restore paintwork after water damage

Painting your home’s surfaces after they have experienced water damage is much different than a standard job. These types of surfaces require a bit more prep work in order to make sure that the coating will look its best.

water damage

Water can be destructive. When it meets the drywall that makes up your interior walls and ceilings it can make them look unsightly or worse, it can damage wallboard enough that it collapses and falls apart, which can cause huge homeowner headaches.
Painting over water stains will help rid your walls and ceilings of unsightly marks. Learn how to paint over water stains with these quick and simple solutions

1. Find the Water Leak

Sometimes it will be obvious that you have water leaking either behind your walls or onto the ceiling from above. The ceiling or walls may show visible signs of moisture, dripping water, or signs of failing structural integrity. Ceiling drywall panels may sag or crumble under the weight of water that saturates the naturally porous gypsum material. Other times, you may notice small signs like coffee-colored stains that may expand over time. Before making any repairs, you need to find the source of the water leak. This can be frustrating, but if you don’t fix the source of the water problem first, repairs will do you no good.

2. Assess the extent of the damage

Assessing how severe or extensive the water damage is is important before you begin to restore paintwork. If there are water stains on your building’s walls but the surface is still firm to touch and there is no other sign of damage, then you can prep your walls for a sealer so the stains don’t bleed through the new paintwork.
However, you can’t restore paintwork if your walls aren’t dry and if your building materials have lost their structural integrity due to water damage.

3. Remove the damaged plaster

The second step in this guide on how to repair water damaged plaster walls is to remove the damaged plaster. Take away all material that is bubbling, flaking, or peeling using a putty knife. Try to be as gentle as possible, but if the damage is deep you’ll need to get the blade in to dig out any soft material. Continue to do this around the damaged plaster until you hit hard plaster.

4. Apply Filler

You can apply a filler to any imperfections or grooves present on the surface to make it ready for paintwork. After applying filler, you should leave the walls to dry properly for at least a day and once it has completely dried out, you should sand the surface until it’s smooth.

5. Apply primer and sealer to the damaged area

For this step, we recommend using Dulux 1 Step Primer Sealer Undercoat with Dulux Weathershield. This product provides a superior, long-lasting paint finish and has mould-resistant and stain-blocking properties. It helps seal the porous areas of the surface to prevent water from permeating, protecting your surface from future water decay.

6. Apply Paint

Now that your surface is clean, protected from future water damage and primed, you are ready to paint and give some much needed colour to your wall.