How to Prepare your Home for an Interior Painting Job

The painters are coming and you want to be helpful by preparing your home for them. You want them to do their job easily and without any interference.

Getting your home ready for an interior painting job will help you have a smooth and predictable experience.

By taking some basic steps to clear out the work areas and remove personal belongings, you can help the painting crew do their job quickly and efficiently.

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Prepare your Home for an Interior Painting Job

Step 1: Remove small furniture, such as side tables and table lamps from the immediate areas getting painted.

This will help the painters move around the room efficiently with ladders and extension poles, and will prevent any accidental damage to these items.

Step 2: Remove your personal items from the painted rooms. This includes things like family photos, keepsakes, and any other items that you don’t want to risk getting damaged or misplaced.

If there are any special items that you are concerned about, you can always ask the painters to take extra care or move them to another room altogether.

Step 3: Empty the kitchen sinks and clear the countertops in the kitchen. This will allow the painters to cover the countertops and cabinets with plastic drop cloths.

Painting the kitchen requires moving around often and working in tight spaces.

Why not make it easy for them to do their job, without having to worry about knocking something over. If they are painting your bathrooms, clear the countertops there as well for the same reason.

You should also read: Interior and Exterior Paint: What are the Differences?

Step 4: If you are able to and have the time, move the big furniture in the middle of the room.

Most painters will offer to move big furniture such as sofas and tables, Ask them about it or at least ask for their help moving it.

Moving furniture to the middle of the room will give the painters easier access to all the walls and corners that need painting. If you are not sure where to move the furniture, simply ask the painters for their opinion when they arrive.

Step 5: Remove the window coverings. Curtains, blinds and shades should all be taken down before any of the work begins.

Not only will this protect window coverings from paint and dust, but it will also allow more light into the work area.

While you are at it, ask the painters to patch any holes from drapery hardware you don’t need any more.

Step 6: Unplug electronics and wall-mounted TVs.

It’s important to disconnect any fragile or expensive electronics before work starts, in order to prevent any accidents.

Wires and extension cords are trip hazards and difficult to cover with drop cloths. Remove any wall mounted TVs so the painters can paint behind them.

You may need to remove the mounting brackets and hardware or use masking tape to protect them from paint.

If you have difficulties doing any of that, ask the workers for help. Some of them may have some experience with removing TVs.

Step 7: Disable your alarm system!

You don’t want the painters triggering your alarm by accident. I can think of a few times that the customers forgot to do this and the security company had to invoice them for the unnecessary mobilization.

So be sure to disable it or provide the crew leader with a temporary code so that they can come and go as needed without any headaches.

Step 8: Designate one specific washroom for the crew to use.

This will minimize interruptions to your family’s daily routine and the painters will be responsible for keeping only one washroom clean every day.

Of course, if the scope of work includes painting all the washrooms, the painters will obviously have access to all of them.

Step 9: Make arrangements to keep your pets away from the painting areas.

You want to keep your pets safe from hazards like paint fumes and potential accidents. Cats, being creatures of habit and routine, are easily disturbed.

They are very much aware of everything within their territory and can become quite stressed when something new is going on.

Here are some thoughts about what to do with your cats during painting and renovation.

If you have a dog that requires a lot of attention, consider asking a friend or neighbour to dog-sit for a day or two. If you have indoor cats, instruct the painters to not let them out by mistake.

The Painters’ Obligations

Moving the Big Furniture

You shouldn’t have to move any big furniture since most painting companies have their own Standard Operating Procedures about moving it.

At Benjamin Painters, we can move the big furniture to the middle of the room but it needs to be off-loaded. For example, a china cabinet is impossible to move while fully loaded.

If you have a grandfather clock or a grand piano to move, you may need to hire professional movers. Painters would rather stick to painting, and they would rather not assume this type of moving responsibility.

Covering the Floors and Carpeting

Covering the floors is something painters do to protect them from paint spills and dust.

Depending on the type of flooring you have (hardwood, carpet or ceramic tiles), we use cloth drop cloths or paper floor protection.

It is commonly understood that floor protection is the responsibility of the painting company and not the homeowner.

Cover Valuables and Furniture

Unfortunately, it is not possible to move everything to the outside of the painting area.

The painters have the responsibility to move or cover your valuables as well as the furniture with clean plastic.

Sanding and prepping creates airborne dust that can travel anywhere in the house. After completion, the painters will remove and dispose the plastic covers.

Leftover Paints and Labeling.

Ask the painters about the leftover paints. Every job has leftover paint that has been purchased specifically for that project.

As a courtesy to our customers, we organize the leftover paints for storage and label them for their future use and touch-ups.

Water based paint will last a long time if the lid is closed properly and it is kept from freezing temperatures. Our crew will dispose of the empty gallons of paint.

Conclusion

So, before the painters come knocking at your door, take a few minutes to clear the work areas, remove personal belongings, window coverings, etc.

This will help the crew do their job quickly and without interruption, so you can enjoy your new paint as soon as possible.

Our painters are very good, and they should spend most of their time painting, not moving things around.

Do you have any questions about the above suggestions? Do you want to be helpful for the paint crews? Give us a call – we’re more than happy to help!