourself parents and liked to take things apart to understand them before combining them...

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