eg6sir

alright.. signing the loan documents tomorrow and plan to get the keys on Tuesday.. first things first, paint..

now, before i primer do i need to prep the walls first? if so, what kind of prepping would that involve.. sanding, cleaning??

any suggested brand of paint i go with .. nothing too expensive, but i also dont want crap paint.. something i could find at Lowes or Home Depot is easiest for me..

Jeefsilverado

Brand wise you know my opinion from problems I have seen in the past with people who have used HD or Lowe's paint. Remember if you are going to use this paint get the best quality one you can afford. I still recommend going to a real paint store for their knowledge and better quality. There is a reason that respectable painting contractors use better paint and its not cost savings. If I hired a painter that showed up with Bear paint I would throw him off the job.
Prep wise wash walls with TSP. This will get the grease and other shit off of the wall. While not always necessarily needed going into a new house where you don't know what the prev owner did its not a bad idea. You can't paint over dust and dirt.
Then spackle over any holes you have and sand with a 120 or higher grit. I like 180. You can also use a wet sponge instead of sanding. Use a lightweight quick drying spackle. I highly recommend using primer over spackle, as it helps to hide flashing (seeing a change in sheen from where the spackle is)
If the walls have a sheen to them you will want to prime. If going to a lighter color prime. Spend the money on a good primer. You get what you pay for with it. A rule opf thumb for people on a budget is either to use a really good primer and an okay top coat or a an okay primer and a good top coat. Don't use killz oil based on the walls. Its a stain blocker not the best wall primer for repaints. Kilz latex might be alright. I would probably use BIN 123 primer for the walls. I know this is a good all around primer and I know a few pros who use it. Tint the primer close in shade to the color you are using on the wall. It will help with the coverage on the top coats.

Top coats if the walls have a lot of imperfections use a flat and maybe a satin in a high traffic area. The higher the shine the more imperfections show. Unless you really like shiney walls don't use semigloss on the walls. I used to recommend satin for washability. A semigloss ins't a bad idea in a bathroom, but don't use a flat in here. Kitchens I would use a satin or a washable flat. I hate shiney walls. Get a paint that is made for a bathroom and preferably one that is mildew resistant. Washable paints are also good to look into. Having the option to wash the walls is nice, but really how often do people wash walls.

An average gallon of paint applied properly should cover 350-400 sq feet of wall space. Don't over buy on the paint. Figure on 2 coats for the top coat. I would do test quarts and apply a sample to a few walls. Look at it in aty different times of the day. A gallon for a bathroom unless you have a huge bathroom is usually way too much. If you like it then buy the paint for the room. 5 bucks is a lot cheaper than wasting 20-40 bucks on a gallon of a color you don't like. If you think you are running low on paint stop at a natural stopping point, not in the middle of the wall. You can actually see where you stopped and started. Remember some quality paints you can get away with 1 coat of primer and one top coat that will look better as good as 2 top coats of a medium quality paint.

briansol

the designer i hired for my condo swore by benjamin moore paint.

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1997 2050sqft Split Level

petriej

First off, I am not a professional painter, just a homeowner. Any views expressed within this post are mine and soley mine.

We are in the process of repainting our house right now, and have found a few variants to some of the common paint myths. Not all paint stores are that great. My mother in law works for a home building who uses S-W. I can't tell you how many times homeowners have said that S-W paint is too thin. I have also talked to many professional contractors and they also agree that S-W paint is too thin. Their recommendation was to just use a medium grade paint from Depot and go from their. We are using Kilz primer on everything, and that will seal anything in the walls that may have previously been there (nicotine, odors, etc.).

For the painting, I have ten family members coming to help, but also purchased a Wagner Quick Touch 980. I ran about a gallon through last night to prime the kitchen and it did fairly well. It can cover 37 sq feet per minute which is nice, you also make up quite a bit of time by not having to get down and re apply to your roller. If I were to do it again, I would have purchased the 990. It can cover 53 sq feet per minute, and that is trucking. Cleanup can be a challenge if you do not have warm soapy water. If you have warm soapy water, just run a bucket of it and hook the painter into that and turn the machine to clean mode. It pumps the water through and cleans everything up fairly nicely. I would not attemp this again with cold water. It takes forever.

eg6sir

thanks guys.. i'll keep everything said in mind when doing this and shopping for paint.. any more pointers??

oh and on the borders/moldings should i go with semigloss.. they'll be white

Bob Vila

depends if you want a porcelin like finish. I have high gloss on all trim in my house because I enjoy the crispness of the sheen.

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Jeefsilverado

Kilz will work pretty good for covering nicotine stains. But if you don't have to cover up any stains then use a regular wall primer.

One thing about builders paints is most use the cheapest stuff they can get. All paint manufactures have their cheap lines. This stuff doesn't cover as well but is usually only sold to builders and property management places. Also, if the homeowners say the paint is too thin (I assuming its them looking at the paint job not doing it them selves) did the painter put it on thick enough. I know a few painters who work for builders. Builders usually don't pay a lot for paint jobs, some painting contractors cut corners and water paint down. I am curious do you know what line of paint they used from SW?
I am not accussing your painters of doing a bad job, or that the paint wasn't thin. I have worked in the paint industry for about 7 years, so I have seen and heard a lot of stuff.

petriej

Not sure which line of SW, but she is the head of warranty and has had quite a few complaints.

We recently finished painting our house with Glidden Evermore. It did take 2-3 coats depending on the color, and every surface was primed with Kilz. I don't know if there is a way that you can get around this.

If we hadn't had so many colors, I would've had the primer tinted and that would've helped quite a bit. But all in all we painted the whole thing including faux finishes in three days.