Painting
Painting a dark wall white: how to get full coverage
Returning a dark grey, red or blue feature wall to neutral white before a flat handover takes more than a quick coat of paint. Rolling over it once with basic wall paint usually leaves a patchy grey haze once dry. Using a high-opacity emulsion paint (hiding power class 1) and proper preparation ensures an evenly white wall.
Why dark old coats often show through
Whether a dark or bold colour bleeds through when painted over depends mainly on the contrast ratio of the new interior paint (hiding power class under DIN EN 13300) and an even film thickness when rolling. Class 1 paints cover at least 99.5 per cent of the substrate at their stated spreading rate.
Unevenly absorbent spots or rolling the paint out too thinly, by contrast, cause clouding and roller lap marks in raking light.
Check the substrate, fill holes and apply white primer
Before painting, check that the existing emulsion or latex coat is sound. Chalking surfaces receive a deep primer, while plug holes are filled, sanded and spot-primed.
On very dark shades (anthracite, black, deep red), a white-pigmented primer or an opaque base coat applied crosswise speeds up the transition to a uniform light finish.
How many coats are realistic for a dark-to-light change
When changing a dark feature wall back to neutral white (for example for move-out cosmetic repairs), two full coats should generally be planned even with hiding power class 1 paint.
Between the base coat and final topcoat, the wall paint must dry thoroughly (typically 4 to 6 hours) so the first layer is not softened and lifted again.
Related service
Interior painting in Riesa
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