The Dos and Don’ts of Painting New Construction

One of the most exciting and rewarding moments in a new construction project is painting the walls. Suddenly, this construction site begins to take form and the end is almost in sight. However, painting new construction is a different animal than many other painting projects. There’s a very specific order of operations to ensure that you’re getting the beautiful result that you want.

So many tradespeople converge on a construction site at once after the framing and roof are finished. Plumbers, electricians, sheetrock installers, flooring, carpentry, cabinetry, you name it. And of course, the general contractors or construction team is still around working too! Coordinating and collaborating across different trades is pivotal to the success of the project.

We communicate with the various crews to schedule our painting in a way that seamlessly integrates with their work. Here’s the order that we’re shooting for…

Step One – Sheet Rock
– The sheetrock is installed beautifully. They do as much as they can to make your new walls and ceilings smooth and perfect.

Step Two – Priming
– Now we come in to paint with primer. With this first initial white coat on the walls and ceiling, suddenly, inevitable imperfections appear. We may see little rough spots or little pin holes in the sheetrock mud. Now that these little flaws are visible…

Step Three – Point Up
– Now the sheetrock team comes back to touch up their work and repair all of those newly exposed areas that needed a little help.

Step Four – Color Coat
– Here’s the fun part! We apply our first coat of color paint to the walls.

Step Five – Installations (MEP- mechanical, electric, plumbing)
– Cabinets, built-ins, Electric, Plumbing, anything that’s probably going to poke or cut a hole happens now.

Step Six – Second Coat
– Now that the walls are finished being messed with, we’ll apply the final coat of paint… and maybe clean up after the other guys with some light repair work.

Step Seven – Flooring
– Time for your beautiful new floors to be installed. Nobody will be messing it up now!

Step Eight – Trim
– The final touch is shoe moulding, crown moulding, chair rails, etc.

We go through this song and dance every week of the year and we’ve established some wonderful working relationships with many of the trades teams across the CSRA. Call us today or click the button below for a free estimate on your new construction today! We’ll get started coordinating.