Repairing Interior Drywall Paint

I just purchased a home and the previous owner had cord management kit attached to the wall with pretty strong adhesive. In the process of removing the cable management kit, I ripped off pieces of paint along with it. How do I go about repairing what was ripped off with out having to repaint the entire wall?
I'm new to being a home owner and this is a learning process for me.

Thanks in advance.

 

Welcome to the forums!

First you need to make sure all the loose paper is removed. Don't just pull on it but instead use a utility knife and make a cut just past the loose part. That will stop the paper from peeling farther than necessary. You'll then need to coat those areas with either an oil base primer or Zinnser's Gardz. That will prevent the moisture in the joint compound and/or paint from lifting the surrounding paper.

Once the primer is dry you'll cover the affected areas with joint compound, sand smooth when dry, prime [latex primer is fine] and paint.

Do you have any left over paint or know what paint was used? If so, you might get by with touch up but more than likely you'll need to paint the majority of the wall between the window and the fireplace for the touch up to be acceptable. If you don't know what paint was used, take the biggest piece of peeled paper you have to your local paint store so they can match the color. You would need to completely repaint both walls if you have to go that route.

 

Thank you so much for the response and also the advice. The previous owners left about 5 cans of paint in the garage when they left so I'm sure that I can find the right color.
Thanks again!

 

So you recommend that I use 2 different kinds of primer? Oil based and then Latex?

 

The raw gypsum needs to be primed with either an oil base primer of Zinnser's Gardz. Gardz is the only waterbased primer I know of that will work. Most latex primers will partially dissolve the gypsum and/or make the surrounding paper lift.

Obviously the completed repairs will also need priming. Regular latex primer is ideal but it's ok to use the oil base primer if that's all you have. Latex paint will adhere fine to the oil primer but it will slow down the drying time some. While not ideal, you could cheat and thin some of the finish paint about 10% with water and use it for a primer.

 

Ok thanks for clarifying. I know nothing about painting whatsoever. I've always "rented" for the most part so I'm new to this home owning thing. Thanks again for the advice.

 

Your more than welcome. All of us started out knowing nothing about our respective trades, but we learn While owning your own home can include a lot of work, learning and doing it yourself both saves you money and gives you some bragging rites

If forums like this were around when I bought my first place I might have been able to skip some of the mistakes I've made over the years

 

The help was very much appreciated you guys. I ended up repairing the ruined wall, applying my own cable management kit, and as a result my flat screen mounting project came out looking pretty good.

 

Yeah, that looks nice. Thanks for the update.