How To Prep New Drywall For Paint? [8 Professional Steps]

Have you built a new wall in your house and want to paint it? 

Or do you have a boring wall, and you want to make it enjoyable by redecorating? 

Are you trying to make your plain wall more colorful?

Before making your wall colorful and exciting, you must make it fit for painting. 

There are a few steps with which you can prepare your wall in the best way for a new coat of paint.

Why Should You Prepare Your Walls?

To bring the best out of your new paint, you must prepare your wall for painting in the first place; but there are more reasons. 

So to know why you have to prepare your wall, read further to learn.

1. New paint needs a good surface to stick well to. 
2. Dirt on the old wall can affect the quality of the new paint. 
3. Repairing your wall can make the paint look even smoother. 
4. Using a good primer coating will make your paint coat look flawless.

I hope you found answers to your question! 

Now, you can follow the methods and prepare your wall for the new painting. 

Before you start prepping drywall for paint, there are a few practices that should be necessarily carried out.

Preliminary Steps Before Preparing Drywall For Painting

Before the preparation process, you should take care of some things that make the preparation process easier. 

• The first step is to clear the room, so it is apt for painting. Remove all the furniture in the room. 
• Use tape to cover all the power outlets and lighting sources. 
• Cover all unmoved furniture or in-built wall cupboards with newspapers. 
• Cover the window sills with painter’s tape. 
• Measure your wall so you can mix and use the appropriate amount of paint. 

After you have assured yourself that all the pre-preparation steps are accomplished, you should gather everything you need for the preparation process. 

Materials You Need:

The following are the materials you will need to prep drywall for paint before you start to paint it.

1. You will need a measuring tape to measure the area.
2. You will need scrappers, spackles, and sandpaper to smooth the wall surface. 
3. Arrange protective gear like gloves, masks, and spectacle/goggles to protect yourself. 
4. You will need a broom, mop, and sponge, and also have some liquid soap for cleaning. 
5. You will need a good-quality primer to act as an excellent base. 
6. You should also arrange paint trays and paint brushes. 
7. It would be best to assemble all the chemical stuff you need, like thinner. 
8. Also, bring some white vinegar. You will know why when you read further. 

How To Prep New Drywall For Paint?

The preparation procedure is vital to bringing a flawless effect to your paint. 

Before you begin your painting for the drywall, execute the following procedures to bring a smooth and flawless feel.

1. Repairing the Walls

Every wall, be it newly built or been there with a paint coat for a long time, needs some inspection. 

You may find dings and gouges in them. Fill the gaps with mud or other paste solutions. 

Then use sandpaper and smooth the wall. Paint can stick well on smooth and even surfaces. There is a broad range of sandpapers in the market to choose from. 

Are you having a tough time choosing the right one for your walls? 

We would suggest you use sandpaper with 120 to 150 grit.

2. Say no to Dust

Use a Vacuum cleaner or a broom to sweep off all the dust in the drywall. 

Use protective gear while cleaning to protect yourself. 

Once you are done with two rounds of vacuuming, rub the wall with a black rug. And if you see dust, repeat the process till the wall is clean.

3. Filling the Holes

If you find any holes in your wall, use a filler or spackle to cover them. These holes could be a result of curtain rods and other stuff. 

If you have applied excess spackle, get rid of it or else your wall’s texture would be horrible.

4. Removing Dirt

Use soap liquid or detergent mixed with water to clean the walls. 

You can also mix one cup of white vinegar with one gallon of water to make the cleaning solution. 

Dip a sponge or a rug into the cleaning solution and clean the wall. 

If the water turns black in the middle of cleaning, prepare the solution again and continue.

5. Dry the Washed Walls

Now, you can either wait till the wall gets dry all by itself, or you can use a high-speed electric fan to catalyst the process. 

You cannot proceed with the following procedure until the wall is dry and neat.

6. Using Caulk on The Edges

You can still find small holes on the wall that cannot be covered with spackles, so to cover them you can use a caulking gun. 

Use a wet glove to smooth the caulk all over the required place. 

7. Primer Coating

Once the wall is perfectly dry, it is time for you to apply the primer for new drywall. 

Primer is a base coat that will make the paint stick to walls for a more extended period of time. 

If you paint directly on the walls, you will not receive the expected color. 

But with primer coating, the color can exert its quality and flaunt gorgeously. 

You can also give two or three coatings of primer. It enhances the aesthetics of your newly painted wall.

Once you have finely executed these seven procedures, you can start the painting process. 

Do not skip any of these procedures to get a fine quality of the flawlessly painted wall. 

The primer is an essential element before you set your foot in painting because it creates a base for your paint.

8. Prime Practices to Use Primer

You may paint a newly built drywall or a pre-painted wall. We suggest you use a latex-based primer. 

A high-quality latex-based primer can absorb the paint and can give you a smooth and even look. 

Before applying the primer, use a black rug and check if the wall has dust particles. 

Do not proceed before cleaning the walls well. Now, to give a polished look to your painting, apply the primer with the described action. 

Use small strokes and paint the whole wall. Of course, using big strokes can reduce the time taken, but it will not give a polished effect to your paint that you will apply afterwards. 

Check for dirt once again when the primer dries. 

There are a few paints that are mixed solutions of primer and paint. These types of paints are best suitable for re-painting a previously painted wall. 

But if you are going to use it on drywall, this won’t be a good idea as you have to apply many coatings of the paint. 

This involves more labor than applying primer and paint individually. 

Frequently Asked Questions [FAQs]

How To Prep New Drywall For Paint? [Conclusion]

These are the preparation procedures that you have to follow before you set out to paint your walls. 

A smoothly painted, attractive wall can increase the aesthetic of your house. 

More than the furniture, it is the big wide wall that attracts anyone who enters your house. 

Follow these procedures before you make your wall interesting. And to start, we suggest you use a premium acrylic latex primer.

I hope you found all the answers you need before you begin your painting process. 

Have a happy home with flawless and exciting colors on the walls!