How to Tell If Your Painter Is Doing Proper Prep

Proper prep is something you can see before any color goes on. Loose paint is scraped back to edges that stay put, holes and cracks are filled and sanded flush, every patch and bare spot is primed, and the floors are under canvas drop cloths. If a painter's first day looks like that, the job is starting right.

Prep is most of a paint job, and it's the part that looks like nothing is happening. That's why it gets rushed. Kory spent several years on a professional painting crew before we started The Home Steward, and what follows is what we look for when we oversee painting and other home repair projects for clients in Summit, Chatham, Short Hills and Millburn.

None of it needs a ladder or any skill. It needs ten minutes, a flashlight and a willingness to look closely.

If you're still deciding when to paint, here's why winter is a good time to paint inside.

What should a room look like before the first coat?

A room that's being prepped properly is emptied or organized before anyone opens a can. Furniture is out, or pushed to the middle and covered. Switch plates, outlet covers and vent covers are off. The floor is covered from wall to wall, not just where the ladder will stand.

Small things tell you a lot. Screws taped to the back of each cover, or a bag labeled by room, means the painter expects to put your house back exactly as they found it.

Why canvas drop cloths and not plastic?

Canvas drop cloths are what you want on a floor. They lie flat, they stay put when a ladder goes down on them, and a drip soaks in instead of sitting on the surface waiting to be stepped in. The better ones have a rubber or poly backing, so they don't slide on wood and paint can't soak through to the floor.

Plastic sheeting on a floor is slippery under shoes and ladder feet, and a drop of paint stays wet on top of it long enough to be tracked down the hall. Plastic has its place. It's good over furniture, and on jobs where old paint may contain lead, heavy plastic sheeting is part of the rules (more on that below).

Which painter's tape is safe on a finished wood floor?

Standard blue painter's tape is the wrong tape for a finished wood floor if it's going to sit there for days. It grips hard enough that, left down too long, it can lift the floor finish when it comes up. For floors and anything delicate, painters use a low-adhesion tape, and the common one is yellow. Sherwin-Williams' guide to FrogTape colors rates the yellow delicate-surface tape as low adhesion with clean removal for up to 60 days, against 14 days for the brand's blue tape.

Our own rule is stricter than any label. On a wood floor, low-tack tape only, and it comes up the day the room is finished. Better still, the drop cloth or floor paper is taped to itself so no tape touches the floor at all. If your floors were refinished recently, ask the floor refinisher how long the finish needs before anything is taped to it.

How the tape comes up matters too. It should be pulled slowly, folded back on itself at a low angle. If paint has dried across the edge, a light score along the line with a utility knife keeps the new paint from peeling off with the tape.

What does good scraping look like?

Good scraping leaves edges that don't move. Run a putty knife or a fingernail along the edge of the old paint that's left. Nothing should lift. Then those edges get sanded smooth, which painters call feathering, so the step between old paint and bare wood doesn't show through the new coat as a hard line.

On the outside of a house, a careful painter scrapes, washes, then checks the scraped areas again once they're dry, because washing loosens paint that looked sound. Bare wood should be primed soon after scraping, not left out through weeks of sun and rain.

What you don't want to see is fresh primer over edges you can still lift with a fingernail. Paint goes on top of whatever is underneath it. If that's loose, the new paint is loose too.

Never climb above a six-foot ladder to check. For second-floor trim and eaves, look from the ground with binoculars, or ask the painter to send photos of the scraped areas before primer goes on. A painter who's proud of the prep is usually glad to.

What changes if the house was built before 1978?

A house built before 1978 may have lead paint under today's paint, and that changes how prep has to be done. The federal government banned consumer use of lead-based paint in 1978, and the older the house, the likelier it is. EPA estimates that 87% of homes built before 1940 are likely to have lead-based paint, 69% of homes built from 1940 to 1959, and 24% of homes built from 1960 to 1977. Plenty of houses in Summit, Chatham, Short Hills and Millburn fall into those first two groups.

Is lead paint dangerous if it isn't chipping?

Lead paint in good condition usually isn't the problem. EPA says lead-based paint in good shape is usually not a hazard, and that children can live safely in homes with lead paint as long as the paint is in good condition and surfaces are kept clean. The danger starts when it breaks down. The CDC explains that when lead paint peels and cracks, it makes lead dust, which children can swallow or breathe in.

Two exceptions matter. Painted surfaces that rub or get knocked, like window sashes, sills, doors and stair treads, can make dust even when they look fine. And painting prep is exactly the work that turns sound old paint into dust: scraping, sanding and stripping. A house where lead paint has sat quietly for decades can become a lead problem on prep day.

It's the same way we handle other specialist work, like restoring etched marble countertops.

Young children are most at risk. EPA notes that no safe level of lead in children has been identified, and the New Jersey Department of Health recommends testing children at ages 1 and 2.

How do you test chipping paint for lead?

Chipping paint is the easiest paint to test, because the broken edge of a chip shows every layer at once. Home lead test kits are sold at hardware stores. You rub the swab on the chip's edge, and if it changes color, lead is there. Lead usually sits in the older layers underneath, so testing only the top coat tells you very little.

Read the two results differently. A positive result is a clear reason to stop and call a certified firm before anyone sands. A negative result from a kit you used yourself is not an all-clear. The EPA recognizes three lead test kits, and relies on a negative result only when a certified renovator, inspector or risk assessor does the test.

For a definite answer, hire a lead inspector. In New Jersey that's a lead evaluation contractor certified by the Department of Community Affairs, who tests with an X-ray fluorescence instrument or sends paint chips to an accredited lab. Many certified painters skip testing altogether: they assume the old paint contains lead and prep the lead-safe way, which the rules allow.

While you wait, clean up what's already fallen. EPA's advice is to pick up chips and dust with a damp paper towel, wipe the spot with a clean wet one, never dry sweep, and use only a HEPA vacuum where chips or dust are visible.

What does lead-safe painting prep look like?

Lead-safe prep is required of most paid painters in older homes. Under the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule, contractors who disturb more than six square feet of painted surface in a pre-1978 home must be certified and follow lead-safe work practices. Outside, the threshold is 20 square feet.

Lead-safe prep looks different from ordinary prep, and you can see the difference:

• Heavy plastic sheeting on the floor inside, or on the ground outside, with the work area closed off.
• Surfaces misted with water before scraping or sanding, so dust stays down.
• A HEPA vacuum on site, and power sanders only if they're shrouded and hooked up to one.
• No torches and no high-heat stripping. EPA's lead-safety guide for contractors prohibits open-flame burning, unshrouded power sanding and heat guns above 1100°F on lead paint.
• The EPA's Renovate Right pamphlet handed to you before work starts.

Ask to see the firm's lead-safe certification before the job is booked. It's a normal question, and a certified painter expects it. EPA's page for homeowners links to its directory of certified firms.

Who can remove lead paint?

Removing lead paint for good is called abatement. In New Jersey it's done by a lead abatement contractor certified by the Department of Community Affairs, and the state publishes its list of certified abatement contractors. EPA advises homeowners not to try removing lead-based paint themselves.

That's a different job from a lead-safe certified painter. The painter preps and repaints over old paint safely. The abatement firm removes it or seals it off permanently.

We don't do either ourselves. When a project in an older house disturbs old paint, we bring a lead-safe certified painter, and for removal, a state-certified abatement firm. We'd rather bring someone who holds the certification than work around it.

What does a properly patched wall look like?

A properly patched wall is flat when you look along it, not just when you look at it. Nail holes and dings are filled, then sanded flush. Deeper holes and cracks take two passes, because filler shrinks as it dries and the first pass leaves a shallow dip.

Here's the test anyone can do. Turn off the overhead light and hold a flashlight flat against the wall so the beam skims across the surface. Ridges, dips and sanding marks throw shadows. If you see them now, you'll see them after painting, more in eggshell or satin than in flat.

Gaps where trim meets the wall should get a thin bead of paintable caulk, smoothed with a finger or a wet rag. Holes in wood trim get wood filler, not caulk, because caulk can't be sanded flush and tends to leave a dimple.

Why does every patch need primer?

Every patch needs primer because filler and bare wood soak up paint differently from the painted wall around them. Paint straight over a patch dries duller, and the patch shows up as a flat spot when light hits the wall from the side. Painters call that flashing. A coat of primer over each patch, overlapping onto the wall around it, evens it out.

On prep day, ask one question: "Are the patches primed?" The answer should be yes. Primer is sometimes tinted gray or close to the new color, so primed patches may not look white.

Other spots that need primer before paint:

• Bare wood exposed by scraping.
• Water stains, once the leak has been found and fixed. These need a stain-blocking primer or they bleed back through.
• Knots in new wood trim, which can bleed through ordinary paint.

What should you check on prep day?

Before the first coat of color, walk the room with this list:

1. Floors covered wall to wall with canvas, and no ordinary blue tape stuck to a wood floor.
2. Covers and plates off, with their screws kept together.
3. Old paint tight at every scraped edge, and the edges sanded smooth.
4. Patches flat when you skim a flashlight across them.
5. Every patch and bare spot primed.
6. In a pre-1978 house, plastic sheeting, misting and a HEPA vacuum, from a certified firm.

If something's missing, say so before the color goes on. It's a five-minute conversation now and a repaint later.

When to call a professional

• Lead. If your house was built before 1978 and a project means scraping or sanding more than small spots, use a lead-safe certified painter. To remove lead paint, use a New Jersey certified abatement contractor. Don't dry-sand or heat-strip old paint yourself.
• A home test kit that turns positive. Stop any sanding or scraping and have a certified inspector or lead-safe painter look before work goes on.
• Paint that keeps peeling or bubbling in the same spot. That usually means moisture is getting behind it. Someone needs to find where it's coming from before anyone repaints.
• A water stain on a ceiling. The leak gets found and fixed first. Paint over an active leak just hides it for a while.
• A plaster crack that comes back after being patched. Worth having someone look at why it's moving.
• Anything high on the outside. Check from the ground and ask for photos. Don't climb above a six-foot ladder to inspect.

When a paint job needs more than a touch-up, Steward Projects is how we handle it: we look at the job properly, quote it in writing, and are in the room on the days that matter, including prep day.

Frequently asked questions

How long should prep take compared with painting?

On many jobs, prep takes as long as the painting or longer, especially in older houses with plaster walls and many layers of paint on the trim. A painter who starts rolling color on the first morning in a room full of visible holes and cracks has skipped something. Ask how many days of prep are in the quote.

Is paint with built-in primer enough?

Over clean, sound, previously painted walls in a similar color, it often is. Over patches, bare wood, stains or a big color change, a separate primer does a better job. Even some self-priming paints call for spot priming filled holes and cracks in their own instructions.

How long can painter's tape stay on?

It depends on the tape and the surface, and the clean-removal time is printed on the label. On a finished wood floor, use a low-adhesion tape and take it up the day the room is done. Standard blue tape shouldn't sit on a wood floor for days.

Is it safe to leave lead paint in place?

Usually, if it's in good condition. Lead paint that isn't chipping, peeling or rubbing is generally best left alone and kept clean. Keep an eye on windows, doors and stairs, where wear makes dust, and have any project that disturbs old paint done by a lead-safe certified firm.

Are home lead test kits accurate?

A positive result from a home lead test kit is worth taking seriously. A negative result from a kit you used yourself isn't proof the paint is lead-free, because the EPA only relies on negative results from certified professionals. For a definite answer, hire a New Jersey certified lead inspector.

If you'd rather someone else stood in the room on prep day and checked all of this, that's what we do.

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The Home Steward is a home management service based in Summit, New Jersey, run by Sebastian and Kory, caring for homes in Summit, Chatham, Short Hills and Millburn.