30 years of paint buildup on my new condo walls!?

im 23, i just bought my first condo, and its kind of a fixer. 1100 sq ft. one of the big projects will be to paint throughout (for some reason, the previous owners thought it would be a good idea to paint all of the walls, doors, mouldings, and ceilings in blood red). the problem is that there is just SO MUCH paint buildup and they prepped very poorly. the walls have roller marks and roller fuzz stuck under paint, and there have been so many poorly done layers that the mouldings have now become one with the walls. i guess my question is how will i ever get my walls to look normal again? i have an electric hand sander i thought i might use to smooth down my walls but im not sure how. also, i am not opposed to replacing my base and crown mouldings, although once again i am not quite sure how.30 years of paint buildup on my new condo walls!?
Ok, the people who suggested stripping or sanding your walls are either pulling your chain, or they have breathed in too much lead paint dust.





Here are my objections to sanding or stripping:





1) You might have lead paint under there. It is safe where it is, but you don't want to be shredding it and breathing it.





2) It is impossibly tedious and time consuming.





3) The base of your wall is just plaster board - you will wind up damaging it and having to repair holes and gouges.





I know what you mean about the way walls look whan they have been painted over and over. I have had great luck re-texturing. I do fixers frequently, so I bought a texturing setup, but you can rent one at Home Depot and practice using it on an appliance box until you are comfortable. Also, I most sheetrock contractors will do this for a reasonable cost.





Re-texturing is a big, messy job - but nothing like sanding or stripping, and the results will knock your socks off.





As for the trim, I have tried sanding or stripping it, but usually you find that all that paint is hiding damage, and you create more and then you wind up scrapping it and starting over.





I suggest you mask the trim, re-texture the walls, give trim and walls a good paint job, then make up your mind about new moulding. If you really want new trim, do it.





Don't listen to the guy who said you need to be a seasoned carpenter. Do buy, rent or borrow a compound miter saw and practice angles. You can do it. Paint grade trim is much cheaper and more forgiving than stain grade trim. A pnumatic trim nailer makes this job much much easier, but I have done it with a hammer, finish nails and nailset. I strongly recommend choosinf new trim at least somewhat wider than the old - it will hide the old paint line.





Don't get stressed out about how long it takes, and have fun. Making a home look the way you want it is really satisfying!30 years of paint buildup on my new condo walls!?
Wood work heat gun (like a very hot blow dryer) and a assortment of scraping tools. Walls depending on the type of material the walls probably sand with a random orbital sander (DeWalt makes the best I've used) with a 80 grit paper, sand again with 100 grit and yet again with 120 it's alot of work could take years by yourself better do one room or wall at a time
I am a retired contractor/carpenter. This was my business, renewing condos and apartments, for 47 years.


If you want great looking trim, then replace it. It takes tools and knowledge but, if you have the time to go to Home Depot they can teach you. You not going to learn how to be a carpenter, only to do your trim.


It isn't easy but, if you want to lean something that you'd pay a lot for, then try it. You can rent the tools.


You can buy ready made trim now also, made from wood fiber and pre-cut. Look around.





Your walls: don't sand, don't steam, these people probably have never held a paint brush. There are several ways to correct this.





I had a unit like this also, the walls were painted blood red, one bedroom was all black including the trim and doors. Dogs ate through one wall into the living room.





We stripped out all the trim, took all the edging off the walls where the trim was with a 7 inch sander. Then I sprayed the walls with a ';Kilz'; primer, some areas took two coats. I then repainted the walls. I remember one wall was so bad, I had to spray on a ';mud'; and knock down spatter to make it look good.


I do believe I got a bonus for that unit. It was one of seven owned by a Football star, I did all his units after that one, he liked it so well.
dont sand


you will need to use a primer first and have it a light brown or gray .


after a good coat you can start to fix the obvious spots .


as for the trim how do you want it to look ?


if you want a natural wood then strip it with a good paint remover .


but if you are just going to paint it dont worry about the paint build up unless you just like to see the gaps between the trim and the walls .


if you do like to see the gap just use a putty knife that is stiff and chisel out the edges to suit you .
I would have a drywall finisher to come in and texture all the walls with a fresh coat of paint and texture. Replace all the moldings, trim, and doors. That sounds expensive, but it really isn't. Especially if you put up some of the trim yourself. Call a drywall person for an estimate on the walls and ceilings first thing. Enjoy your new place.
I would suggest going to lowes or home depot and looking for a wall covering with a little bit of texture that is paintable.


You can find some really neat ones. You could run beadboard wainscoting half way up the wall then paper the rest. You can get some beautiful looks doing this.


Another thing is to plaster your walls to give it that tuscan look. You can add a tint to the plaster and swirl it on to your liking. You can pop your mouldings off, and repaint them by theirselves and replace, or use them as a pattern to cut new ones to fit. If you can turn on a saw you can do it!
Being a carpenter I would handle it differently than your DIY'er.





I personally would rip out all the old plaster, reinsulate, rewire and replumb. But that is not feasible for most.





With that much paint build up, I would agree that molding needs to be removed and replaced. Molding takes a little practice and patience but it is a fun and rewarding project.





No self respecting carpenter puts trim up without coping it. All interior corners should and need to be coped, it eliminates fussing with goofy angles and walls that arent square. For all exterior corners, buy a cheap angle finder, put in on the corner, take a reading and divide that by 2. That is the angle to set your saw. for example all wall that is out of square and measures 88 degrees, set your saw at 44 and make your cuts.





If there really is that much paint build up on the walls, you might want to think about covering the walls with a new layer of 1/4'; or 3/8'; drywall.
Paint stripper; a loverly toxic chemical goo that you paint onto the old paint, leave for about 30minutes, then hopefully scrape off with a paint scraper. Repeat as many times as needed.





Wear rubber gloves, googles/eye covering and long clothing all around. you can skip the clothing if you really like pain.





Heat gun, might help, but watch that you don't set fire to anything. Old condo/house = lots of dust in all sorts of places that can catch alight easily. Have a couple of little fire extinguishers handy.





Forget sanding until the end. All you are going to do is clog the pores of your sand paper with old paint. Paint stripper mght be expensive, but not compared to a truck load of special cut sand paper.





It takes ages, but it is a nice feelng to sit back and admire a room that you have put a lot of effort into and done a good job.
Unless you are a seasoned carpenter with a lot of trim experience, don't attempt to replace crown moulding yourself. It is a bear to get the angles right, even for the pros. Best bet would be stripping the paint, depending on how intricate the trim is.


Take a pencil [not ink pen] and circle all the bad wall spots you as you find them, and work your new sander with fresh sand paper changes after it dulls. Dull paper will just melt the paint.
never attempt to put drywall, no matter what thickness it is over an existing wall, it will take on all of the imperfections of what you covered. take a scraper and lightly scrape off the larger imperfections if you can, don't dig big gouges in to your walls go to local hardware store and check on textured paints. as far as the mouldings, take them off, don't throw them away, buy new mouldings, use the old ones as a pattern. there are reproductions of most mouldings and crown mouldings you will probably like better... good working..lol