Before starting, make sure that the room is really clean—vacuum and dust all furniture surfaces (including lamps), ceiling, and light fixtures.
Wallpaper:
If you want to remove wallpaper from a wall, first try using a standard hand-held steamer or paint remover with a roller frame to moisten the paper backing and loosen its adhesive grip on the wall.
To avoid damaging painted walls, experiment first on a small area by covering two large vertical sections of the wall with painter’s tape and then applying steam or heat to those areas.
If those methods work as expected, continue by placing more pieces of tape off the wall until you have completely covered your project area. Then use an electric heater or hair dryer to apply heat. Do not use a propane torch because the flame will directly apply too much heat to the wallpaper backing causing it to bubble. If you have an asbestos-containing wall covering, do not remove the covering yourself. Hire a professional licensed asbestos abatement contractor for this job.
Do not steam or apply hot air to any surface if it is made of plastic, fiberglass, drywall compound, ceiling tiles with stucco fronts, glass block, or any other material that can be dissolved by water vapor or high temperatures. Also, avoid getting paint remover on your hands since it can irritate or burn your skin and scalp when removed. You may need protective wear to protect your skin from irritation while working in rooms where lead-based paint might be present.
Preparation:
Remove all furniture, rugs, and accessories from the room to protect them during your project. Cover windows with drop cloths or any other protective covering that will keep dust to a minimum. You can use plastic sheeting (for example, an old shower curtain) if you don’t want to spend money on something like this. Do not cover air conditioning registers because they need ventilation for proper cooling. Be sure to tape the plastic sheeting around the baseboards, so dust does not settle in your walls when disturbed by air currents through the open windows. Ziploc bags are also useful for protecting lamps or other items that cannot be moved out of the room during painting.
Paint Selection:
Wipe the wall clean with a damp cloth. Check for peeling paint or cracked surfaces before painting, and fill small cracks with an appropriate repairing compound.
Marking Your Cut Lines:
Using a T square, draw along each corner of the area where you want to apply the new paint using a marker/pencil. Because walls are not always perfectly square, compensate for this by drawing the lines at 1/16″ off each wall corner. If you don’t want to use a T square and you’re instead able to stand near the center of the room (visualizing two adjacent corners):
- Then lock your position in another corner.
- While holding a long straight edge against the baseboard, rotate that straight edge until it touches each remaining vertical or horizontal surface.
- Draw your cut line along 2 and 3 using a marker. This should give you a nice clean line on all four sides of an almost perfect square shape after taking 1/16″ into consideration.
Using A Nylon Brush:
Dip it in water since water-based paints do not stick to a dry bristle brush. If you’re using a roller, use a 4-inch width and roll with picking up the paint load halfway through your stroke rather than going back and forth across the same surface multiple times.
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