My living room wall is uneven, people say that I have to mud it before I paint. How? and how easy is it?

Question

I have a home that is old, and there is what I call a bump that is noticeable on one wall. I was going to paint, and was told that I would have to sand, then mud, then sand again before I could event think about painting. I did not know exactly what I will have to have to do the job, and how hard is to do for someone with no experience in repairs????

Answer 1

No offense to any answers, but I've been in this business a long time, and I disagree about SATIN for one thing. I've applied thousands of gallons of paint, and installed thousands of sq. ft. of drywall.

SATIN has more agents in it to aid in "cleanabilty" and is less porous than FLAT, but it isn't a Miracle substance.

Now,,,related to your issue. You don't define the nature of the "bump"
Is it that the walls are plastered, as opposed to drywall/sheetrock???
Is it an old patch that someone did a sloppy job on?

Certainly you should determine those things first, then yes likely sand that area until it's flush with the surrounding area. It may be that you won't have to mud/sand/mud/sand at all... or very little at least.

MUD by it's nature shrinks some as it drys, and in applying it, say, to new drywall or a patch, you should use multiple applications to "flush" up the area in question.

In your case, after you've determined what the BUMP is and have gone through the process of removing it, you can prime it to bring out any imperfections or low areas that remain, then go through the process again, until it vanishes,,,then apply paint.

No experience is no reason to believe you can't do this. It isn't Rocket Science. You can tell what the substance is, what steps described will accomplish, and what level of smooth/even, you want.

It sounds to me like a bad patch job, no matter if the walls are plaster or sheetrock. That said however, and not knowing the size of the BUMP,,, is that the only obvious defect? Or is it a small part of a larger problem, like warped drywall/studs/ or drywall pulling away from studs?

Rev. Steven

Answer 2

Rev. Steven definitely knows his stuff so his answer is probably your best route...But, not knowing the scope of the bump or what is causing the bump, I can offer only a different way to tackle the problem. The most obvious is to hide the bump by placing a shelf under it and putting a plant, pictures or whatever on the shelf to hide the bump. However, I textured the wall in one of my bedrooms to hide small bumps, holes, etc. The uneven effect of the texturizing makes most imperfections look like just like it was meant to be there. I love it! Very easy to do!

Answer 3

Mudding is an aquired skill. I would go with a flat paint on the walls, the decorate to minimize noticing the bump.

Answer 4

it is hard indeed it is a skill.
We have a living room with bumps, cuts, holes, scars,... and we just painted over all this, then we placed a spot from the floor upwards, so every uneven thing has a shadow and or a highlight. and it is very nice!!
It is an old house so it is better to use that as to try to make it look new.

Answer 5

Get a small medium and large trowel and dont start too thick sand between coats practice its like painting the more you do the better you get.

Answer 6

Hi, i understand what's your question.

i suggest a specialized website about home and garden.

it includes also any question you may meet in your life. and it also provide clear answers to all these question.

i am sure it will do great favor for you.

http://garden.sitesled.com/

Good Luck and Best Wishes.

Answer 7

here's a little secret I'll let you in on ... to hide any "imperfections" on your walls ... use a SATIN finish paint. It will hide any "problems" without ALL of the work.

Answer 8

your best option is to pay someone with expreience to do the job for you.