Interior Walls

Painting of the interior walls needs a lot of care and precaution. If you know how to paint a room well, it will reflect in your entire house.

Pre-painting

• Check surface for incidence of dampness or water seepage.
• Rectify the water seepage problem at source. This could mean repairing leaking pipes or cracks in the exterior walls.
• Any loose plaster should be removed from the wall before painting. Check for loose plaster by tapping on the walls. A hollow sound indicates loose plaster.
• Masonry work is to be undertaken to fill up all cracks and repair broken plaster
• Please ensure proper curing time (7 to 21 days depending on extent of plastering). When re-plastering is done it should be given proper drying and stabilising time to bridge the cracks or smoothen the surface to make the wall painting more effective.

Surface Preparation

• Remove loose particles and paint flakes. Scrape with sandpaper to ensure that the surface is dry and free from dust, dirt or grease.
• Previous coatings, if in good condition, need not be removed. However, the gloss or sheen of such coating must be removed by thorough sanding.
• Cracked or flaked paint must also be completely removed.
• Fungus affected areas need to be given a separate treatment. Make a 5-10 % solution of bleach powder in water and apply on affected areas with brush or sponge. Wash the walls with clean water after an interval of 8-10 hours. Allow the surface to dry sufficiently.

Painting

• Apply a coat of wall primer
• Fill and level the minor undulations of the wall by applying stucco/ putty. In case of major undulations on the wall surface, POP (Plaster of Paris) work needs to be carried out. Ensure that the surface is uniformly smooth before the painting by sanding after POP or putty work.
• One liberal coat of primer is recommended on puttied areas before the application of top coat. The primer should be allowed to dry for 10 - 12 hours. If the primer coat is not applied over the puttied areas, there can be a patchy appearance of the top coat.
• Avoid application of putty or filling compound while painting exterior surfaces. Fill up cracks with a 1:3 (by volume) cement and sand mixture.
• All external drainage pipes must be checked for rusting or leakage. Any faulty plumbing must be rectified
• Special attention must be given to the roof. Check for cracks near the edges and close to the water reservoirs. Proper masonry or waterproofing work on the ceiling will enhance the performance of the paint, and will make your wall painting look much better.