How to fix a white wall?

Submitted by Kizaru-san t3_10e7pof in DIY

Hey all !

Recently I moved out to a new place with white walls (code 9010). Due to moving boxed in and out, a few walls got scratches and spots. I wanted to repaint these with the same colour code, but unfortunately it didn't work successfully...

Does any one have advice for how to deal with this?
If the solution is to repaint the entire wall, then I am afraid that repainting will result in the same darker shade. Do you know how I can avoid this?

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Thank you !!!!

https://preview.redd.it/vjgzoiohkkca1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=ecec19cf64591019a7708d677c61cf4961c802d1

https://preview.redd.it/07nfxsohkkca1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=3607259b0cdc925c97563eb29a0c94c836e2c0eb

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phreaKEternal t1_j4plx1q wrote

You have to match both color and luster. If you do semi-gloss 9010 paint on a matte 9010 wall for example, you’ll be able to see all of your touch up bc the sheen is different.

You can try again, making sure you got the correct sheen, but be prepared to just repaint the whole wall…. With a sheen that matches (or at least is really close to) the other walls.

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Kizaru-san OP t1_j4psod8 wrote

Thank you for your reply!

I will check with the owner, who painted it initially, which luster he used. Maybe even re-order the exact same materials he used back then, and likely repaint the entire wall.

In addition to degreasing the wall, do you have any recommendations to ensure that the final result of the repainted wall will be the same as the original one?

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dsac t1_j4q7jyf wrote

> In addition to degreasing the wall, do you have any recommendations to ensure that the final result of the repainted wall will be the same as the original one?

if you're planning on repainting the whole wall, just prime it with some Kilz first, that should make it more uniform

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Rusty1799 t1_j4q5k30 wrote

If you absolutely need to repaint, cut a dime sized chip of paint off the wall in the area of the original color. Take the chip to some place like Sherwin Williams and they will tell you what paint you need

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HoseNeighbor t1_j4qm7bi wrote

Even then you won't get perfect results in my experience. You might be able to get away with painting just a single wall of a room with the matched color, but not painting only part of a wall with existing paint.

I live in a home we built roughly 20 years ago, and we've painted a few times. Some paint brands we used aren't even available anymore, so I've done plenty of color matching. If it's not the exact same brand and color code, it's always been at least slightly off.

I even tried matching the off-white primer from a paint chip so I could fix nail pops. That was a PERFECT match... Only when it was wet. 🥺

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Kizaru-san OP t1_j4uhwiq wrote

Haha that's too bad, can imagine you got pretty excited when there was a perfect match... Temporary unfortunately..

Yes there are quite some walls in the apartment, but I am considering to repaint only about 2-3 walls. I will get new lamps today, maybe playing smart with the lights/shadows will already solve this. Otherwise I'll have to repaint sooner or later I'm afraid.

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Kizaru-san OP t1_j4uhqo5 wrote

It's a good idea to indeed cut a piece and bring it to a DIY shop, thanks!

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phreaKEternal t1_j4stefr wrote

Sherwin Williams, th paint department at Home Depot, Ace, or Lowes can all analyze a dime to quarter sized chip of paint.

If you have a can of the original in a closet or the garage or something, that's even better because it will tell you the brand of paint used. See if there's a local place that sells that brand). Every paint company makes really similar finishes, but they can vary just enough to be able to see a re-painted splotch in the wall. If you do the whole wall floor to ceiling, corner to corner, the difference between the same finish from two different companies won't be noticeable.

I'd recommend using a roller, and learning how to cut-in (great videos on youtube for making it easy), and use latex paint because you can clean up stray brush marks with a damp rag right there on the spot.

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Billbobagpipes t1_j4q4vk7 wrote

Have you tried the magic eraser yet? It may be an easy fix before going with other options.

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sockowl t1_j4qa8ou wrote

Magic eraser is likely to just cause a differently discoloured patch of wall by smoothing out the paint/changing the finish

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Billbobagpipes t1_j4qavo0 wrote

Oh ok. I've had good luck with it, but it was a different kind of paint.

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paintypainterson t1_j4qywt4 wrote

After matching the colour and sheen, repaint the whole wall section, edge to edge, top to bottom. Unless it's perfect, youll never get it to blend in flawlessly.

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Kizaru-san OP t1_j4ui1ya wrote

Yes I am afraid that this is the safest option indeed... Thank you!

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timeisnotnull t1_j4qnnv7 wrote

As others have said the new paint does not match the old paint well enough to blend. It can be very difficult to blend in non-glossy sheens as well. Glossy, Semi-Gloss are easier to match. Egg Shell and Matte/Flat can be very tricky, more so with darker colors.

One thing that can really help do a better cover-up job is not painting any straight lines. Paint a star pattern * around the cover-up, and fade the points out by by using less pressure on the brush. You want to use as little paint as possible for the patch. The idea is to avoid making and sharp transitions from one color to another.

One last note about color. Even using the same exact bucket of paint from one day to the next may cause color differences. This is often not noticeable with white and light colors, but with darker (and flat-sheen) colors you should expect more problems.

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Kizaru-san OP t1_j4ui6cc wrote

That's great advice, especially regarding the start pattern, thank you for that!

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