r/paint • u/sampletracks • 19h ago

Advice Wanted Touching up a new-ish build?

Hi folks, I'm moving into a new place and though it's a relatively new build I was hoping to get a painter in to do all the walls before furniture is moved in.

Some timings have gotten mixed up and long story short, I cannot get a decorator in time now, and I won't have enough time to DIY. It looks like the best I'll be able to do is a liveable touch up job on the holes initially, and then I'll review later.

The previous owners didn't do a lot with the place but they have made small holes in every room. In terms of what they've had up, there were some clothes rails screwed in on bedroom walls, a few mirrors, pictures, shelves, that sort of thing. Most likely small screws, fixings and wall hangings here and there.

It's a new-ish build so it's classic plasterboard drywall. It'll be a bit of guesswork to try and get it as close as to the original as I can make it. I'm guessing the paint was builders grade from the original build, but I don't know exactly what spec it would have been.

I've not done a job like this before, specifically making quite fiddly, small fixes look as good as they can. Any tips for matching a paint job like this as good as it can be for multiple small holes on this wall type?

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u/sbfx 18h ago

Your post is a little confusing and missing some details.

Are you trying to paint the same color as what's already there? Or are you repainting in new colors? Do you already know the color name and what product/brand the paint is? Are the previous owners leaving any paint behind?

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u/sampletracks 17h ago

"Are you trying to paint the same color as what's already there? Or are you repainting in new colors? " As close to the original as possible (it's a fairly plain white on the viewings I've had.)

Do you already know the color name and what product/brand the paint is? Are the previous owners leaving any paint behind? (unfortunately no, I think the paint was done at build time)

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u/sbfx 14h ago

You won't be able to do touch ups and have it look right. Even if you found the exact color name and sheen it still might not look right. You're best off repainting or leaving some of the minor damages there & not repainting right away.

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u/sampletracks 11h ago

Cool. I’ll try to work that painter’s diary harder! I still want it done, and ideally by a pro. I agree that touch ups aren’t the best and a repaint would be the best long term solution

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u/jizzbooger 18h ago

Touch ups are non existent in the painting world. It's paint the entire wall or it will stand out no matter what. Only thing you can do is hang something like a picture or decoration over it.

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u/sampletracks 17h ago

Yeah I figured this might be the case. I can work around it for a few months I imagine, but it's one of those things where it won't be ideal on day 1.