What are the best steps to ensure good paint adhesion on new sheetrock walls. I have vacuumed them already be there is still a ton of dust. Wiping with a damp cloth seems to leave the same mess when it dries. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks in advance.
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Replies
Leave the dust on! No reason to remove it. A popular primer made by USG called "Sheetrock First Coat" has spackle in it. It acts like a skim coat on the new drywall. Put two coats of that on and one coat of good paint and you'll be doing a great job.
I agree with using a quality primer made specifically for new drywall. I've never had a problem with dust in the finish. Besides I need that dust to help hide the joints in the crown I cut with the chainsaw!
Mark
i don't buy into leaving the dust on,if my finish work is so bad i need fill it with dust,i better sand a little more. if possible i open all the doors and windows and start blowing with a blow gun. you can use a leaf blower or a wet or dry vac that makes into a blower if you don't have a air comp. larry
hand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
It's not "dust"..it's "microcospic joint compound". You have it on the seams, the corners and over the screws/nails..might as well leave the "little compound" on..heck, you're leaving the big ones on! Someone tell me by wiping the "dust" off how that helps in the painting?
Well then, wipe all of the compound off..from the seams, screws/nails, butt joints and the angles!
You only wipe the dust off the edges with a wet rag or carpet of the cocmpound if you are spraying the primer/paint because by spraying it it brings forth the scuff marks from the sanding. Rolling the primer or paint does not cause the scroff marks to show!
And here USG puts "microscopic joint compound" in their primer and the ones who know better take it off before priming..well, who is right?
I think the idea is that if there is an 1/8" thick layer of dust on the walls/ceiling, then the paint/primer is not gonna stick. The heavy sanding dust normally ends up in the corners, etc.
Matt
1/8" ...nah, can't be cause that is way too much compound dust. A good finisher does not sand that much!
I'm just talking about what I've seen on the job site many times - it builds up in the corners and other such places. Matt
When I sand the 3 way corner I always hand sand it, I use my 5 inch knife to get the dust out. If you don't it will collect in there..otherwise no problem.
well first of all i'll tell you my vocation is bodyman /painter,somehow i've went from that to full time remoder/landlord. 6 specs of dirt in a automotive paint job and your in trouble. so i'm use to cleaning,blowing, and tack ragging.my contetion with sheetrock dust left on the wall is if you are rolling it and go over the same spot a couple times your roller is going to pick up thedust and redistrubit elsewhere on the wall. so it probably isn't going to hurt anything just make your paint slightly thicker. but... if you are going to airless the sealer coat on and even if you roll over it to smooth it out that dust is laying between the paint and sheetrock and i feel it gives it a weak point on adhesion. maybe the dust left on the wall won't hurt anything,but i know getting the wall clean won't hurt anything other than time lost cleaning [ 15 mins?] and i can feel that paint sticking won't be a problem. my sheetrock finishing really wouldn't look any better with a little dust mixed in, it looks the best before you turn the lights on!!! larryhand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
I know when I painted my entire house after drywalling the entire house, I wiped some of the walls down and missed a few (should have done it all in one day!). It was extremely noticeable which parts were wiped and which were not. I went over the primer very lightly with a pole sander before the paint and this worked great. Not issue with paint adhesion either way.
Tim
Fellas,
Compound dust, if water, primer or paint is added to it will dissolve. Next time you sand, take some of that dust and add water to it..what do you get..you get joint compound. Apply it on a piece of scrap drywall and what do you get..you get joint compound. Thus the more "dust" the better the finish will be beause you are partially skim coating the drywall. The difference between the drywall facepaper and the compound is called "photographing". What you want to do as in doing a skim coat is to have one type of surface and the "dust" helps in this.
Of course if you had wood dust on that's no good as it will not dissolve in the primer/paint.
I have always known painters to do a quick wipe down of the walls/ceilings with a damp rag - or sometimes a broom - and I can guarantee at least some of these painter's do *nothing* that is not absolutely necessary. And that includes (not) using special primers on sheetrock unless it is a special situation lake a very dark color finish. How many times have I heard "we prime with paint". BTW - I have lived in 2 of these "primed with paint" houses for 5 yrs each with no problems. One painter told me that he thought that special drywall primers were just marketing hype from the paint companies - I tend to agree. - based on what I see that works.
BTW - maybe the rag you used was not a good one - yes - there are good and bad rags... :-) cotton T-shirt type material is usually good. I think the idea is to just make sure the drywall dust is not heavy in any area.
Im a painter, custom, not production. With most of the dust gone I use a commercial 'swiffer' that you can get at the box store. Its about 2 feet long on the head and you put cloth on it. I lightly spray the head with an atomizer with water in it. Go around the room like pole sanding. When the surface of the cloth really clogs up I shift it to a new spot on the cloth. When its full I throw it away. Dont overwet.
I use pva primer, production guys may skip that. Primers have more 'binder' or glue that seal the paper and mud, they also give the surface an even tooth for finish paint. The first coat is going to soak in, thats why you use so much paint on that coat. I usually use the primer from the same manufacturer that the finish paint will be, because the formulation is suited and tested together. 1 coat of prime, 2 finish will give you a great paint job.
Every primer has its uses, and there are different formulations, but mostly you may be splitting hairs. In addition to what I have mentioned, if you use finish paint you risk dull spots where the paint gets sucked into the mud compared to the paper. The gloss may be different, and you will be spot painting a few extra times.
-zen