Sanding drywall is fun. Only when you know how to do it without messing things up.

In this article, we will guide you to sand drywall from scratch.

With our suggested equipment and easy-to-follow steps, you can easily get shiny and smooth drywall ready to paint.

We have included a video on how to sand drywall at the end of this article. Click here to watch the video.

Things Needed For a Perfect Drywall Sanding

Face Mask
EyeGlass
Gloves
Sanding paper
Drywall Sander
Sponge
Putty Knife
Dust Vacuum
Drywall Sander

Estimated Time: 2 Hours

Estimated Cost: 200 USD

Steps to Have a Perfectly Finished Drywall

1. Wear Safety Gears

Before you start sanding, wear an N 95 mask, a protective eyeglass, and hand gloves.

These will protect your body from inhaling or getting in touch with the harmful particles. Cover your body with full sleeve t-shirt and pants.

2. Prepare for Dust Management

Sanding emits a significant amount of dust. You will need to prepare for managing the dust to avoid dust pollution inside your house. For minimal dust, you can use automatic drywall sanders having vacuum pipes installed in default.

Since automatic sanders are expensive, you can pick an affordable manual sander. But in that case, you should use a vacuum cleaner to eliminate dust from the floor. If possible, set up a box fan in the window so that specks of dust flying around do not get stuck into your house.

we have a guide on use of automatic drywall sander. You can see that for better understanding.

3. Light up The Drywall

Image Source: Vancouver Carpenter

Lighting up the drywall is needed for easily spotting the lift offs and scratched walls. You can measure how much do you need to sand on a particular surface in a good lighting condition.

4. Pick the Right Grit

Picking up the right grit size is a hectic job. Without expertise on sanding, you can’t sure about the proper grit papers for sanding the wall smoothly.

Different numbers are used in grit papers considering the size of the sand particles attached in the paper. The higher the number, the finer the sand particles in the paper.

For example, a 40-60 grit paper will scratch the wall abrasively and leave scratch marks. On the other hand, 300-400 grit papers do not leave scratch marks, rather smoothen up the wall.

Heavy sanding needs 40-60 grit papers. But shining and smoothening works need grit papers around 200 to 600 depending on the surface material.

5. Start with the Corners

Whenever you start sanding, start with the corners first. Because they seek extra care and attention. Doing any mistake here can end up being a scratched wall. Although you can repair the wall with a bit of drywall mud, it is better to take precaution for avoiding unwanted damage.

Image Source: Vancouver Carpenter

If your sander is a rectangle one, you have to sand the wall getting in a 20-30 degree position. Sanding the surface with a perfectly horizontal or vertical sander can result in leaving straight lines on the wall.

6. Sand the Liftoffs Carefully

Before starting the sanding work, you can mark the liftoffs with a pencil. Marking will help you to find the surface easily when doing the job.

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If you treat lifted surfaces like the other areas, the sanding work will not be fruitful. After painting, the liftoff will be easily visible in bright light.

7. Do Not Over-sand

Over-sanding can scratch up the surface. You have to keep balance when sanding. Uneven sanding on the surface will leave marks on the wall.

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Try to get an insight on the wall that how much sanding the surface needs. Start slowly and stop before your imagined sanding volume to see whether the imagination was correct or not.

8. Use the Sponge and Putty Knife for Details

There are surfaces like electrical outlets, switchboards, and corners where you need extra care. Some sanders can’t sand in the tight corners and some other mess up for not having precision.

Image Source: Vancouver Carpenter

You can use a sanding sponge and a putty knife for such surfaces. Use the putty knife for removing excess drywall material and sanding sponge for detail sanding.

9. Carefully Sand Edges

You have to be careful when sanding edges. Edges need a smooth finish and these need to be matched with the other connecting walls.

Image Source: Vancouver Carpenter

Careless sanding in the edges will result in an uneven and unbalanced surface. You can use a bit of spackle on the drywall to make the edges smooth.

10. Prepare for Painting

After you finish up sanding the wall, time to paint! Though this is a topic that needs another dedicated article, I can tell you- thoroughly check the wall for any scratches or high surfaces.