LESLIE: Wendy in Virginia needs some help with a painting project. What can we do for you today?
WENDY: Yes, I have a bathroom that is hideous bright orange.
LESLIE: (chuckling) OK.
TOM: Hideous? Is that what it said on the paint can label; hideous bright orange? (laughs)
WENDY: No, I don’t believe it did. (chuckles) But anyway, it’s this very, very bright orange and it’s a high-gloss paint and it’s a sheetrock wall.
LESLIE: OK.
WENDY: And there are lumps and bumps in the sheetrock, so the high-gloss paint and everything, all the lumps and bumps …
LESLIE: Shows it all.
WENDY: I was wondering what I can do to get rid of this. Do I have to sand it all down and then paint (ph) over it or is there some kind of primer or something I can put on to …?
LESLIE: You’ve got all of the right ideas, Wendy; you just sort of need to put it together. What you need to do is, because you’re dealing with a surface that’s kind of uneven and you’re dealing with a high-gloss paint, you do want to give the entire room a light sanding. And then make sure, with a damp rag, you just go in and wipe away all the dust on the walls. And it’s not a huge undertaking but it is going to help you prep that surface to take the paint and really help it adhere.
Then, because it’s a bathroom, you want to go with an oil-based primer and prime that entire room, the ceiling, and let that dry really, really well. And then once that’s dry, you can take a latex paint and use that latex paint as your topcoat. And because it’s a bath, you generally want to go with something that has some sort of a sheen just because of all the moisture that does accumulate in a bathroom. But because your walls are a little bit uneven, I would go with the least amount of sheen that you can; you know, maybe like a satin or a pearl – whatever the manufacturer is calling that one notch above matte. And choose something that’s scrubbable and that’s really durable for the bath, but stay away from the super-glossy stuff because otherwise you’ll be able to see all of that crazy difference in the wall.
WENDY: OK.
LESLIE: OK? And this time don’t choose safety orange. (Tom chuckles)
WENDY: Oh, no, no, no, no, no. (chuckles) As it is, when people come to visit us we tell them “Put your sunglasses on” when they have to use the bathroom. (Leslie chuckles) I mean it is that bright. (chuckles)
TOM: Alright, Wendy. Well, that’ll help tone it all down. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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