So I am finally getting around to sanding the Sheetrock that was installed in our converted garage and I'm wondering how much do I have to clean the dust off the walls before I paint? I plan to run the shop vac over the walls with a brush attachment and cleaning up all the dust on the floor. Is that good enough or do I need to wipe the walls down with a wet sponge and do a "deep" cleaning?
I use one of those dry floor "sweepers" like for use on hardwood floors, I have also vacuumed as you suggest both worked.
Give it a good dusting off with a broom or better yet the thingy iron pony mentioned. Make sure you use primer if you want even coverage.
I like that idea even better that sounds a lot easier than dragging a shop vac around not to mention the ladder being in the way I have 11.5' ceilings
If you still have areas that seem to have a lot of dust after sweeping or dry mopping it, use a damp floor mop (only damp, not wet), let it dry (doesn't usually take long), then paint away.
I normally take and old t-shirt, get it damp and quickly wipe down the walls. It'd probably take less time than running a vacuum over them.
I used the swiffer pads as I found a case of them under the kitchen sink. They worked pretty good I used about a box and a half and they got the walls clean enough for me. Thanks for all of the suggestions.
Thanks for all the suggestions as well. I used the Swiffer starter kit that I bought by mistake to clean the drywall that campinspecter mudded over the last week. Yesterday we sanded, cleaned, primed and two colour coats on the kitchen area and everything up to prime on the bathroom ceiling. This new drywall mud that campinspecter used dropped like snow while sanding instead of exploding into every nook and cranny in the area. Much better than the old stuff we have used previously.
A drywaller by trade told me a few years back to not bother buying drywall primer for the bare sheet rock. He said a flat wall paint will do the same thing as the drywall primer. I took that advice and have saved quite a few $$$ over the years. Works just fine.
What kind of mud did he use? It might have been mentioned in a previous comment, but I'm not even supposed to be on the computer for a couple of days, so if you could please indulge me?
I used a similar type of mud and had the same results. The only problem I have with it is that it is very very soft and fluffy so I had a hard time working with it on bigger joints and when it dries it's very easy to sand down to much and have to put on another coat.
Yup. The newer lightweight stuff is a little different than the old all-purpose. But I like it, I had to thin it out a bit before it worked nice but once I had it down to Cool-Whip, we were off to the races.
Haven't seen that around here, but if it shows up someplace I'll have a clue on how it performs. Thanks!
