Should I paint before sanding the floor?

[pooch1]

Hi there, 

im in the process of renovating a house for my son, first question I have is should I paint ceiling and walls before sanding floor or do the floor first ?

[EricL]

Hello @pooch1 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about painting your son's house.

From a painting perspective, I believe doing the ceiling first followed by the walls and doing the flooring last would be a good sequence. Sanding the ceiling means that all the dust will fall down on the walls and floor which you can then remove.

Next would be the walls and any dust or debris generated here will fall to the floor. The last part would be the floor and as long as the walls have been properly masked your floor painting should be perfect.

Here are some handy guides and discussions that might help:

• How to paint like a professional by @Peggers 
   
• Hallway entrance paint makeover by @Gwandalan_Tales 
   
• How do you prepare a wall for painting?

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

Eric

[pooch1]

Thanks, 

what my concern is- is that the dust off sanding the floor will ruin the newly painted walls if I do the walls first, people are telling me that when I wipe down walls after that I would have streaks in the paint work ?

[Dave-1]

Evening @pooch1 

When I have had my floors sanded I have painted the walls beforehand, no issues with dust on the walls afterwards and if you are concerned a wipe down with a damp cloth would work. One reason I did the painting first, then sanding was I would remove the skirting boards before the painting and sanding to get that overall streamlined look. Once I had the floor sanded then the skirts could be put back or new ones put back in and it looked like a bought one.

Dave

[EricL]

Hi @pooch1 

I understand you're worried about the sanding dust that might go onto your wall. One of the ways to lessen this is to empty the sanding bag often in order to prevent it from overflowing and swirling in the room. I also suggest having an exhaust fan out of the room in order to force the dust out of the house.

You also have the option of covering your walls with drop sheets to prevent any dust from going onto your walls. 

Here is a handy step-by-step guide: How to clean your walls (some of the techniques used are applicable to your project)

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[pooch1]

Thanks for the info, that's exactly the way I want to do it

[pooch1]

Thank you