Marius Stols is a Pretoria handyman with many years of experience.  Over the next few months, he will be sharing with readers some of his basic handyman tips, such as how to sand and varnish wooden furniture and doors, adjust kitchen cupboard doors and replace hinges, and more.  How to prepare your wall for painting?  Read on:

1. Fill cracks or holes

There are different kinds of fillers for filling cracks and holes in interior and exteriors. The best thing to do if you are in doubt of what product you should use is to ask for advice in the hardware store; they are almost always able to give you good advice and the correct product.

• Firstly, use a putty knife to open the cracks in a V shape by pulling it along the crack line, usually two to four times per side using moderate force would do the job.
• Once all the cracks are opened and cleaned (I use a paint brush to clean dust out) the filler can be mixed. See instructions on packaging for mixing instructions.
• Using a putty knife , apply the filler in an approximately 2-3 mm thick layer. Deeper cracks might need an additional Layer. Using your putty knife, smooth the filled area by scraping away access filler. Wait for it to dry (approximately 3-4 hours). Then use 100 grit sandpaper to flatten the whole filled area so that it is flush with the wall.
• If you have a “rough cut” wall or a wall with cladding, rather use your finger to fill cracks or holes, as the putty knife might fill up a bigger area than needed and spoil the wall pattern. (Remember to wear gloves).
• Now for the cleaning of the walls. This is luckily one of the easier steps, a cloth will do just fine, so long as all the dust is cleaned from the wall.

2. Use painter’s tape

Another tip I like to share, is that if you want clean edges and a good finish, use painters tape rather than masking tape. This is usually a bit stronger and removes cleanly after the job is done (up to a certain amount of time) while masking tapes tend to leave residue behind if left up for the duration of a paint project.  I usually use 40mm tape to be sure no paint goes over the tape.

Use the tape to close window frames and mark off the ceiling, cornices and all other places that shouldn’t be painted (such as two- tone walls or in corners where walls meet to make straight lines).

Contact Marius for all your DIY needs on 079 670 4814.

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