Painting the inside of a lived-in house
Most interior painting happens around people who still live in the house. That shapes the job as much as the paint does: which rooms are emptied when, where the furniture goes, how the crew keeps dust and drips off everything else, and how long a room is out of use. This page walks through an interior repaint in the order a careful painter would plan it.
Davenport by the Census numbers
Census QuickFacts lists Davenport's land area in 2020 as 63.80 square miles, with population per square mile in 2020 of 1,594.5. Those figures are quoted as worded and say nothing about any single house. They're here as part of the city's record, not as a measure of your rooms.
Before the crew arrives
You can save time, and often money, by doing the easy part yourself:
- take pictures, mirrors and curtains down and keep the hardware in labelled bags;
- clear shelves and small furniture out of the room;
- pull large furniture to the middle, if the painter agrees to cover and work around it;
- decide colors and sheens in advance, room by room.
Ask the painter which of those tasks are in the proposal and which are yours. It's a common source of misunderstanding.
Protection comes first
Floors are covered with drop cloths or taped paper, furniture is wrapped in plastic, and switch plates and outlet covers come off. Light fixtures may be loosened and covered, or masked in place. Good protection takes time, and a painter who skips it is moving faster but leaving you with the risk.
Repair before color
Nail holes, dents, settlement cracks and old patches are filled, sanded flat and spot-primed. Water stains, smoke marks and marker need a stain-blocking primer or they'll bleed through the finish. Glossy trim is scuffed so the new coat can grip. Our drywall repair and surface preparation guide covers this stage in detail.
Top to bottom
The order rarely changes. Ceilings go first, so drips land on walls not yet painted. Walls come next, cut in at the corners and edges with a brush and then rolled. Trim, doors and window casings go last, brushed with a finish that stands up to hands and cleaning. The paint sheens guide explains why trim usually gets a glossier finish than walls.
Iowa's lead-safe rule indoors
Since April 2010, Iowa law has required that every renovation disturbing painted surfaces in pre-1978 homes have at least one Lead-Safe Renovator holding certification from the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing; the rule applies unless work disturbs less than one square foot of interior painted surface per renovation.
Sanding woodwork, scraping a window stool or cutting out a damaged patch of plaster all disturb painted surfaces. If your house predates 1978 and the job involves that kind of prep, you can ask the painter whether a Lead-Safe Renovator will be on the job and how the room will be sealed off and cleaned.
Damp hours and drying indoors
In an average year at Moline/Quad City, about 8 miles from Davenport, NOAA counts about 440 hours with the wet-bulb temperature above 73°F and about 1,304 hours above 67°F. Those are the Moline/Quad City station's counts, quoted as NOAA gives them, and not readings taken in Davenport.
Wet-bulb temperature combines heat and moisture, so those are warm, damp hours. Water-based paint dries slowly in damp air, even indoors if windows are open. During such spells it helps to close up and run air conditioning or a dehumidifier while the paint dries, and to give trim and doors longer before they're closed or handled.
The walk-through
When the last coat is dry, walk each room with the painter in good light. Look along walls at a low angle for missed spots, roller marks and patches that show through. Check that edges are crisp at ceilings and trim, that hardware and covers are back, and that the floors are clean. Small touch-ups are normal; ask for them before the crew packs up. See our interior painting page for more on what a finished room should look like.