To prepare your home for interior spray painting, clear a path from the front door to each room being sprayed, move small furniture, ornaments and anything fragile out of those rooms, and plan where pets and children will be while we work. That is all. ColourHaus does the masking, filling, sanding, priming and clean-up, so you do not need to buy tape or dust sheets or sand anything yourself.
This guide covers the whole house: doors, skirting, staircases, radiators and built-in wardrobes. If you are only having the kitchen done, the kitchen section below is short and links to the guide that covers it in full.
- Clear hallways, landings and the stairs so the team can carry equipment through.
- Move ornaments, pictures, small furniture and anything fragile out of the rooms being sprayed.
- Keep pets and young children away from the work areas while preparation and spraying are under way.
- Leave the heating off on radiators being sprayed until we say they can be used.
- Do not clean, sand or mask anything yourself. We prepare every surface and leave the rooms clean.
What You Need to Do Before We Arrive
Your part is about access and protecting your own belongings. The surface work is ours.
Clear the route through the house
We carry spray equipment, extraction, masking materials and, for wardrobe or cabinet doors, the doors themselves through your hallway. Move bikes, pushchairs, shoe racks and coat stands from the hall, and clear anything stored on the stairs or landing. A clear route is the single most useful thing you can do, and it keeps your belongings out of harm's way.
Empty and clear the rooms being sprayed
Take ornaments, framed photos, lamps and small furniture out of each room on the list. Large furniture can stay; we move it to the middle of the room and sheet it. Clear the floor along the skirting and around each door so we can mask right up to the edge. For built-in wardrobes, take out anything on the shelves you would not want near masking film for a few days, and clear the floor in front of the doors.
Think about radiators and heating
Radiators are sprayed cold. Turn off the heating to any radiator on the list the evening before, and leave it off after we finish until we tell you it can go back on. Heat-resistant coatings need time to settle before they are heated. Our guide to spray painting radiators covers the coating and the process.
Plan for the stairs
If the staircase is being sprayed, it is the one job that changes how you move around the house, because the stairs are out of use while we prepare and spray them. Move anything you will need upstairs before we start, and if upstairs has the only bathroom, tell us at the survey so we can plan the work around it. The full process is in our guide to spray painting staircases and banisters.
Pets, children and people working from home
Degreasers and primers have a noticeable smell, and wet surfaces and masked doorways are no place for pets or small children. Keep dogs and cats in another part of the house or out for the day, and tell us about birds or reptiles, which are more sensitive to airborne substances, so we can plan ventilation. If you work from home, pick a room that is not on the list and away from the stairs.
What the ColourHaus Team Handles
All masking. Floors, walls you are not changing, windows, glass, switches, sockets, door furniture and any furniture left in the room are masked before any spraying starts. You do not need to buy sheeting or tape.
All surface preparation. Filling, sanding to give the primer a key, degreasing where needed and priming are all done by us. Please do not clean the surfaces with spray cleaners beforehand: some leave a residue that has to be taken off again.
Doors and hardware. Interior doors are sprayed on both sides. Handles, hinges and wardrobe hardware are removed or masked and put back by us.
Clean-up. Masking comes off, the rooms are cleaned and the furniture goes back where it was before we leave.
How Long Each Room Is Out of Use
A single room's woodwork usually takes one day. A full room including walls and ceiling takes two to three days. Whole-house projects are planned room by room so the rest of the house stays usable. These are the same timings we give on our interior spray painting service page, where you can also see prices: a single room's woodwork starts from £800 and a full room typically costs £1,200 to £2,500.
Walls and ceilings are worth spraying in empty rooms and new builds. In a furnished room the masking can outweigh the gain, so we often roller the walls and spray the woodwork. We will recommend the right mix for each room at the survey. Our comparison of interior spraying and traditional painting explains the trade-offs.
If the Kitchen Is Part of the Job
A kitchen respray follows its own process. It usually takes 3 to 5 working days: doors and drawer fronts go to our Sheepscar workshop to be sprayed while the frames and end panels are sprayed in place. You do not need to empty your cupboards, because the carcasses and their contents stay where they are. Clear the worktops and the tops of the wall units, and plan simple meals for the days the kitchen is masked. The day-by-day detail is in our guide to what to expect during a kitchen respray.
Dust in Older Houses and New Builds
Dust is the enemy of a good spray finish. We control it in the rooms we work in, but some houses carry more of it than others. Older Yorkshire terraces and stone houses can shed dust from old plaster, floor voids and lofts, and a house that has just had building work done often has fine dust in the air for some time afterwards. If either applies to you, mention it when you book and we will plan extra dust control and masking.
Looking After the Finish for the First 48 Hours
Surfaces are touch dry before we leave, but the coating keeps hardening for several days. For the first 24 hours, close sprayed doors gently and keep things from leaning against them. For the first 48 hours, do not clean the new finish. After that, a damp microfibre cloth with a little washing-up liquid is all it needs. Avoid abrasive pads, bleach and solvent cleaners.
On stairs, light use, one person at a time and holding the rail, is usually fine after 24 hours, with normal traffic after 48 hours. For built-in wardrobes, our guide to spray painting built-in wardrobes and our fitted furniture spraying service cover that work in more depth.
On the Day
We arrive at the agreed time, confirm the rooms, surfaces and colours with you, then mask and prepare before any spraying starts. At the end we walk through every surface with you, explain the care instructions and issue the 5-year written guarantee on the coating we have applied. For more on how interior spraying works from start to finish, read our interior spray painting guide for Yorkshire homes. Having the front door done too? See how to prepare a front door for spraying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can we stay at home during interior spray painting?
Yes. Most people stay at home. The rooms being sprayed are masked off and out of use while we work, so plan to use other rooms. Keep pets and young children away from the work areas, and tell us at the survey if anyone in the house has a breathing condition so we can plan ventilation.
Do I need to move all the furniture?
No. Take out ornaments, pictures, lamps and small furniture. Large items can stay; we move them to the middle of the room and sheet them before we mask.
How long before we can use the stairs after spraying?
Light use, one person at a time and holding the rail, is usually fine after 24 hours, and normal use after 48 hours. The stairs are out of use while they are being prepared and sprayed, so we agree the timing with you at the survey.
Do I need to empty my kitchen cupboards for a kitchen respray?
No. The doors and drawer fronts come off, but the carcasses and their contents stay where they are. Clear the worktops and the tops of the wall units, and we will ask if anything else needs moving.
What about dust in older properties?
Older houses and homes that have just had building work can carry more dust than average. Tell us when you book and we will plan extra dust control and masking for the rooms being sprayed.
Written by Matthew Ramsden, founder of ColourHaus · 21 October 2026 · More articles