How to Patch Your Walls Before Painting

PatchbeforePainting-Claffey'sPaintingIf you’re going to spend the time and money to paint your walls, you want the end result to look great…otherwise, why would you bother?

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when painting their walls is to neglect prepping them properly first. Along with priming before you paint, patching any holes, dings, cracks or popped nails is necessary to a quality finished look. Keep in mind, many people think if they just put a little extra paint on these damaged areas they will be hidden…wrong! That actually does just the opposite and draws attention to the imperfections.

So, before you even prime your walls, patch!

What to use to fill small holes or hairline cracks:

  • If your hole is 1/4 inch or smaller, a quick trick is to use toothpaste (white of course). It isn’t difficult, squeeze a small amount of paste into the hole, then scrape off any excess. If you don’t have a putty knife to do this, you could use a credit card, playing card or any item that has a flat, straight edge. Once the toothpaste has totally dried, if it has shrunk up, apply a second time.
  • To attack this task a bit more professionally, use a spackling compound. It comes in tubes, containers or a powder that you can mix. You will need a putty knife and a piece of fine grit sandpaper. Apply the same way you would have the toothpaste and let totally dry. Again, if it has shrunk away, re-apply the compound and let dry again. Once the hole is filled  well, using your sandpaper, sand off excess compound until it’s smooth and level with the wall. This process works well for small holes that are no more than 1 inch in diameter.
  • Treat hairline cracks the same as small holes, but I don’t recommend using toothpaste…

**A note about spackling compound, it comes in different weights, lighter weights are intended for smaller areas.

How to fill larger holes:

Filling larger holes in your wall is a whole different process, so instead of trying to walk you through it, I found a very informative video that has some great tips. I am not endorsing the products that are used, but the process is good.


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Claffey’s Painting is a full service painting contractor serving Western Washington, Chelan, Douglas and Kittitas Counties. We have painted over 7000 homes and would enjoy the opportunity to help paint yours. We can guide you through all the decision making processes so you get the right paint for the right job, and the professional job you’re looking for.