How to make a wall smooth, Semi-Gloss shows all the flaws !!

[Microman]

For the longest time I have had a wall in the living room that was painted just a flat white. We are doing some deocrating, and now that it is Semi-Gloss, and we currently dont have any window treatments up, the first thing I see is this wall that use to have another wall connecting and a doorway that was filled in. So what I am seeing is all of the PATCH work.

Is it worth my time to try and put a thin layer on top of the low spots that I see, and then sand them down, and do it again, until it "might" look good? Or just hang up some pictures which we will, because they are sitting on the floor.

I mean this wall has been this way for over 20 years, and now it can be noticeable. But either way , no matter what I do, how would one try and fix this. What product do you buy.

THanks.

[abevilac]

Flat paint does hide a lot of sins. As I see it your options are: repaint in a flat paint, or add some sort of "faux finish" with a glaze or a lime wash to the current surface or repaint with a sueded or sanded finish.

Believe me the thin layer of patch and sanding may sound like a good idea but it is very labor intensive [and I personally have never been able to make it work completely]. Curtains and pictures are, of course, another great option.

[rgG]

Why did you go with semi-gloss? The best solution would be to repaint it the same new color, but in a flat finish. You will probably never get it perfect enough for semi-gloss not to show some imperfections.

Edit: I just read abevilacs response. I used to do faux painting for a living. I did a lot of interior domes that had a semi-gloss gold or bronze undercoat with a faux finish glaze over top of that. If the base wasn't almost perfect, the flaws would show because of the semi-gloss base reflecting the shadows of the dents or high spots. So, unless the faux finish you put over the top is almost a solid, you may still see the places where the patches are. Repainting with a flat coat is probably the quickest and easiest solution, unless you have a lot of paintings.

[JoeH]

The right kind of wallpaper can also "hide a lot of sins". But short of redoing the wall with new wallboard over the whole wall, you will probably need to put a skim coat over the whole surface. Then sand it smooth and prime it. It is not just the "low spots" but also all of the different textures, materials and paint absorbency due to the patches that show where the changes were made years ago. Or use the easy way, hide them behind furniture, pictures or whatever fits. Going back to flat finish is also an option.

[macphanatic]

You could also put 1/4 sheetrock over the wall. A bit more work, but probably easier than trying to skim coat it to make it look good. Other option is to hire someone who knows how to plaster to skim coat it.

[Numo]

Don't look at it - no one else will. mile:

[davester]

A perfect example of the adage about prep working being 99% of the paint job. As noted above, the wall needs to be completely retextured either by new sheetrock or skimcoat by an expert, or you need to go back to flat paint. Even with flat paint it is probably going to not look great...just the act of putting on a nice clean coat of paint is going to bring out flaws, flat or not. Also, why are you using semigloss?...that's usually reserved for bathrooms or kitchens.

[Carm]

skim coat if you know what you are doing. I had to skim coat a section of wall that had a knee wall. I removed it and skim coated the surrounding area and retextured the whole wall. Trying to do a spot texture doesnt always work. If you want it to look good, get some drywall guys in there to smooth it over and texture. Getting walls smooth is a PIA.

Joe
FWIW, I use semigloss in all my rooms. Looks nicer than flat, easy to wipe down (kids,dogs)

[decocritter]

Best Quality Flat Paint you can afford.

[Jack D.]

While I was watching CSI last night I couldn't help but notice that blood spatter is pretty effective at redirecting your attention away from imperfections in the walls surface.