Sep 16, 2016 - Do you have a lot of cracks, holes, and dents in your walls? Learn how to repair them yourself before painting with this simple guide!

Many older homes have been painted so many times that the paint becomes a series of thick layers. Humidity, moisture and time have a way of causing these layers to separate and bubble. Eventually it will start cracking and chipping. When this happens, removing the loose paint is a must. The paint removal will leave the walls uneven.

To restore the surface to a smooth even surface the damaged areas must be reworked. This work is not hard and the cost to do the job is minimal. When you do the repairs it will add a professional quality to your finished walls and you will feel good about the work invested. You will have three phases to this repair. The first will be to clean out all the old damaged paint and plaster that has come loose.

The second step is to re surface the damaged area. Activation-synthesis model. I call this floating the wall or ceiling. This sometimes requires several applications of sheetrock compound which I will also refer to as MUD. The last step will be to sand to a finish and apply a couple coats of primer/ sealer. The final outcome will depend on the amount of care put in to a relatively easy job. The problem comes with having the patience to take your time and do a good job of it. TOOLS AND MATERIALS • six in one tool • mud knife or straight edged trowel • mixing bowl • spatula • Sheetrock joint compound: this can be bought already mixed in small to large buckets or bags or you can purchase dry joint compound and mix it yourself.

• sanding block • sandpaper • shop vacuum What About That Joint Compound? I like to buy it in the dry form for two reasons. The first being that you mix only what you need and the remainder will last a long time as long as you do not get it wet.

The second reason I would rather mix my own mud is that I can vary the consistency of the wet mud to utilize the product for different forms of application. The dry compound also comes in different drying times. You can purchase a quick set that will begin to stiffen in as little as 20 minutes. Or you can get a slow set that takes and hour to stiffen. I generally use the quickest set because I am usually in a hurry, doing repairs.

The slower setting compound is best to use when you are working larger areas. The first thing you have to do is get rid of all the loose paint and debris that is peeling from the wall or ceiling.

I like the handy '6 in one tool' for this job. It has a couple of different edges on it, you can use to gouge, score and scrape with. That is the perfect tool for opening up the bubbles and cracks. You can use the flat edge to scrape away the loose paint and sometimes part of the plaster or sheet rock. Then you can use the pointed edge to pick in tight spots and gouge out small loose areas. This tool is also great when you come to old caulk because you can dig in and under with it and it takes care of almost everything you need to get removed. I usually take a grinder and use it to keep my '6 in one' very sharp.