Smoothing a wall

yartin · Post by **yartin** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 11:05 am

Hi
I am decorating a room in my house, the walls have had several coats and now its like textured wall, I want to have a smooth finish. I tried a small area with 60 grit sand paper by hand and it does work but no way can do the whole room, it will take days. I need to buy a random orbital sander, is this the right time for this job? or other ways?

Thanks

OchAye · Post by **OchAye** » Wed Jul 10, 2019 2:57 pm

Depends how bad it is and what is the actual problem. So it is only guesswork on my part. If you have old paint that has flaked off and been painted over it could be difficult, if you simply have lots of orange peel on top of more orange peel it would be easier. At a minimum you should sand enough to remove any peaks or sticky out bits. Once you got it level but it is still rough, you could easily fill it with filler and a large filling knife or a plasterer's finishing trowel. You can try and sand a lot more but to achieve a good finish you would be better off using a sheet sander (which will also be more work), some will say line it or get a plasterer in to skim it.

yartin · Post by **yartin** » Thu Jul 11, 2019 7:03 pm

OchAye wrote: ↑Wed Jul 10, 2019 2:57 pm Depends how bad it is and what is the actual problem. So it is only guesswork on my part. If you have old paint that has flaked off and been painted over it could be difficult, if you simply have lots of orange peel on top of more orange peel it would be easier. At a minimum you should sand enough to remove any peaks or sticky out bits. Once you got it level but it is still rough, you could easily fill it with filler and a large filling knife or a plasterer's finishing trowel. You can try and sand a lot more but to achieve a good finish you would be better off using a sheet sander (which will also be more work), some will say line it or get a plasterer in to skim it.

The walls are fine, it has been painted several times and a layer of think paint has built and its not smooth, it's level and all good. As you said there are sticky paint and textured feeling on the touch.
I have sheet sander 93mmX180mm which you mentioned I can use. Shall I use 40 grit or 60 grit will do the job? Guess can start with 40 and if it's too much then go for 60.

OchAye · Post by **OchAye** » Fri Jul 12, 2019 10:55 am

Start with thicker paper, if the paint is silk you may really need that, but finish easier either with higher grade paper or less pressure. If you see marks on the paint from the abrasive then you will see them once you paint UNLESS you intent to fill everything in which case blast it.

I guess your sheet sander is electric and not the hoop and loop stuff (velcro), if you buy a roll of this green stuff https://www.toolstation.com/aluminium-o ... 10m/p77944 you will lose any dust extraction you might have but will go places [I have only used it at 120 grade, which seems to be what I have needed most of the time]. If what you have is thin red/brown papers they are normally only for bare wood and would not do much on the paint.

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:45 am

I wouldn't start that aggressive. I tend to start at 80, 60 or 40 will leave deep swirly scratches that will be hard to remove later. Start with 80 and then finish at 120 or 150, couple of coats of paint over that and it will look lovely.

When I sand walls I use a 150mm random orbit sander attached to a shop vac, almost entirely dust free operation.

Bob225 · Post by **Bob225** » Fri Jul 12, 2019 3:43 pm

I have used a drywall sander in the past, eg. https://www.aldi.co.uk/750w-drywall-san ... 4217992300 if the texture is in one area you may get away with face filling it

yartin · Post by **yartin** » Sat Jul 13, 2019 1:25 pm

I tried small area by hand using the green 60 grit sand paper and it gave a nice smooth finish.
I have an electric sander the Bosch PSS 250, shall I use this one and which sand paper Or shall I get either Bosch GEX 150 or Makita BO6030?