How to Fix a Bad Paint Job on Drywall or Plaster

[@kholaaagain]

This video is exactly what I needed to see. I’m moving into an apartment, where the landlord says I can paint over the last tenants work of art. They left uneven surfaces, bleeding and just horrible paint jobs in 4 of the rooms. I cannot wait to do this and make the walls better to look at.

[@madmommy]

Perfect! Exactly the information we were looking for. Bought a house where the previous owners did a slap-dash job painting and weren't sure how to go about fixing it before re-painting.

[@HowtoHacks]

You’re welcome.

[@charcoalanderson8010]

Same here! The previous guy may have saved himself some time but I'm using certainly having to make up for it with my own time now.

[@Ogrilla4271]

Great video, I just bought a much older house to get out of renting, and they gave it a terrible paint job just to get it of the market. Never owned before and this is a great video to start off fixing things.

[@christopherbownes494]

Using caulk to cope uneven ceiling lines is genius. Thank you for the tip

[@z.a.dewitt8664]

Thanks for this video. The person who painted my now study clearly just slapped paint on and it's tragic. The room has built in glass shelving all along one wall and it's beautiful. They also painted over the wood trim sloppily. Wouldn't have known to switch to 60 grit if I hadn't watched this so thank you!

[@HowtoHacks]

You’re welcome

[@Shasgirl]

I'm glad to know this. My bathroom walls are trash (I live in a NYC apt, you can imagine). I only have a little hand sander so I guess this job is out of my league. I will try to do as much as I can with some elbow grease. Thanks for this.

[@saneauto]

Finally, this is exactly what I was looking for. Confirmation on what I need to do and how to do it. BTW I searched "how to fix bad drywall after paint" Add that to your tags and let me know if it helps. This was 4th down It should be first at the top of the page. I am above average at drywall so I paid a 25 year pro? When he tried to tell me he was ready to paint I showed him the trick with the light and he went back to working the drywall. That is until I left the jobsite. As soon as I left he through paint on it without even brushing the sanding dust off. Everything looks terrible. Just like the walls you filmed here. Then he texted me wanting to get paid for wasting all my paint and creating a huge mess for me to fix. I will order the sander and go back to doing all my own drywall work. I will make a video similar to this on my Sane Enterprises channel and give you a shout out for your video. Liked and Su8-ed on my way out. I hope you get 100K views.

[@HowtoHacks]

Thanks for the kind words and the tip about the tag. I added it. Let me know when you finish your video and I'll swing over and watch it.

[@BabyShark-kd9jl]

Wow. "Professionals" who don't care - I've experienced it too.

[@Godsgraceish]

@@BabyShark-kd9jlI have recently experienced it. Now I have to have my whole house for the most part painted over.

[@awperonline6576]

Kinda interesting he put so much work into it. I just hand sand the uneven parts, spackle the holes, then use Behr paint with primer and it doesn't even look like the wall is painted its so smooth and even.

[@HowtoHacks]

I normally don’t have to do this but this was a really bad paint job with a lot of runs and drips. Drips from latex paint are difficult to hand sand if there are a lot of them.

[@Louthemailman]

theres no such thing as paint and primer in 1 its BS you should always prime before painting.

[@colinevans7134]

Before you fill the wall after sanding I roll out a miss coat in white first so paint will seal and show the parts that need to be filled first, that's what we do in the uk

[@HowtoHacks]

Nice tip

[@awperonline6576]

I thought it was interesting that you added caulk to the top of the wall. I've done that before but only with the bottom baseboard since it had a small gap from the wall and when I painted it, it looked like it was part of the wall. Do you paint the caulk with the new wall color or leave it white to match the ceiling? Thanks

[@elipin4128]

Great video. Like the tips. Although I would like to learn more about the chalking the edges before you paint. Might be a good video to put out ???

[@kaylaspeakman916]

Use use a radius 360!! Try it instead of a power sander maybe

[@j.rjunior5584]

Just a little tip, please wear a mask when sanding paint down. It very dangerous to breathe in, and can definitely harm yourself in the future. I'm just trying too look out. And thanks for the vid.

[@MrCeora]

You're exactly right as I'm a witness. Seeing a Pulmonologist right now because I was foolish and really didn't know any better when I was younger. It will catch up with you and find you years later...

[@lunasalazar6831]

My apartment living room looks like this and it's the UGLIEST BLUE GREEN O I HATE IT I NEED TO DO THIS! Thank you for this!

[@HowtoHacks]

You’re welcome

[@lqdwzrd]

Thank you, I had to hunt this one down, GREAT information! Starting from an already painted room with the same type of wall damage as mine. Nice instructional , thorough and simple ! Makin it easy for the brain!

[@ItsMefromSnuffys]

Gotta get a big fluffy dust mop for walls

[@VLGRamirez]

Hello my husband decided to try and help me out by painting the bathroom before I had washed and cleaned the walls. They were very dusty and nasty from years of our kids taking steaming hot showers. He used behr premium plus primer but the paint shows all these teeny tiny cracks where I believe dust and lint is showing it up through the new paint and you can also see the old color underneath. Does this work on texturized walls as well? I don’t know how to fix it now.

[@HowtoHacks]

It will sand down the texture as well.

[@mattchew5965]

Awesome video, thank you. Question: The previous owner did a bad paint job over plaster walls - paint is flaking off in patches everywhere, except bathroom. Our condo does have fluctuating humidity and temperatures, so I'm guessing the paint or primer in the rest of the condo was not moisture resistant. I would like to remove all the paint and get back to plaster just to be safe... can I do that with a drywall sander? Or, best to only knock down the paint flakes and proceed with patching, better primer and repaint? Any other suggestions for dealing with what might be humidity related paint failure?

[@HowtoHacks]

Without seeing it in person it’s hard to tell what the cause of the flaking is. It could be someone tried to paint over oil based paint with water based paint without priming the wall first. You can try sanding all the paint off, however this is a lot of work. Might be a good idea to consult with a good drywall or paint contractor before you start anything yourself. If you get a quote you can also pick their brain to see what needs done. Then decide if you want to try it yourself.

[@mattchew5965]

@@HowtoHacks thank you!

[@JulieParisiArt]

I have the worst paint job I have ever seen on every surface in my new house. I have to use this method on every single wall and ceiling. Thank you for this video.

[@HowtoHacks]

Just FYI. The power sander will not work like this on a ceiling with texture as it will sand all the texture off.

[@pkearney10]

What do you use to fill the holes and dents? In the video you say spackle but in the description you say drywall mud. Can you clarify and send a link to buy? Excellent video!

[@HowtoHacks]

Spackle and drywall mud are somewhat interchangeable words. This should do the trick amzn.to/32RAfMB

[@mikepan3449]

Thank you for this! had a shitty dry wall repair job done by a shitty contractor with exactly the look you showed, now I know how to fix this myself.

[@HowtoHacks]

You’re welcome.

[@l.j.2917]

How course was the sand pad on the power sander? Would I need very course to get the paint off?

[@HowtoHacks]

I think I used 60 grit to get the paint off and 120 grit after primer.

[@David-mh2jn]

Hi guys ,,,, we are complete novices and only did one small wall to see how it would look. We spackled and sanded, then we primered with the Pro999 Clear and then put the Behr Marquee 1 coat on. The paint and all looks great and no probs with that. We didn't sand spackle or do it properly so the spots show like mountainous territory on a map. Can we power sand and redo the bad spots alone. Please help

[@HowtoHacks]

Yes. Sand the high spots and repaint.

[@David-mh2jn]

@@HowtoHacks Thanks ,,,, great video

[@CupoTress]

Does sanding take the texture off? We have orange peel texture and lots of paint flashing. I’m not sure how to fix it. Do you retexture before priming?

[@HowtoHacks]

Sanding will remove orange peel and a textured surface. In the house I live in now I actually sanded a lot of the texture off the ceilings and had them retextured to fix some bad spots. You want to texture before you prime.

[@julieb3581]

what prime did you use and spray tip size? Looks awesome, thank you for sharing.

[@HowtoHacks]

Thanks. I used a high build primer from Menards’s. I don’t remember what sprayer tip I used.

[@Godsgraceish]

Do I need to prime the wall if I’m going from one colour that is similar to the one I am putting back on the wall?

[@HowtoHacks]

You could probably get away with not priming.

[@henriandjenienholtland1579]

Ugh my parents hired "professionals" to do drywall and paint and they did a crappy job. A lot of textured spots, dust in paint (pretty sure they were painting and sanding drywall at the same time without creating sealed zones. Anyways... looks like if we wanna fix it we'd be basically re-doing all that work. Was looking this up to figure out how to fix at least the very obvious spots. Idk how they could walk away saying they were done. A few messy corners of mudding could be forgivable but just running a hand over the wall it's so obvious they had dust in the paint, or didn't clean walls before painting or something. Just unbelievable.

[@adriennebaltierrez7958]

what kind of paint spray gun did you use? also would you also sand for door and window trim? i have tenants that painted the trim black.... and they did an awful job (I didn’t know they were doing it).

[@HowtoHacks]

I used a Sherwin William’s brand airless sprayer. Yeah, I would sand the trim and doors too if there are a lot of drips.

[@josephvulich9448]

If you are on a fixed income, but still want to invest in a paint sprayer, the Graco Magnum XL, is a great option. I use this sprayer alot, and if you have the right tips, and you prep properly, I find it very dependable! Btw, you should be able to find one for under $600. Hope this helps. Enjoy your weekend. ~Joe ✌😎

[@mikes427]

I’ve had so many people tell me that I don’t need to sand a painted wall or even prime it before repainting. You did both in your video. Is that because there was so many repairs to be made?

[@HowtoHacks]

Yeah. The walls were a mess. Drips and debris in the paint were everywhere. For the most part, if you have a good paint job just apply paint over it.

[@Alexander-qy7yz]

Hi, did you dust off the walls between using the power sander and filling the holes? Also, how important would you say it is to clean a wall with let’s say some mild detergent and water before painting? Let’s say I’ve painted textured wallpaper but have only dusted it off, not cleaned all of it. Maybe just taken some stains. Would that qualify as unacceptable prep work? How can I test if the paint job is okay now after it’s been painted. One room was painted more than a year ago. How could I test to see if it’s ok? Thanks for the help

[@HowtoHacks]

I used a broom to knockoff the dust after sanding. Cleaning the walls is probably over kill unless they are really greasy. Even then I would just spot clean. You don’t have to sand the walls if they are smooth (no drips or dirt in the paint). This determines the amount of prep work needed. If the wall is stained a lot you may have to prime. If the wall is in good condition you can just start painting. If the paint doesn’t bead up on the surface when painting then it should adhere to the surface just fine when it dries. If the paint isn’t flaking off an old surface that’s been painted then it’s good.

[@Alexander-qy7yz]

@@HowtoHacks Thanks for the reply! Are you a painter or some sort of builder by trade? Just before the 2 minute mark in the video, after power sanding you were going to fill the obvious holes. Did you dust off the areas to be filled or did you just fill them? So I'm not asking whether you dusted off before painting, but specifically before filling the holes. In your experience, is it very important to dust off holes and such before filling them? Did you use spackle or something else?

[@HowtoHacks]

@@Alexander-qy7yz I have a lot of carpentry experience. Just hit the areas you want to fill with a dry rag to knock off any dust then fill and sand again. I don’t think this is a very important step. Non-shrinking spackle will work to fill most holes. If you are doing a larger area with a skim coat then you want drywall mud.

[@Alexander-qy7yz]

@@HowtoHacks Gotcha. But if I’ve already filled some areas? Scrape out the old spackle, clean it out and redo it?

[@HowtoHacks]

@@Alexander-qy7yz I wouldn’t. The internal material of drywall (gypsum) is dust. The spackle just fills the void.

[@rachelhurt7271]

After you fine sand the primer do you have to wipe down the walls before you put the paint color on?

[@HowtoHacks]

If the walls are really dusty you can use a clean broom to knock it off. A dry rag would work as well.

[@ashliemf4385]

I am just diving into home improvement for the very first time and came across your awesome video- I have a few questions, if you don’t mind! The walls of our apartment are in even worse shape than this, and I think a power sander is the only way we can possibly fix the paint drips, uneven drywall, and thick, goopy spots that have built up from probably literal decades of bad paint jobs/repairs. I live in an old building in NYC, and my biggest worry before diving in is lead paint. We aren’t sure when/whether this apartment has been gut renovated and we are so worried that when we sand we will expose ourselves and our cats to lead. Do you have any advice on how to handle this, or general thoughts? Are there power sanders that can remove the dust as you go? And one more question, do you think this is too difficult to do a job like this when you are also living in the (very small) apartment you’ll need to work?

[@HowtoHacks]

I would get a lead based paint testing kit. When doing this you will need to get a sample of all the layers of paint. Just use a utility knife to cut through and remove the layers in a small section. Then you can see if any layers of the old paints were lead based. If the test is positive you can try skim coat the walls with drywall mud to even everything out. Just The power sander I used has a vacuum attachment to hook up to a shop vac. It catches a lot of the dust but not all of it. Doing this project while living in an apartment is possible I just depends on the persons willingness to put up with the inconvenience. Just make sure to cover everything up as it will create dust.

[@ashliemf4385]

How to Hacks thank you so much!

[@arthursutherland205]

I have that same ceiling design and I hate it. Can I just use a drywall sander to get rid of it then prime and paint?

[@HowtoHacks]

Yes you can sand down a textured ceiling. However you will probably need to skim coat the whole thing afterwards. Then prime and paint.

[@miguelcuba9908]

Can you also use that sander to fresh sheetrock jobs?

[@HowtoHacks]

Yes

[@ImjustsayinDetroit]

Great video!

[@cazandra_tru1363]

when you sanded with the brick what grit did you use ? still 60?

[@HowtoHacks]

No 120 or finer

[@Xodia91]

Hi Great video Quick question Is it necessary to prime the whole wall or just the parts you filled?

[@HowtoHacks]

You don’t have to prime the whole wall.

[@juliedowdy2154]

The previous owners to our house did nothing to properly repair the damage to the walls that the owners before them did. Literally every wall in this house has a running line at the top of paint drips from a spray painter (looks like the wall has water dripping down it, that's how thick it is), super smooth areas where they patched but the wall above and below it looks nothing like it, uneven patch jobs that you can clearly see outlined in the walls, the ceilings are multiple colors of white from patch jobs. It makes my eyelid twitch. This would definitely help most of it. Would the sanding with a power sander help the uneven patch job areas as well? I can't afford new drywall right now but could I sand down as much of the awfulness as possible and maybe skim the worst walls and then prime and repaint? I wish I could post pictures!

[@HowtoHacks]

The power sander should get most of it out. The 60 grit doesn’t gum up like the finer grit sandpaper does. Any area that’s uneven it will flatten with enough patience. Then skim coat the imperfections, sand again, and prime with a high build primer.

[@sam.9602]

Our old home we just bought has both plaster and drywall in the house. 😅

[@capostatus1i]

Awesome job man, what grit would you with the power sander for thick paint?

[@HowtoHacks]

60 or 80

[@capostatus1i]

@@HowtoHacks thanks brother appreciate it.

[@49er16]

Any advice for doing something like this but with textured walls? I'm dealing with a horrible paint job with paint that is so thick it is making the texture look strange. I'm not sure if sanding aggressively will ruin the texture underneath as well.

[@HowtoHacks]

The only way to fix this is to sand the texture off most of the way and reapply the texture. I have done this numerous times to textures ceilings that I had to patch. When sanding off you want to make it look kind of like knockdown texture. The new texture then hides everything and you can’t even tell it’s been sanded.

[@49er16]

@@HowtoHacks Okay, I was worried that was the only way. Thanks for the quick reply! Love your videos!

[@korapeck6053]

Hello! I have a question for you. What if the only “bad” painting done is the part in your video on the ceiling? I think it is referred to as a “cut line” is there any way to fix just those areas without having to repaint the whole room?

[@HowtoHacks]

What’s wrong with it? Is it just uneven and not cut in well or are there a lot of drips?

[@korapeck6053]

@@HowtoHacks it's uneven so some of the paint is on the ceiling like in your video. The rest of the paint job seems fine, no drips on the walls or anything like that, no apparent holes that weren't filled or anything.

[@HowtoHacks]

@@korapeck6053 sounds like you just need to recut in along the ceiling. Take ceiling paint and touch up parts where the wall paint is on the ceiling and then touch up the wall paint.

[@easypainterslondon]

good info quality work

[@surreallife777]

Hi, what kind of sander did you use? Mine is just a standard vibrating sander.

[@HowtoHacks]

The link to the sander is in the video description.

[@danesdba5283]

How much sand paper do you plan to use per room?

[@HowtoHacks]

Depends how large the rooms are and how bad the walls are. Probably a sheet per wall.

[@kaylaspeakman916]

You should get a radius 360!!

[@theydontknowmeson007]

Can you get away with just sanding a few bad spots?

[@HowtoHacks]

Possibly.

[@Rustyfishing]

Why do you prime it and not skim coat?

[@HowtoHacks]

I got by with using a high build primer that can be sanded. Skim coating is a lot more work and the walls weren’t in bad enough condition to justify doing it.

[@mikaylabrackett5125]

What sandpaper grit did you use on spackle?

[@HowtoHacks]

I used a fine grit sanding block. 120 grit I believe.

[@derpherpp]

Is there a primer that can skip this.

[@HowtoHacks]

No not really

[@BombsAwayMineCraft]

The walls are bumpy, how smooth am I trying to get the wall?

[@HowtoHacks]

I just try to get all the pieces of dirt and drips sanded out. If you are talking about orange peel like texture that’s fine.

[@BombsAwayMineCraft]

@@HowtoHacks ok thank you

[@tojo9979]

Why are u putting caulking in between wall?

[@HowtoHacks]

It gives a smooth transition between the ceiling and the wall which makes it easier to cut in with your brush.

[@up2nogwed995]

Do you take the pain down just till it is lost it’s shine?

[@HowtoHacks]

Yeah but what it’s really for is to sand down enough to get a smooth surface and to get rid of drips and stuff like that.

[@heyitsrosie]

Is it normal that paint smells after two months?

[@HowtoHacks]

No, not really. If anything it would be a faint smell.

[@derpherpp]

What sprayer did you use

[@HowtoHacks]

Graco Magnum airless paint sprayer.

[@Jakerun69]

How many layers of paint can it take off?

[@HowtoHacks]

Depends on what grit you use and how long you sand in one spot. It will take all the paint off and the drywall paper if you aren’t careful.

[@ItsMefromSnuffys]

Will caulk crack?

[@HowtoHacks]

It can but it depends on the situation.

[@jdun1980]

Can you use that on ceiling

[@HowtoHacks]

Yep and I have. It will remove the texture.

[@miguelcuba9908]

What sprayer did you use?

[@HowtoHacks]

Graco Magnum 262805 X7 Cart Airless Paint Sprayer amzn.to/2YnodbS

[@miguelcuba9908]

@@HowtoHacks thanksddd

[@jnwalsh3656]

Very good video! But....Old house?

[@HowtoHacks]

Built in 1987

[@jnwalsh3656]

@@HowtoHacks Unfortunately yes! Hate it!

[@Katwoman4318]

Thanks

[@HowtoHacks]

You’re welcome.

[@kenzichap8967]

i just ruined my bathroom with black paint so thanks for this 🤣 gonna try again! lol

[@HowtoHacks]

You’re welcome

[@saraserrano16]

I just did this too🥲

[@briansnyder9496]

I just spraying 1-2-3 primer on my walls and I’m guessing the paint before was oil based. Now I have many runs. Can I just sand it down and then spray with shellac? Or how will anything stick to the walls other than oil based paint?

[@HowtoHacks]

Sand it down so it’s smooth again. I believe an oil based primer can accept an oil or water based top coat so maybe use an oil based primer. I would talk to someone at sherwin Williams before adding anymore paint or primer though.

[@itsjuicy2659]

Painter what? What was the sealer you used on the boarders ?

[@HowtoHacks]

Painters caulk

[@itsjuicy2659]

@@HowtoHacks thank you been struggling with painting my house

[@jnwalsh3656]

Looks like my pandemic mess. What about a re-textured room with semi-gloss and 99 coats of primer & paint. HELP!

[@HowtoHacks]

You can sand down the texture, retexture, and then paint. I have had to do this before on ceilings that were messed up. It’s a lot of work. You can also tear out the drywall and start over.

[@jnwalsh3656]

@@HowtoHacks i wondered about that. What a pain! Thanks!

[@rade329]

I painted the apartment and I still have stains from each crossing, how can I fix it on the wallpaper?

[@HowtoHacks]

I’m not sure what you mean by a crossing. If there is stain showing through use Kilz Original stain block primer. I’ve used the stuff in a spay can recently and it worked great with one coat.

[@catslover4255]

💜💜💜💜💜

[@davidmaertens375]

*

[@michaelh7527]

I just don't understand why people rip customers off??? Sure, you will get away with it for a while. But word of mouth gets around quick and you will probably wind up in court. I paint and do limited handy man services. I am straight upfront with mostly women customers. You can use behr premium, ultra, or marquee. Here are the differences between them. I always do a basic wash of the walls. I do charge a little extra for a smokers house or really nasty walls where I use TSP for heavy cleaning. I still use brushes and rollers and cover everything. I very often get asked if I can install a new ceiling fan, switches, covers, etc. I will sometimes do something without the customer even asking. Had a ladies house that I noticed the old light switch was lose and often sparked when flipped. I just changed it along with the plate (2.00). She said an electrician wanted 135.00. Two days later, two of her co-workers needed work done. I am rambling. But my point is that you can make a lot more money if you are honest and do it right. You don't have to constantly look over your shoulder. Its not hard to paint, replace outlets, switches, fans, and doors.

[@HowtoHacks]

Agreed and well said

[@VibrantDesigns]

Where are you based?

[@HowtoHacks]

@@VibrantDesigns Northern Indiana. Why do you ask?

[@auroraautumn8764]

@@HowtoHacks wanted to hire a honest person like you. I’ve worked with dishonest people whose crappy job fell apart months later.

[@firelordOzai3]

This was more of a “how to repaint a wall”

[@HowtoHacks]

Kind of…but you don’t have to do all these steps if the paint is good to begin with…

[@hcarlosc0123]

Geez I don't know who painted the first time around but even that cut line on the ceiling is horrible

[@HowtoHacks]

Yeah it was rough.