Expert painters and decorators share a 10-step guide to successfully painting a wall

Painting is a DIY task that people either love or loathe. However, many are unaware of how long it can take to paint a wall from start to finish.

Toolstation has enlisted the expert advice of its panel of painters and decorators to create a definitive step-by-step guide to painting a full interior wall. Covering everything from sanding to priming, here is how to freshen up any interior wall in ten steps.

Expert-approved 10-step guide to painting a wall:

1. Empty the room of furniture – You want to remove as much furniture and soft furnishings as possible to give plenty of space to work and move.
2. Protect the floor – Cover any remaining carpets and furniture that cannot be moved with dust sheets to prevent them from becoming stained or spilled on.
3. Check the wall surface – Remove any nails or staples from the wall and loosen the plug sockets to let them hang down to leave the wall surface exposed.
4. Smooth out the surface – Using some filler, fill in any cracks or impurities in the wall surface and leave to dry for one hour.
5. Sand down the surface – Using either a power sander or sanding paper, sand down the entire wall surface to remove lumps and bumps. Make sure to clean up the resulting dust material.
6. Apply painter’s tape – Apply tape to areas you want to keep paint-free, such as skirting boards and light switches/sockets.
7. Primer paint – Apply at least two coats of primer paint using a paint roller, evenly covering the wall. Leave to dry for at least three hours.
8. Wall paint – Once the primer is dry to the touch, use a paint brush to apply paint to the wall’s edges and a paint roller to cover the wall’s middle section. After applying two coats of paint evenly, leave to dry for at least six hours.
9. Check the paint finish – Once the paint is dry to the touch, remove the tape and check for any missed areas. Screw any loosened sockets back firmly onto the wall.
10. Reset the room – Remove the dust sheets and vacuum the entire room to ensure it’s fully clean. Then reset the furniture and enjoy your newly decorated room.

Painting FAQs and top tips

How much paint do I need?

Typically, a litre of paint will be enough to cover 10m² of wall surface area. Based on this calculation, you can measure up your wall or room and work out roughly how many litres you will need. It’s best to err on the side of caution by adding an extra 10%.

How do I measure my room?

Firstly you want to measure the height of the walls from floor to ceiling. Then you want to measure the width of each wall and times this number by the height to give you the surface areas for each wall. If you want to be very specific you can also measure doors and windows in the same fashion and deduct these measurements from the surface area.

Is it better to use a paintbrush or roller?

For more precision in smaller areas, use a paintbrush. However, for larger surfaces such as walls and ceilings, a roller undoubtedly speeds up the process and ensures an even amount of paint is applied. It’s best to use paintbrushes around the edges and save rollers for the middle sections.

Can you paint a radiator?

Yes, you can paint a radiator however it’s best to use specialised paint for this, specifically paint that is suitable for metal. As for what colours to paint a radiator, black is actually best since it gives out more heat than traditional white ones. 

How should I clean my paintbrushes?

A combination of chemical cleaning agents and a good old-fashioned soak is often the most effective method. It’s best to scrape off as much paint as possible before soaking it in the cleaning agent for approximately 1-2 minutes. Then simply leave the brushes to soak in warm water before shaking or flicking the paintbrush dry.

Top tips from the experts:

1. Don’t take shortcuts with the wall preparation – “failure to prepare is preparing to fail”.
2. Invest in high-quality brushes or rollers.
3. Try to position yourself at the right height for the area you’re painting – avoid stretching.
4. Don’t charge too much paint to the brush, you can always add more coats afterwards.
5. Try to leave any paint jobs till Spring – the weather is not too hot or cold so the paint will dry evenly.

For more information on the hardest-to-paint areas and interior paint colour trends visit the Toolstation website: https://www.toolstation.com/campaigns/preparing-to-paint

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