Talked to a painter yesterday and he changed my whole view on sanding

He was doing a final walk-through on a house we finished in Tempe, and he said 'You know, I can tell exactly how much you guys sanded by how much primer I have to use.' He pointed out a few spots on the ceiling where the texture wasn't perfectly even, and said each one would need an extra coat. It hit me that my 'good enough' for hanging and taping isn't the same as 'ready for paint.' I always thought sanding was just about getting rid of ridges... but now I'm seeing it as setting up the next guy. How do you decide when a wall is truly ready for the painters?

3 comments

3 Comments

paulmartin25d ago

That bit about "good enough" for taping not being ready for paint is spot on. I had a painter straight up refuse to start once because he ran his hand over a seam and felt a tiny bump. Cost us half a day of rework. Now I use a work light held sideways against the wall, shows every single flaw.

mason84725d ago

So that work light trick, is that something you do on every single wall now, or just on the seams and corners? Because holding a light sideways sounds like a sure way to find problems, but it also seems like it could turn a quick check into a whole extra hour of work.

vera_lewis23d ago

Honestly, I only do the light trick on the seams and corners. Shining it across every single square foot? That's how you go crazy. You'll see texture in the drywall mud you never even noticed, stuff that paint will cover just fine. Why hunt for problems that won't even show up in the end?