Matching paint and painting over a scratch in old wall

[rosharch]

Hi,

Never done any painting before so I thought I'd hit up these boards before I make too many mistakes

I have some filler I can use to fill in the dints, but what's the best way to colour match the paint? I've heard of apps but I'm going to guess they can be inaccurate if the lighting isn't right.

Is this the sort of thing where the entire wall panel will need to be done or is a little touch up paint going to do the trick? Will it match well?

Any advice or tips welcomed. Thanks

[EricL]

Hello @rosharch 

Thanks for sharing your question about paint matching. In order to get a paint match from the store, I recommend cutting a small section off your wall the size of a 10c coin. Don't cut too deeply you only want the surface piece so that you can show it to the paint specialist. They will then run it through the paint scanner in order for you to get paint match. Once you have the paint, I suggest filling in the scratch and the area where you got your sample from. Once the filler cures you can then sand and paint the area.

When the paint goes on the damaged area, I propose waiting till the next day to see if it has properly matched. You'll be able to see straight away if it is matching or not. If the paint is not matching up, you have a choice of either painting the just this section with the new paint or go back to the store and get a closer match. If the paint match is totally off, then I suggest going back to the store and asking the paint specialist to try again.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[rosharch]

Hi Eric,

Thanks for this advice. What's the best way to "cut a piece" off the wall? It's concrete, so do I try to slice a layer of paint from the top? Or scrape it off? What should I use?

[EricL]

Hi @rosharch 

Would happen to have a section of wall that is plasterboard? If you do, that is where you need to cut from with a craft knife or Stanley knife. Cut a square shape to make it easy for yourself, it does not have be circular. If you don't have a plasterboard section, you'll need to somehow chip a section off the wall that is at least the size of a 10c coin.

Another thing you can try is to look inside your shed and see if there is an old can of paint left that was used for the house. It's possible that the paint formula may still be printed on its body. 

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[rosharch]

Hey Eric,

Yup, already checked the shed and there's nothing in there unfortunately. I'll look again.

It's all concrete so it looks like I'll have to somehow scrape some paint off, but I'm pretty reluctant to screw it up further.

Is there an old-school way of doing this? Can I grab some swatches and match by eye?

[EricL]

Hi @rosharch 

If it's not possible to get a paint sample, then your only other alternative is to get at least a dozen paint sample cards from the store and try to see which one is closest to your wall paint. 

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric