"CoolWebs" wrote in message
...
My girlfriend and I are considering painting some rooms in my house,
but we want it to look professional. Here are some of the problems we
have:

There are various different textures, repairs, patches in the walls.
In order to get the most consistent look, should I use an orbital
sander on all of the wall area or try to add texture to repaired/
sanded areas to get them to match the surrounding texture? Please give
any and all advice. Thanks.

Go rent a Porter Cable Drywall Power Sander with Porter Cable Tool Activated
Shop Vac...Any tool rental place will have one pretty cheap..Cover the floor
where you will be working with plastic or drop cloths...Cover any near by
stuff with plastic..Sand the wall with 100 grit sand paper or screen...It
will get about 90% of the dust..Buy a 5 gallon bucket of USG All Purpose
Joint Compound(Green lid)...Buy a 12" taping knife , 6 inch taping knife ,
and mud pan..Put some compound in the pan and add a LITTLE bit of water(a
couple of tablespoons)..Mix it with you 6 inch knife..Coat the bad spots or
patches that need extra attention..Repeat if necessary...Sand those areas
with the power sander using 150 grit sandpaper or screen...Now skim coat the
entire wall with joint compound mixing it like I already mentioned...Several
LIGHT coats are better than 1 heavy coat...Scrape the wall with your 12"
knife between coats...Sand the wall with the power sander using 150
grit..There is a trick to useing the Power Sander..Start on the slow setting
till you get the hang of itThere will be a dial near the on/off switch that
controlls the speed..NEVER stop..Hit the wall moving and remove it from the
wall moving or you WILL leave a round swirl mark...It's pretty easy to get
the hang of once you try it..Touch up any things you see after
sanding...Sand touch ups with a piece of 150 grit sandpaper...Prime with
drywall primer and apply 2 coats of paint or paint 2 coats with Behr or
Glidden 2 in 1 Primer and paint All In One...This is for smooth walls...If
you want texture than hire a pro...The learning curve is pretty steep to get
it to look right...Texture is a PITA down the road as you already know as
far as repairing...Good luck...