Even with careful prep work, painting can still be a messy job, and there's always the risk of paint dripping onto your floorboards. As floor sanding is more expensive than painting, it's best to complete any major painting jobs before we start sanding the floors.
Consider prepping your floors (sanding any needed areas) before covering with a drop cloth and painting. Prep your walls and ceiling, and then paint the ceiling first. Covering the ceiling before your new flooring is finished will protect the finish from ladder marks.
Paint that has dripped and hardened on a sealed surface will come off floor sanding. But it only makes your job more difficult, plus it gums up the sandpaper. If the floor happens to be raw wood, paint can seep into the wood and stain it almost beyond repair.
If you're wondering, 'do you need to sand walls before painting? ', the answer is yes. This ensures your fresh, new paint will adhere to the surface properly. Using sandpaper and a block, gently sand down any places you've filled and any woodwork you'll be painting, like skirting or door frames.
After sanding a piece of wood, you'll need to clean it before adding a stain or paint. You can use a variety of tools and techniques to remove sanding dust from your wooden surface. Just make sure you get the surface of your project as clean as possible before adding any paint or stains to finish the piece.
After removing imperfections and filling in holes, the painter will sand all the walls to help achieve an even, smooth look. Depending on the condition of the walls, your painter might clean them after doing all of this.
The Golden Rule of Sanding
The golden rule for choosing your sequence is to never skip more than 1 grit. For example, if you start with P80, and need to finish at P240, rather than using every grit from P80 – P220, you can do P80 – P120 – P180 – P240.
Always paint your walls last – after you finish your floors. Here's why: It's easier to cover your floors to protect them from paint drips than it is to cover your baseboards to protect them from your floor stain and/or finish.
The initial condition of the surface will determine what exactly will happen if you don't sand before painting. A clean, smooth, not glossy surface will take paint well. However paint can feel rough, streak, peel, chip, or even not adhere if not sanded first.
DON'T: sand against the grain, UNLESS you feel skilled enough to sand diagonally or across the grain. DO: start with 20 grit paper and work your way up to 120 grit paper. DON'T: Go too high in grit or it can cause you to over sand your floors leaving them unable to absorb stain or poly adequately.
If the surface has been finished previously, such as with stain and polyurethane (or old paint), lightly sand the entire area with 100-grit abrasive paper. For stairs or a single room—120 square feet or less—you may use an orbital palm sander or a portable belt sander. Kneepads help and a dust mask is a must.
After sanding, fill in holes in the floor with wood putty or wood filler. Spot test the stain or finish to see what it looks like on the floor before applying a coat. Apply the stain or finish so your final steps are at the exit door and you don't have to track through a wet floor.
Bona recommends sanding and refinishing when the hardwood floor is dulling and/or has moderate to severe scratches. In addition, the finish has worn off to bare wood in high traffic areas or the homeowner has a desire to change stain color or sheen level of the floor.
Clean the Area
Before moving on to the next step, the area should be free of leaves, dirt, trash, grass, rocks and other debris. To remove any stains or grease, use a heavy-duty detergent until the surface is free from stains. Be sure to remove any old paint as well to get the best results.
If the baseboards, quarter round and/or door casing need to be removed in order to install your new floors, the floors should be installed before you have your painting completed so your wall/trim paint is not ruined by having the trim removed.
Protect the Baseboards and Joints of Your Walls
To do this, you can use painter's tape or masking tape. Be sure to apply the tape carefully so that it doesn't pull off any paint or leave behind any sticky residue.
They are the power tools of choice when it comes to efficiency. In many situations, nothing beats an electrically powered sander. Hand sanding only goes so far until the sheer convenience of letting a power tool do the work outweighs the savings of using your hands and multiple sandpaper sheets.
Sanding serves to remove imperfections on walls, ceilings, furniture, floors, etc. It is also used to roughen surfaces too glossy for paint or filling compound to adhere easily. Steel wool and sandpaper are the most commonly used abrasive materials for this purpose.
How much should you sand before painting? You don't need to sand too hard, just enough to scuff up the surface so the paint will adhere better. If you're sanding by hand, it shouldn't take more than probably 15 minutes to lightly scuff sand a large dresser. If you're using an electric sander, it'll go faster.
Thoroughly brush down and vacuum all surfaces after sanding to remove any dust, dirt and grime. To clean the wood, use a sugar soap wipe, or a sponge, to liberally apply sugar soap across all wooden surfaces that you plan to paint.