How to Prime Surfaces Before Painting

Look for an experience painter that knows how to prepare and paint the common materials used to construct homes and commercial properties. The most common painted materials for the exterior of a home or commercial property are surfaces like, plasters/ stuccos, woods, metals or aluminums. There are some similarities in the way you treat each material, but there are also some important differences. Here is an overview of what treatments to prepare-sand and prime each material.

Treatments and Scraping the Surface

The surface of all the materials may require special treatments or solutions like TSP (Trisudium Phosphate) or degreasers such as Simple Green, Krud Kutter, Ajax.

Your surface as well may need to be pressured washed, scraped with a paint scraper, paint or stain removers / strippers, sanders to remove all the loose and hanging pieces of old paint.

Remove the Ridges Along the Edges of the Old Paint

Ridges typically form along the edges where the old paint meets bare material. We recommend the ridges to be feathered back so that they won't show through the new coat of paint or patching compound. The ridges can be sanded / feathered down with 80 to 220 grit sandpaper, until the there is a smooth slope going from the bare material to the thick part of the paint on the surface. We recommend sanding with the grain of the surface to increase an even better finish.

Clean Surface

The surface is cleaned with a mild detergent to remove any oil, grease, mold, dirt and debris solutions like TSP (Trisudium Phosphate) or degreasers such as Simple Green, Krud Kutter, Ajax, clarinet before sanding or the primer is applied.

Sanding Process

How to sand a surface to remove stains, rust and paint.

• Wood: Wood should first be sanded using 60-grit sandpaper and a sander to remove ridges and paint. Finer 100-grit sandpaper is used to smooth the wood to a nice finish before you apply the primer.

• Metal: All the rust, loose paint and ridges are removed from using 120 to 150-grit sandpaper and a palm or orbital sander.

• Aluminum: Aluminum can be sanded down using 120-220 grit sandpaper with a handheld random orbital sander.

Apply Primer

The primer is applied using long, straight strokes with a soft-bristled or a tight nap roller and even a paint sprayer. For wood and aluminum surfaces, an acrylic-based primer is used in most cases. Metal requires a primer that is specially formulated to adhere to the metal and has rust-inhibiting ingredients in it.

Properly priming a surface before painting helps make a home or commercial property look fresh and new.

Why don’t you give us a call at 877-ASK-WE-PAINT.