The key to a perfect finish on your walls is thorough surface preparation. In this guide we will show you how to clean and prepare your walls for painting.
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Step by step process
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Step 1
Every home can have holes, and there are a number of things that can cause this. You may have dents or indentations, these can be caused by just wear and tear. Or there may be movement or settlement cracks. These can occur in older or even newer houses. Or more commonly, you may find wallplug holes. These could be from pictures, or from shelves that you don't want any more.
When it comes to filling holes or cracks, we need to make them worse before making them better. We need to dig the hole out to make the inside of the hole bigger than the outside. This will allow the filler to go into the hole evenly and to dry evenly without any chance of it falling out.
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Step 2
It's now time to get the vacuum cleaner out, remove any dust that there may actually be sitting left in the hole - this may actually interfere with the way the filler dries.
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Step 3
Take a damp sponge or brush to the surface allowing it to soak into the plaster - this will allow the filler to dry evenly and reduce the risk of any cracks reoccurring. There are a variety of different fillers in the Polycell range for all sorts of different applications. In this case, I'm using Polycell Multi Purpose Ready Mixed Polyfilla, this is so that I don't have to mix up a powder filler, and I can use it straight from the tub.
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Step 4
If you're using a powder filler, it's best to use a flat board to mix it on. This will allow you to mix the filler up nice and evenly with a nice creamy consistency.
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Step 5
For small holes in the room you can use Polycell Quick Drying Polyfilla. It dries in 10 minutes and convenient and easy to use. Just squeeze it straight out onto the knife, and then fill the hole without needing to do mixing.
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