I have been taking on some paint work to subsidize my income and to help pay off some debt.

Most of my work is in residential repaints, but I just took on my first new construction job.

I rolled and brushed the new drywall interior, which went very well. Now it is time to return to the job for touch ups.

There were ALOT of drywall pops. The drywall crew fixed the pops, and covered the holes with drywall mud. Do I need to prime these spots before painting or can I just cover the spots with top coat paint?

The trim carpenters left the walls a MESS with pencil marks and hand print smudges. Some of these areas cover an entire wall. Can I use a 3/8" roller to reroll the walls? Will the newly rolled areas show?

I am sorry to ask such basic questions, but I thank you for your help. I am feeling a little overwhelmed, and want to do the job right.

Again, thank you for helping me out in a jam. The lessons are appreciated.

-- clove (clovis97@Yahoo.com), February 21, 2002

Answers

By the way, I am using Sherwin Williams ProMaster 200 primer and Sherwin Williams Interior Superpaint as a topcoat.

-- clove (clovis97@Yahoo.com), February 21, 2002.

In new construction the contractor makes his money by screwing the subs; the real money is with word of mouth quality, anything less is not worth your time; avoid the new work, your trying to correct the mistakes of others with a dose of cosmedics. Been there; done that: 30 years ago; it hasen't changed.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), February 21, 2002.

I agree with Mitch, I was a painting contractor for 15 yrs. and New construction was a hassle and a royal pain in the butt. But to answer your question,to do a professional job you should prime the nail pops,usually can be done with a brush and smoothly dabbing primer on the spots. If they are smooth walls then you can use a 3/8" cover,the touch ups should blend in if you feather the touch-up rolled areas in with the existing painted walls. When you bidded the job did you include a certain number of man hours for touch ups? Usually on new construction paint bids you add 4 to 8 man hours of touch ups (depending on size of job)to the bids and price accordingly.

-- TomK(mich) (tjk@cac.net), February 21, 2002.

I just asked the hubby and he said if you primed the walls you will have to prime the pop ups and then use your top coat. He said about the pencil marks and smudges that you need to use the same nap roller you used to paint the walls with and you may need to feather it out with a brush so it blends in well. Hope this helps you. Nancy

-- Nancy (georgiaattitude@aol.com), February 21, 2002.

Cool!!!!

That is just the info that I needed to know!!

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-- clove (clovis97@Yahoo.com), February 22, 2002.

I hope you get this in time. I agree with priming before you paint the nail pop areas. Make sure, however, that even if you're touching those up with a brush you either dab at the paint with the ends of the bristles after you apply it or run over it with a roller. If you don't, you'll leave brush marks in the middle of the stipples from the roller on the rest of the wall.

Most new construction uses a VERY forgiving flat off-white paint. If you're working with something like that touch ups should be a breeze. If, however, it's not a spec home and you're working with custom colors, darker colors or anything other than flat paint you may end up painting entire walls to cover problems. Good luck with your new ventures.

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), February 22, 2002.

I found that using one of those disposable sponge "brushes" to "pat" on the primer (and even paint, if it is a small area like a scratch) will prevent brushstroke show-through. Just lightly dab the sponge brush into the primer, apply a reasonable (but light - you don't want to be able to notice a change in paint depth on an angled view) coat, then pat across the surface to nap it up a little. It may over- roughen it at first, but it generally smooths itself out by the time it dries, especially with good paint. Try it first in a corner or some such to get the feel of it.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), February 22, 2002.

I forgot to mention it, but one of those cute little trim rollers (assuming you use the exact same nap sleeve) makes quick work of small area touch-ups without the fuss and mess of a full sized roller. Easier to feather out small areas, too.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), February 22, 2002.

Another former painting contractor here. You've gotten great advice! I have to wholeheartedly second the advice to add time for touchups when figuring the bid. I added one entire day for houses up to about 1500 square feet. Most people use flat paint on the walls, so one day would usually be plenty of time. One job, though, they wanted semi-gloss paint. Ick! I told the builder that I wanted the house last, even after the floors, and I charged him accordingly ~ extra for masking off floors and wood trim. There's just no good way to touch up gloss paint without redoing the entire wall. You could get away with a few of them in a big house, but not on every surface.

One question: why did the trim carpenters come in after you? When I painted new construction, I did the trim, too, whether it was paint or stain, so it was already in place. Just wondering...

-- Wingnut (wingnut@moment.net), February 22, 2002.

The work is for a local not for profit historic preservation group who rehabs houses. They did not have enough budget to have the wood work stained or painted. This will be left up to the homeowner.

They ran into the same budget problem with the interior trim on the last house they rehabbed, and the new homeowners loved it....go figure.

I am really kind of glad they have opted to leave the trim unfinished; I don't have the time, tools or resources to do this task, and would have had to pass on the bid.

Again, thanks for all your input.

-- clove (clovis97@yahoo.com), February 22, 2002.

THAT makes sense ~ ;-) ~ just curious. Glad to have helped and good luck!

-- Wingnut (wingnut@moment.net), February 25, 2002.