Dust-Free Wall Preparation in Plano, Frisco, McKinney
And Across All DFW Metroflex
Trusted wallpaper and renovation experts serving DFW since 1985
- 40 years of professional experience
- Featured in D Magazine
Why We Built a Whole Approach Around Dust-Free Prep
Back when we started in the mid-1980s, dust-free sanding systems didn’t exist yet. We had to come up with our own ways to contain sanding dust, including exhausting it out a window, and for the time, it worked. But we always hated how much dust traditional drywall sanding produced.
By the mid-1990s, the first dust-extraction systems started coming onto the market, and we began using those. They were all handheld, which made for tiring work, but they kept dust out of the room we were actually working in. Systems kept improving through the 2000s, and we always used whatever was the most modern and effective option available, eventually leading us to the Festool Planex system described above.
The Festool Planex 2: How We Keep Your Home Dust-Free
Every wall we sand starts with the Festool Planex 2 (officially the PLANEX LHS 2 225 EQI-Plus), a professional drywall sander built around one goal: an even surface without the mess traditional sanding leaves behind. Here’s a look at it in action, and what makes it different from the sanding methods most crews still rely on.
LED Light Ring
A built-in LED light ring circles the sanding head, catching ridges, dips, and missed spots while we’re still working, not after primer or paper is already up.
Random Orbit Sanding
A random orbit sanding motion leaves a smooth, uniform surface without the swirl marks hand-sanding can create.
Built-In Dust Extraction
Adjustable suction feeds directly into a Festool dust extractor that pulls sanding dust away at the source, so it never gets the chance to drift through air vents or settle into furniture and fabric.
Extended Reach
The Planex 2 extends from just under 4 feet up to nearly 7 feet with guide extensions, letting us reach tall ceilings and stairwells without scaffolding, and it handles popcorn ceiling removal just as well as standard drywall prep.
Materials & Surfaces We Work With
With over 40 years in the business, we’ve worked with thousands of wallcovering products. We only use the ones that hold up over time, so every material we install is chosen for real durability and quality, not just what’s trending.
Tools and Primers We Use
- Festool Planex 2 (PLANEX LHS 2 225 EQI-Plus) — dust-extraction drywall sander
- Roman’s Rx-35 — clear acrylic primer for new drywall under most wallcoverings
- Benjamin Moore 067 — white-pigmented primer for thinner, translucent nonwoven materials
- Zinsser Gardz — penetrating sealer for walls previously primed with incompatible PVA primer
How We Choose Between Primers
If the wall is new drywall and we’re hanging a wallcovering that isn’t translucent, we use Roman’s Rx-35 clear acrylic primer. If the wallcovering is thinner or somewhat translucent, which is true of a number of nonwoven materials, we switch to the white-pigmented Benjamin Moore 067 instead, and on occasion we tint the primer to the background of the paper
There’s one other primer we sometimes have to bring in: Zinsser Gardz. If we walk into a home where painters have already “prepped” the walls, that’s often a red flag rather than a head start, many painters use a PVA primer, which is completely unsuitable for wallcovering. When wallcovering adhesive hits a PVA-primed wall, it causes the primer underneath to bubble, which eventually leads to loose seams and bubbling behind the wallcovering itself.
One real example of why this matters: on a dining room ceiling job on Dentwood, we were installing a Donghia Mylar foil plaid over walls a painter had already primed. Shortly after we put the vinyl up, it started coming apart at the seams, we pulled three strips back off, and the existing PVA primer tore right off the wall along with the wallcovering. That job is exactly where we learned the fix: seal the PVA primer with Zinsser Gardz first, then mud, sand, and reprime the entire surface with Rx-35. It’s the standard we’ve followed ever since.
Client Reactions to the Dust-Free Process
Honestly, there isn’t just “little” dust, there’s no dust at all. We’ve heard this reaction from clients many times: they’ll tell us they honestly thought we were exaggerating when we described the process, but once the sanding, priming, and everything else is done, they’re genuinely amazed that an entire room got sanded down without a single speck of dust left on the floor.
Expert Tip
Why Prep Matters Even More With Wallpaper
Wall prep is always the bulk of any job, usually somewhere around 75 to 80 percent of the total work, whether it’s a paint job or a wallcovering installation. The difference is what happens if something goes wrong. A paint mistake is easy to fix; you just sand the spot and repaint it. Wallcovering doesn’t offer that same forgiveness. That’s exactly why we treat prep as the most critical part of the process.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about dust-free wall preparation in Plano and across DFW.
How do you control fine drywall dust during sanding?
We use the Festool Planex system, which captures sanding dust directly at the source through built-in suction rather than letting it spread through the air. A built-in LED light ring also lets us catch imperfections in real time while we’re sanding, not after.
Do textured walls need to be fully knocked down or sanded smooth?
Yes. When we’re removing texture, we mud the wall a minimum of two times, sometimes three, before sanding it smooth with our dust-extraction system. Skipping steps here is one of the most common reasons wallpaper installations fail later.
Do you sand before or after applying wallpaper primer/sealer?
Sanding always comes first. Once the wall is smooth and clean, we apply the appropriate primer, Roman’s Rx-35, Benjamin Moore 067, or Zinsser Gardz depending on the surface, before any wallcovering goes up.
Can you sand down glossy or semi-gloss paint so the paper sticks?
Rather than relying on sanding alone to rough up a glossy surface, we choose the right primer for the job. Roman’s Rx-35 is specifically formulated for slick, sealed surfaces like glossy paint, giving the wallcovering adhesive something to properly bond to.
How smooth does the drywall actually need to be?
Very smooth. Wall prep makes up 75 to 80 percent of any job we do, and small imperfections, ridges, dips, old adhesive residue, tend to show through the finished wallcovering eventually if they’re not addressed first.