Painting – DIY

[Kez]

I’ve just moved into a rental property and Im pretty sure its not been redecorated in 10+ years and the more i go round the rooms the more its bugging the pants off me. Skirting boards, window sills (wood) etc and its not exactly two up two down so Im a bit daunted.

So where do I start? are those spraying machines worth the money? Cheap paint deals? I dont think I can afford someone to come in and do it sadly and I doubt the landlady will contribute – we are having discussions about the carpets as it is argh!

[amber]

I’m following for hints and tips 😉 I’ve opted to start with the pink spare room on the basis that it is the worst colour but if I mess it up I don’t have to look at it all the time!

[bella]

Look for the best quality paint you can get at the best price because if you use the cheap stuff you will have to do a million coats. Cheap paint is like water and a waste of money. Never used the spray machines before so have no idea whether they are any good or not.

[donna]

Ceilings aren’t easy, but if it is just painting then it isn’t that difficult, just time consuming. A landlord should let you paint if it is a neutral sort of colour. Start with a good clean with sugar soap, rinse and let dry. Use good quality paint, do the gloss first. For emulsion on walls a roller is usually best with just a brush for the fiddly bits. Buy disposable rollers because I don’t find that they clean up very well.

I am sure there must be lots of information on You Tube, etc. and the people in the shop where you buy the paint should help and have leaflets. Paint always seems more expensive that you expect!

[jaz]

Don’t use a sprayer unless you’re very experienced…. you will regret it.
Don’t go for unbranded paint as if you do, it’ll show.
Are the walls plastered? Is the plaster in good nick? If not, some filling and sanding will make the end product look better.
If you can’t ‘ cut in’ well, it’s probably better to use the same colour on ceilings, walls and woodwork; otherwise it will look dodgy, albeit clean.
Buy decent brushes, otherwise you’ll spend a lot of time picking bristles out of the applied paint. I agree with Orangehorse, a roller works best, leaves a subtle texture and masks slight flaws if there are any on your surface area.
Good luck!

[housemouse]

I have used a sprayer, but would say, don’t use inside. It was perfect for my exterior as the walls are scat coated, but inside use a roller. I recommend you buy a roller and tray from somewhere like B&Q they normally have a spare roller sleeve in with them, buy a pack of synthetic brushes not hair/bristle,, that saves on the hairs coming out. I never buy expensive brushes, as cleaning them makes no sense. Also buy a 1 cm flat artists brush, that will make your cutting in so so much easier, and enable you to correct any mistakes later. Once you’ve used your roller, don’t wash it between coats, just wrap it in clingfilm, the same for your brush, that will keep it good for the following day.
Buy a decent paint. Not a cheap paint as they have a low level of pigment. crown and berger are hopeless, and Dulux not much better, B&Q do their own mix paint, and if you opt for the high pigment it will make your life so much easier as you wont have to do many coats. Ive just used Johnson paints this weekend on a friends new build and I was very impressed. So worth while looking at that and Im a total Farrow and Ball painter so Johnsons paint must be good to compare. Don’t use gloss paints, use waterbased Satinwood on your wood work, much easier to use and if you use white paint then satin wood is not prone to yellowing. You can now get exterior water based Satin wood…… a real revelation.

To prep… wash your walls, use sugar soap as that will cut through any grease. you can use a low adhesion masking tape to cover the edges of the area you are painting if you are concerned about your ability to paint to the edge (cutting in) then do all the edges and then roll, don’t overload your roller and apply pressure while rolling.

Ive just spent my entire weekend painting, I find it therapeutic

[Kez]

You sound like you know what you’re doing!

Im hypermobile so am just imagining me popping a shoulder out mid wall and ended up in a right mess! Ok so dont cut corners on paint and roller quality, edge first and start praying!

[lea]

Johnstone paints are great as they’re for professional decorators so have high pigment. I’d say go for a light colour – you can’t go wrong with white walls and ceilings – for white we buy big tubs of Leylands Super Leytex from Johnstones paint Centres. We’ve just decorated our house in Homebase Fresh Linen which is a great neutral colour, with Farrow & Ball Cornforth White eggshell skirtings, architraves and picture rails, and I’m really pleased with it.

Ref carpets, see if you have a Designer Contracts near you – they’re unbeatable for great carpets and floorings. They are mainly a contract flooring company, who supply and fit floorings to the big house developers. Their “offcuts” are whole-house sized so if you can be flexible on style/colour you can pick up some amazing bargains! We’ve just had our new house carpeted by them and they’ve done a really superb job and we’re really pleased with it.

[FUZZY]

Definitely buy cheap rollers a tray and a roller with spare sleeve for £4.99 max

[Sammyf]

I purchased one of those extendable poles and a scuttle bucket and it makes like so much easier and it is brill for ceilings but then I am the sort of painter that would have @housemouse rocking in the corner.

I really like B&Q paint plus they can match paint to any colour you like. I took a pretty blue trug in and they matched it perfectly.

I bought a set of Wilko brushes they are really good and don’t shed.

[Suee]

Never think about how much you’ve got left to do or you’ll never finish, just give up and drink tea instead!

I take skirting off, because cutting in along skirting makes me sob, and that way I can properly cover the floor. So, skirting off, tape glass, sockets, light fittings etc, then paint ceiling first if it’s being done (because it’s easier to cut the walls in), then cut in walls and use softish brush to do corners, then roller walls, rinse and repeat until have good coverage, then do other woodwork (i do this after walls as again find it easier to cut in), then replace newly painted skirting and ta da!! 😀
I usually set aside a couple of hours a night for three nights to do each room.

Oh, and can highly recommend a paper boiler suit – or clothes you hate!

[nab]

I’m not a keen painter but I can do it.

A roller is the best tool for walls. Personally I wouldn’t use gloss on skirting boards as It’s hard to get neat. I use Satinwood instead.

You can use masking tape for the edges but remember you can always go back and correct paint so it’s not the end of the world if your edge isn’t tidy. I made the mistake of letting the kids help when I did the hall (carpets were already gone) and I was forever touching up where they’d got the wall colour on the ceiling and the white ceiling paint on the walls.

Try to paint in daylight. Painting in the evening with artificial light makes it much harder to see where you’ve left patches. You think it looks perfect until you get up in the morning and it looks like you did it after too much wine!

[nab]

I was chatting to the plumber about this (not sure why) but he was telling how his parents in law got very slap happy and got it everywhere and he felt he couldn’t say anything as they were ‘helping’. Turned out the reason his FIL enjoyed it so much was that he isn’t allowed to do it at home. Less is more was his take home message!