How to check the quality of painting

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

You don't need to be a specialist to evaluate the result. It is enough to know where and how to look.

Renovation not only requires a lot of money, but also very exhausting. I would like the next one will not be needed soon. The fulfillment of this desire directly depends on the quality of the work performed now.

The peculiarity of "paint brushes" is that the final result depends entirely on the quality of work at each stage. Therefore, you have no choice but to control each stage of them. It will be a good help to be sure that the correct painting work gives a durable result. Next time you don't have to level the walls and putty again. And you can simply re-glue the wallpaper or refresh the paint.

Of course, there are a lot of subtleties in this work. But one cannot do without understanding the big picture. Let's see what result you need to get at each stage.

Stage 1. Removal of old coatings

If you have started the initial finishing in a new building, this stage will be quick and easy. In older homes, it can take days or even weeks.

At this stage, remove all old and fragile coatings that interfere with the new finish and / or threaten its durability.

Please note: we are talking not only about old finishing materials (wallpaper, whitewash and chalk putty, tiles and the like), but also about plaster that has lost its strength. It must be removed without fail. You can't build a house on a shabby foundation. New plaster applied over worn old plaster will simply fall off.

As a result of the work at this stage, only solid foundations should remain, they are primed and dried.

How to check

Feel the walls and ceilings in different places. Keep the palm clean and dry.

Stage 2. Plastering the walls

Plastering is the most difficult and time consuming stage of all. Its goal is to get smooth, flat surfaces. Ideally, ceilings should be strictly horizontal, walls vertical, and the angle between adjacent planes should be 90 degrees.

First, the craftsmen install beacons - special metal guides. When it comes to walls, beacons should be strictly vertical and be in the same plane. From the very beginning, you need to discuss how you want to get accuracy. It is almost impossible to do all the work perfectly, so indicate which deviations are considered acceptable. For example, smooth unevenness of walls no more than two millimeters high is a very good quality.

The plaster should be well dried and then primed.

How to check

By rule and level. Apply the rule to the wall in several places, evaluate the unevenness. If the result is worse than what you asked for, ask for revisions.

The dried plaster should be of a uniform light gray color. Run your hand over it - it should remain dry and clean.

Stage 3. Puttying

Plastering made the surfaces of the walls even, puttying should make them smooth. As a rule, the putty is applied in at least two layers. Each layer is dried. Then the surface is sanded and primed again.

The thoroughness of this work depends on what kind of topcoat will be used for the final finishing:

• For painting, you need to get a perfectly smooth surface.
• Thick vinyl wallpaper hides small irregularities, so you can not putty under them so carefully.
• It is not necessary to putty at all under ceramic tiles and similar finishing materials, as well as under some types of decorative plasters.

How to check

Take a good lamp and direct its light along the plastered surface. In oblique rays, all irregularities will be clearly visible. The surface should be clean and dry to the touch.

Stage 4. Finishing

If all the previous work is done with high quality, finishing will not take much time. If the shortcomings of the previous stage appear, you will have to eliminate them, and this is not a quick process.

It is stupid to look at the surface "under a microscope": there will always be defects. It is quite enough that a person with normal visual acuity in good lighting does not see obvious flaws.

How to check the painting

Make sure to apply at least two coats of paint. After complete drying (not earlier than the next day), check:

• Whether the entire surface is uniform in color and gloss (texture).
• Are there any paint streaks and unpainted areas.
• Are there any noticeable brush or roller marks, villi, grains of sand, and the like?

How to check the wallpapering

Usually, the wallpaper dries completely in at least two to three days. Sometimes defects in pasting may appear even later. Take care of good lighting and check if the result meets these criteria:

• Wallpaper should lie flat on the wall, without bubbles or unevenness.
• The joints of the panels should not diverge, and the edges should not come off.
• Wrinkles in the corners of the room are not allowed.
• If the wallpaper is patterned, it must be aligned correctly.

Useful Tips

1. Since the quality of painting work in general depends on the quality of each stage, try to give the whole range of plastering and painting work to one hand. The master will know who is responsible for the final result, and will not knowingly cheat during the preparatory stages.
2. When making an estimate with the master, break the entire volume of work into more or less large parts. If you have to part with the master, you will know how much to pay for this or that type of work.
3. At the very beginning, discuss the quality you want to get. Specify how you will test it. The higher the desired quality, the longer and more thorough the work will be, and the more expensive it is. Draw up a contract on paper and write down the quality requirements and methods of its control in it.
4. Ask the master more questions. A qualified specialist will never refuse to explain to the customer what and why he is doing.

Good luck in the repair!