Masking Non – Painted Items : The necessary masking for painting a ceiling requires covering all areas that are exposed to paint, sanding dust, or any other paint related substance. Brushing and rolling paint only requires enough masking to cover areas affected by paint drips and roller splatter. Spray painting requires the thorough masking and covering of all areas vulnerable to paint overspray.

Surface Preparation: Surface preparation is important because it directly affects the surface finish of the paint. It is not only critical in getting good results. It actually helps save time and makes the painting exercise economical. It is said that the most expensive paint, the finest brush and best painting technique cannot compensate for a poor surface preparation.
• Use a paint scrapper, a putty knife or a sand paper to remove loose particles or flakes and ensure that the surface is free from dust, dirt, grease etc. For lime wash coated walls it is suggested that you scrape it off using a Paint Scrapper or even sand paper. For oil-base painted walls you can remove the gloss by sanding as well. Ensure that all flaking paint is also removed and what paint is left adheres tightly to the wall.
• Patching cracks – Dig out the cracks with the help of a screw driver to remove all loose material and fill them with plaster or putty mixture. When dry, smooth the surface with the help of a 220 grade sanding paper.
•After all scrapping and patching it is advisable to sand the entire surface. An 80 grit sandpaper would be ideal. Take care to start sanding only when all the patching has dried.
•To remove dirt or grease wash walls with water. Start the painting procedure only when the walls are dry.

Primer Coat: Once theIt is essential, especially when the walls to be painted are stained, porous, has water damage or mildew; or when we are painting a light colour over a dark colour or vice versa. Primers help provide a smooth surface, making the surface less absorbent, thus increasing the spreading capacity of the paint. Using primer on the kitchen, bathroom and exterior walls is especially important to aid in the prevention of mildew.
Primer helps give uniform colour and texture to the finished paint, and provide better adhesion to the top coats. The type of primer used is also dependent on the kind of surface to be painted, i.e. different primers exist for interior walls, exterior walls, wood, metals etc.
Apply the first coat and allow it to dry before application of putty coat (if required) or paint coat.

Putty Work: Putties are generally used in the case of fresh painting or walls that require total overhauling just like fresh walls, they may not be used for repainting or touch up exercises. Wall putty should be applied to walls after first primer coat has dried. It will fill in minor cracks and surface imperfections, and provide a protective sub-layer for the expensive paint. As per the requirement 1-2 coats of putty can be applied, but do allow the previous coat to dry before applying subsequent coat.

Generally repainting services require a single coat of primer, but for fresh surfaces or the surfaces that need considerable leveling and removal of undulations, two primer coats are required. Care must be taken that the second primer coat be applied only after the putty coat(s) has dried completely.

Paints and wall designs: Generally two coats of finish coat are required to get the desired finish and colour. It is important that each coat must be completely dry before the application of next one. Please refer to the instructions with the paint purchased for finding out drying time and special instructions if any.

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