does spackling have to be sanded?

championmama

Silly question?  Since it looks like painting may be a go....

Before I put the baby gate there, we used a piece of large rectangle plexiglass held at the wall by inserting it into mirror clips when the dogs were in there.  It worked great until Cody-dog figured out how to wedge his head in and unhook it.  anywho - a few times I hit the wall with the corner of the plexiglass and there are a few nicks.  Very teeny-tiny, but about 10 in total in the smae general area.  Will paint alone cover it?  If not, if I put some drywall mud (joint compound, whatever) on them, would I have to sand before I paint? 

butterbeansmama

I always sand spackling before I paint over it. I'm not that neat with it and can never get it smooth enough without sanding.

ridesbuttons

You should sand first and prime.  If you don't prime, the paint will be shiny where the spackle is.

DaiLyght

Depending on the sizes of the holes, and the thickness of the paint, it might cover it, but the holes would have to be fairly small. Sometimes it will look like it's covering, but then as it dries, it opens up. If you spackle, you will need to sand. And to really do it properly, you should put a thin layer of primer on the patched spot before painting.

goodhartedmommy

Yeah, you need to sand it.

JOEBunny

I bought some spackle just for that type of whole in my old house, I spackled pretty much the entire house.  I use a spackle knife and as long as the wholes were small, I did not sand or prime.  It worked fine.  It is a white spackle that was specifically for sheet rock and walls, not the rubbery or "wood" kind, you don't want that.