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Painting wall after drywall repairs

3K views 20 replies 7 participants last post by  jeffnc 
#1 ·
When I painted a couple years ago and did a lot of wall repairs with joint compound, I would still see all the repairs when I was done, even after priming.

This time, I have gotten better at feather things out so they blend in better, but I am concerned that if I prime and repaint, the texture difference between the repaired area and the rest of the wall will be off and it will stick out.

How do you best handle this? What if there are a lot of small dings in the wall that you used joint compound to fill: nicks, scratches, etc.? I have a lot of repairs that might be 2-3 inch diameter, and then a few where I had to replace some drywall that are up to 3 feet diameter, after feathering.

Thanks!
 
#3 ·
What I like to do after a thorough sanding and wipe down is: Prime the patch/spackle/mud with a DRYWALL primer. Allow to dry. Then I spot paint those patched areas with the finish paint. Allow that to dry thoroughly. Now you have coated with drywall primer which soaks into the patch and seals it. You applied a coat of the finish paint to the patch which also soaks into the patch a bit and seals it up even more. Now apply your finish coats.......2 coats......and you won't even know where those patches are. Basically the patched areas got a coat of primer and three coats of paint.
 
#2 ·
Priming can't help with thickness differences caused by compound that isn't smooth and flat. So it depends on what exactly you saw last time.

Normal sanding should get a competent patch job smooth enough so you can't see it. If you're painting with a sheen paint, then you need to worry about the sheen difference over the patches, and you need a primer/sealer or multiple coats of paint to cover that.
 
#4 ·
This defeats the purpose of buying primer, especially for patching which is going to use a tiny amount of primer. So you've basically wasted 15 bucks.

You're saying the drywall primer doesn't fully seal the patch. But the finish paint does partially seal the patch, like the primer. So just use 3 coats of finish paint. Or get primer that seals the patch.
 
#7 · (Edited)
This defeats the purpose of buying primer, especially for patching which is going to use a tiny amount of primer. So you've basically wasted 15 bucks.

You're saying the drywall primer doesn't fully seal the patch. But the finish paint does partially seal the patch, like the primer. So just use 3 coats of finish paint. Or get primer that seals the patch.
Primer has different properties then paint does. Alway's prime a drywall patch with primer not paint. :yes:

Secondly, The reason the patches are "flashing/photographing" is because the patch is lacking the number of paint coats that the existing wall already has had applied to it over the years. That's why you must prime and then spot paint the patches numerous times, so you can catch up the patch to the existing layers of paint on the original wall. :thumbsup:
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the help

Last time, I believe a big part of it was not feathering enough out from the repair. This time, I think I am doing much better with that. What I am concerned about is the spot in the middle that is pure joint compound. If I prime the entire wall and then give the wall 2 finish coats, I am worried that the TEXTURE of that spot vs the rest of the wall will be different enough - even with sufficient feathering and sanding so the repair is flat - that it will stand out, negating the hard work I put in touching up the walls as much as I did.

Am I being overly concerned about nothing?
 
#6 ·
Personally, I think you are worried about nothing. If it's drywall and you use joint compound or spackle to fix holes, etc. you will be fine with the texture issue. Now, if it's a plaster wall and you patched with JC or spackle, well, you can have texture issues because the plaster is rock hard and primer/paint won't soak into the plaster like it soaks into the patches, hence the difference in texture. Also, you have to have confidence in your sanding technique. If you feathered out like you're supposed to and sanded so the patches are basically "flush" with the rest of the wall, you will be fine. I find that a sponge sander is a wonderful tool to fine tune your sanding.
 
#9 ·
Kah (if i may call you that!) I think what many of the responses here are saying is that on the patches that have a smoother texture than the surrounding area, you need to put a few extra and thick coats on to build up the roller stipple to be close to the surrounding area.
Takes a little bit of finesse and artistry, nobody said this was easy- but it can be done.
Good luck!
 
#16 ·
I guess it's my attention to detail that makes you think I am a female. Don't play the lottery tonight...

I bought Sherwin Williams for the first time - the Cashmere paint. I got it at its lowest sheen, not flat. I need to have some scrub-ability. The former owner of the house used flat paint all over - that's probably why I didn't notice until after closing that the walls had been painted over wallpaper residual glue, and that there were a lot of dings in the wall.

My concern with the walls is that after spending so much time on preparing the walls, that I will see every single ding I filled with joint compound.

That being said, if I just concern myself with the bigger patches, not the small little nicks, will it work to spot prime with a larger nap (1/2 or 3/4?), and then use the Cashmere to spot cover those bigger patches, again with a larger nap, a couple more times, before priming the whole wall and painting twice with the Cashmere? If that will help get the patched area to "catch up" with the stipple to the rest of the wall, do I need to make sure I only do the patched area, and do not go over into the rest of the wall at all, or can I overlap a little?

Also, I heard with the SW Cashmere, that it is self-leveling. What does that mean and how will that help me?

Thanks everyone for your advice.
 
#20 ·
That being said, if I just concern myself with the bigger patches, not the small little nicks, will it work to spot prime with a larger nap (1/2 or 3/4?), and then use the Cashmere to spot cover those bigger patches, again with a larger nap, a couple more times, before priming the whole wall and painting twice with the Cashmere? If that will help get the patched area to "catch up" with the stipple to the rest of the wall, do I need to make sure I only do the patched area, and do not go over into the rest of the wall at all, or can I overlap a little?
Yep.
Use a 3/4" nap and try and keep it concentrated in the patched areas. :thumbsup:
 
#19 ·
For your sake, instead of sheen, we'll use the phrase differing values of light reflected off the surface due to variations in surface profile. I think that's a Pink Floyd song off the UmmaGumma album.

Kah, I wouldn't use a 3/4 roller, that's only a new can worms. Provided you do the best sanding job you can, you're going to just have to live with what you get given your paint choice. There are trade-offs required when it comes to paint. I've had a lot of conversations with customers about their choice of finish considering the amount of patching their walls required. The right light will illuminate the slightest little defect or variation, and even a slight angular sheen flat will exacerbate it. Painting is really nothing more than playing tricks with light and playing tricks with your eye, an optical illusion. I had a customer one time I told to lower a window shade by a foot or so in the late afternoon, and presto, the problem disappeared, like a rabbit from a hat. And I know how to sand.

Jeff, I've been doing this for so long, and I've been following these threads long enough, that there are some things I don't need to be told. Also, the number of paints that are true dead flats, that reflect minimal to zero light, is a wee small number.
 
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