Washing walls before painting

If I hire painters to paint do they wash the walls first? 


If not, then who can I hire?  I currently live an hour away so doing it myself isn’t feasible at this time 


I've never heard of washing walls before painting.  The walls definitely need prep such as removing anything that's loose, patching, etc.  


Washing them down before priming is usually a good idea, especially if you have kids like mine that were raised in a barn.  One room I would do myself, but we’re painting the whole house to get ready to sell


Spontaneous I think it's a reasonable question to ask painters that you want to hire. Specify that the walls need to be washed before painting. Washing the walls is a reasonable part of prepping the walls for painting. 

For the painters it shouldn't take long and it will make the overall job go more quickly.


The only time I’ve washed walls prior to painting has been after removing wallpaper.  In that case it’s necessary to remove the paste residue.  A good job usually takes 2 washings.  It’s also advisable to let the walls dry thoroughly- 48 hrs.  All this will add time and expense to your job- without a whole lot of bang for the buck.

If I were in your position i wouldn’t do it.  As noted above it will add a bunch of time AND $$$$$.  Also, I’ll assume you won’t be there to supervise, that means you won’t know if they’ve done the job you’re paying for.  Finally, the new owners may very well have different tastes and so repaint your excellent and EXPENSIVE paint job with a new color or paper.


in my current experience with painting, it's not as though they'll just start painting, prep work will involve spackling, sanding, etc...then they'll wipe everything down to remove dust before priming. Just ask what the prep will entail. 

Also, if you're prepping to sell you can consult with your realtor. Ours works with a painter/handyman who was reasonable and worked very hard to meet the schedule the realtors needed...as such they even checked in on the work while it was progressing. If I had hired someone myself it probably wouldn't have happened in the same timeframe. 


I'm not sure if painters will do it, but doing it is a good idea.  TSP is a good cleaner.



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