You’ve just finished renovating your home and you have bare walls that are begging to be painted. Instead of hiring painters, you have decided to take matters into your own hands and try DIY painting for the first time. You buy all the painting supplies you need—paintbrushes, rollers, drop cloths, etc. You’ve also chosen your favorite color and visited the paint depot. You have everything you need, and you couldn’t wait to mimic all the wall painting ideas you got from Pinterest (or even from this blog).

I know you’re excited, but hold your horses!  You can’t just slather paint on your walls. You need to prepare your surfaces first.  You don’t get the flawless look just from applying paint to cover up bare surfaces. The paint will give color and protect your walls but it wouldn’t completely hide surface imperfections. Notice how you can’t hide big pores or pimples with just powder or foundation. You treat the pimple and apply primer on your face first before makeup application. You always make sure you have a clean and smooth surface. The same is true for surfaces to be painted.

Another reason why surface prep is important is the fact that improper or inadequate surface preparation is almost always the root of most painting epic fails. We’re here to save you from the trouble of dealing with those issues later on. We consulted our resident paint expert to give our readers—may it be aspiring painters, DIYers, or even professional painters—the basics of surface preparation for new concrete surfaces.  In general, your goal is to ensure a smooth, clean, and dry surface. Let’s go into details.

First, allow new concrete to cure for 14-28 days under normal weather conditions before painting. Once dried, dust off the dirt and wipe grease or oil with a cleaning detergent to make sure you have a clean surface.

After curing, neutralize (or what the painters call lasunin) the surface. We neutralize the surface because the alkalinity of a new concrete surface can cause efflorescence marks on the paint, crusty, white salt deposits on wall surfaces. However, if the concrete has been cured for more than 28 days, you can choose not to apply a neutralizer especially when you’re using a premium formulation like Boysen Permacoat Latex.

When neutralizing, make sure you dilute 1-part of BOYSEN Masonry Neutralizer B-44 in 16-part clean water. Remember to use rubber gloves when handling the solution.  Then, apply it on the surface with a paintbrush or a roller and let it stand overnight before rinsing with water to remove white crystals that form on the surface. Let it dry completely before painting.

After all these steps, you must follow the standard painting system:

  1. start by applying the primer,
  2. apply putty to hairline cracks or imperfections,
  3. then paint it with a topcoat.

Watch Boysen Painting 101 if you want to know about other surfaces like wood or metal.

If you have technical questions or request for clarification about your painting projects, please call this number (02) 363-9738 local 417 to 418 during office hours and talk to our Technical Team. You can also write an email to ask@myboysen.com.

Author

Yasmin Aguila is a copywriter at Boysen Paints Philippines. Interested in making paints fun and relatable, she produces quizzes and painting ideas for this blog. She claims that she is obsessed with yellow, but she always dresses in black from head to toe.

19 Comments

  1. Hi!

    I’m planning to repaint my room. It has an existing paint and my walls have cracks already since our house is already more than 30 years old. I would like to know how should I repaint my room.

    • Please clarify:
      1. What is the wall surface (e.g., concrete / drywall / wood)?
      2. What is the condition of the existing paint? Is it in good condition? No chalking or flaking?
      3. How big and/or deep are the cracks?

      So you can discuss your concerns and get your answers faster, please call this number (02) 8363-9738 local 417 to 418 during office hours and talk to our Technical Team.

  2. Hi! I’m making cement planters and I was told that it’s not ideal to use as plant pots. Does this neutralizer would help the cement to be effective and be use for plant pots? Thank you

    • Hi Kim.

      Thank you for your message and for following us at Let it B.

      Regarding planters, if you do decide to use cement for this, we recommend checking our blog entries on the Concrete Couple. It includes DIY videos that you could get inspiration from and/or try.

      Click here: https://www.myboysen.com/pot-project/

      On the other end, if you’re interested in the exterior aesthetic of concrete platers, you may also want to check out some of our products. Sealers like a clear coat (ex: BOYSEN Acrytex Clear Coat B-1700, BOYSEN Clear Acrylic Emulsion B-700) or waterproofing material (BOYSEN Plexibond) will work wonders to preserve the design on the outside.

      Please click the following links to learn more:
      1. BOYSEN Acrytex: https://bit.ly/2SUOKHs
      2. BOYSEN Plexibond: https://bit.ly/2YWqMzE
      3. BOYSEN Clear Acrylic Emulsion: http://bit.ly/2NAxr9W

      Enjoy your DIY project, Kim.

  3. First, allow new concrete to cure for 14-28 days under normal weather conditions before painting. Once dried, dust off the dirt and wipe grease or oil with a cleaning detergent to make sure you have a clean surface. After curing, neutralize (or what the painters call basin) the surface. But if you are looking for the best concrete foundation company in town. I highly recommend concrete foundations ma. They are experts in any concrete ideas and services. Visit their site at Newbedfordconcreteservices.com.

  4. pwede bang primer sa bato ang white acrylic paint (water based)?

  5. Christian Catacutan Reply

    Old concrete… Napalitadahan na for almost a year… Ngayon pa lang pipinturahan…. What are the steps in preparation…. Thanks…

      • Follow up question for a bare wall that was not painted or cured at all for almost 2 years now, do we still need to apply neutralizer? The link on your other reply is for old wall that were already painted.

        • For a 2 year old wall with no existing paint, there is no need to use neutralizer. Just make sure that the surface is clean and dry prior to painting. Sand the surface lightly using sandpaper for better adhesion and then apply primer.

    • what about in exterior fire wall,do we need. to apply first neutralizer in extrior of firewall before applying boysen waterproofing?

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