FOAK: Painting rooms in house
Debbie the Gruesome
interior of my house professionally painted before I moved
in, but now, as you can imagine, it's showing extreme wear.
So, I want to paint it myself. I've never painted before.
I will of course read up on it, but was hoping to draw
upon the wisdom of this group. What pointers and advice
can you give me that is not written down in books?
Before I paint, there are also a few hairline cracks in
the plaster I need to fix. Thanks!
--
---
Debbie the Gruesome d...@spamcop.net
"Poodles are space aliens who think they've disguised
themselves as dogs." - Paghat the Ratgirl
Veronique
> So, I've been a homeowner for 11 years now. I had the
> interior of my house professionally painted before I moved
> in, but now, as you can imagine, it's showing extreme wear.
> So, I want to paint it myself. I've never painted before.
> I will of course read up on it, but was hoping to draw
> upon the wisdom of this group. What pointers and advice
> can you give me that is not written down in books?
> Before I paint, there are also a few hairline cracks in
> the plaster I need to fix. Thanks!
1) Good equipment: sturdy paint tray, paint tray liner(s) (easier to
wash out than the paint tray and easier to throw out as well),
extendable roller, good quality roller covers (so they don't either
melt or leave bits of themselves on your walls), tape for masking
(hint, it's blue), the best quality brushes you can afford (and you
need at least one slant brush for trim and corners.) OK you can use
cheap foam brushes, but you will not be as happy and they
disintigrate. Some people use those flat paddle thingies for corners
but they will get paint in the wrong place or leave a roller mark on
the wall. Trust me.
2) Patch & sand as needed beforehand. Scrape off old tape. Remove
pictures and nails and patch holes. Do not paint around the bookcase:
move the bookcase away from the wall.
3) Clean the walls of dust and ick. I use a sponge and regular cleaner
to spot clean patches. Some people are TSP purists and would never
paint without cleaning the walls with TSP. I am not one of them,
especially after watching a friend take three days to rinse the walls
because she used the wrong dilution of TSP. Don't try to paint over
cobwebs, it just gunks up your paint.
2.5) If your walls have mildew, seal them with a paint that has
fungicide. Mildew comes right through. If you have special ick on your
walls (candle wax or waterstains come to mind) buy special paint (the
paint store can recommend it) to prime.
3) If you need to, mask beforehand. If you are adept with a trim bush,
you may not need to mask. Masking takes a long time, but it's better
to do it right than try to clean up after yourself.
3) If you need more than a single can of paint (whatever size) buy
them all at once and mix them together to minimize color variations
between paint batches. A five gallon bucket is good for this.
4) Do not paint your ceiling avocado green on the theory it will match
the rest of the room. Paint the ceiling first; white means you can
change the walls without agony.
4.5) You may need several coats, depending on color of paint over
color of wall. If you want a radical change, buy a quart and put some
on a largish patch of wall and look at it to see if you really want to
live with it. If you're me, decide on a color, then force yourself to
go one shade lighter. Saturated colors can look good on big rooms,
though. White is for sissies.
5) Painting is not hard. Most of painting a room is getting stuff off
and away from the walls, putting down dropcloths, and masking. The
painting part goes pretty quickly. After painting, fold your dropcloth
inside to inside.
5.5) It's also easy to do special effects (limewashing, frescoing,
sponging). But you will need to practice: either on a patch of wall
(in which case you also need primer to cover the mistakes) or a board.
Good luck!
V.
--
Veronique Chez Sheep
Love will get you like a case of anthrax.
Missy
the walls, masking off, etc. are the foundation for a good,
long-lasting paint job.
Also, there are a wider variety of paint products, tools and
techniques out there. You might want to take the time and learn about
them. You can do rag-rolling, stippling, sponging, etc. My friend just
put up a really cool paint called "River Rock" up on his walls - it
has texture like a rock, and looks incredible.
Think about the little things, like your light switchplates and outlet
covers. This is a good time to either clean them, or to replace them
with something more stylish. Also, if you're painting the ceiling,
it's a good time to clean or replace your ceiling light fixtures.
Cheryl M Greer
Debbie the Gruesome <d...@spamcop.net> wrote:
>So, I've been a homeowner for 11 years now. I had the
>interior of my house professionally painted before I moved
>in, but now, as you can imagine, it's showing extreme wear.
>So, I want to paint it myself. I've never painted before.
>I will of course read up on it, but was hoping to draw
>upon the wisdom of this group. What pointers and advice
>can you give me that is not written down in books?
There really isn't much to it. The number one thing you can do to
insure a good paint job is: get quality supplies and quality paint. By
that I don't mean to shell out $$$ for "designer name" paint, but check
out Consumer Reports and see what they rate highly. We painted the entire
interior of our house when we moved in in April, and we ended up using
*eep* Wal-Mart brand paint because it was rated highly and was very
affordable (and has a 15-yr warranty). Do NOT skimp on brushes and
rollers. Get the good ones. Also, buy a few edging tools..they are a great
hassle-saver for getting nice clean lines along the tops of walls, trim,
etc.
What color are your walls now? If you're trying to paint over a
dark color, you'll probably have to prime. Umm..I guess I can't think of
any other advice. It's all pretty intutive once you get going. (And fun
too!)
Cheryl
mag...@rahul.net
vici...@pitt.edu (Cheryl M Greer) put fingers to keyboard and
typed:
>In article <MPG.15ce082b...@news.drizzle.com>,
>Debbie the Gruesome <d...@spamcop.net> wrote:
>>So, I've been a homeowner for 11 years now. I had the
>>interior of my house professionally painted before I moved
>>in, but now, as you can imagine, it's showing extreme wear.
>>So, I want to paint it myself. I've never painted before.
>>I will of course read up on it, but was hoping to draw
>>upon the wisdom of this group. What pointers and advice
>>can you give me that is not written down in books?
>
> There really isn't much to it. The number one thing you can do to
>insure a good paint job is: get quality supplies and quality paint. By
>that I don't mean to shell out $$$ for "designer name" paint, but check
>out Consumer Reports and see what they rate highly. We painted the entire
>interior of our house when we moved in in April, and we ended up using
>*eep* Wal-Mart brand paint because it was rated highly and was very
>affordable (and has a 15-yr warranty). Do NOT skimp on brushes and
>rollers. Get the good ones.
I can highly recommend you get one of the roller things that
sucks paint up into the handle and then dispenses it into the
roller as you squeeze on the trigger handle while rolling the
wall and ceiling. This is MUCH better than having to re-soak the
roller every few seconds. I was able to paint about twice as
fast with this thing as with a regular roller and tray, so for my
money (about $20) it was a wonderful investment.
jc
Glory Hound
Do NOT skimp on brushes and
>rollers.
Purdy brushes! They're the best. Expensive, but clean up so well and
are so sturdy they last a longgggggg time. Completely worth it.
Get the good ones. Also, buy a few edging tools..they are a great
>hassle-saver for getting nice clean lines along the tops of walls, trim,
>etc.
>
Or, you can do so much painting that you learn to "cut" perfectly and
don't require them!
If you are going to tape off something to keep paint off it, don't use
masking tape. Get the expensive blue tape. Worth it.
"Hello, my name is Elise, and I'm an antique house owner"
Winnie
<mag...@rahul.net> wrote in message
news:8iebmto1mv54mkbid...@4ax.com...
> I can highly recommend you get one of the roller things that
> sucks paint up into the handle and then dispenses it into the
> roller as you squeeze on the trigger handle while rolling the
> wall and ceiling. This is MUCH better than having to re-soak the
> roller every few seconds. I was able to paint about twice as
> fast with this thing as with a regular roller and tray, so for my
> money (about $20) it was a wonderful investment.
>
> jc
I haven't tried one of those, but I'd advise you to use a wide brush rather
than a roller. You get a much better finish with a brush IME (and I can also
speak with authority as my Dad was an expert professional decorator before
he retired :o))
Winnie
xx
Ginny
posted in glowing silver runes :
>>Get the good ones. Also, buy a few edging tools..they are a great
>>hassle-saver for getting nice clean lines along the tops of walls, trim,
>>etc.
>>
>Or, you can do so much painting that you learn to "cut" perfectly and
>don't require them!
Hmm, I'm a middling-fair cutter-inner. We tried using one of those
plastic edger things the first day, but it sorta disintegrated
spectacularly. DH was so frustrated with it he threw it around the
room a few times. That was when we agreed that he is in charge of
plumbing and electrical and I am in charge of painting and decor. It's
better this way. When I vacuumed out the room the other day, I was
still finding tiny little pieces of red plastic. By the time I
finished the job, cutting-in got easier, but good brushes made a huge
difference this time. I think they're Purdy, too - the ones
specifically for latex paint. Man, they clean up good! ;)
>If you are going to tape off something to keep paint off it, don't use
>masking tape. Get the expensive blue tape. Worth it.
>
I had good results with the tape that's kind of like a roll of brown
Post-It paper this time. Finally learned to remove the tape as soon as
the section has been painted rather than let it dry before trying to
remove it.
>"Hello, my name is Elise, and I'm an antique house owner"
Hiya, my name is Ginny, and we're not handy.
(sounds like "DIY Anonymous" at the Home Depot at 1pm Saturday)
Ginny
RED57 at that aol dot com place
CF Denizen alt.support.childfree
Moderator alt.support.childfree.moderated
Debbie the Gruesome
advice! Keep it coming!
A related question: my house is a 1917
Craftsman bungelow. My original plan
was to redo the living room in period-appropriate
wallpaper + border from Bradbury & Bradbury
http://www.bradbury.com/index.shtml. These
folks do absolutely drop-dead gorgeous
reproductions. I've been drooling over
their catalog for quite a while, and last
year had the good fortune to stay at a
Victorian bed and breakfast that was completely
done with their stuff, so I had a chance to see
a lot of it in real life - I never in my life
dreamed that one day I'd spend my evening drooling
over walls.
Then I found out how much it costs . . . so my plan
now is to do my living room with one of their friezes,
and paint the rest. I'm assuming you paint
first, wallpaper second, right? Given the
cost of the wallpaper, I'm going to get
a professional to do that part.
I've also lucked out in that yesterday one of my
neighbors approached me. He's going to be doing
a lot of remodelling of his house, and needs the
use of a truck. We struck a great deal: he
borrows my truck in exchange for teaching me
about house maintenance (he's been a landlord
for years, so knows pretty much everything).
Speaking of win/win situations!
Cheryl M Greer
>advice! Keep it coming!
>A related question: my house is a 1917
>Craftsman bungelow.
Oooooooh! *drool*
>and paint the rest. I'm assuming you paint
>first, wallpaper second, right? Given the
Yup! Good luck with your project. I *heart* Arts & Crafts houses!
Cheryl
genny12
> On 30 Jul 2001 13:47:55 GMT, vici...@pitt.edu (Cheryl M Greer) wrote:
>
> Do NOT skimp on brushes and
> >rollers.
>
> Purdy brushes! They're the best. Expensive, but clean up so well and
> are so sturdy they last a longgggggg time. Completely worth it.
>
> Get the good ones. Also, buy a few edging tools..they are a great
> >hassle-saver for getting nice clean lines along the tops of walls, trim,
> >etc.
> >
and with a putty knife they can be cut to fit andtucked under the
baseboards for total carpet protection when painting carpeted
hallways, stairwells and other unusual spaces.
tigger
benefit of someone else's mistake that I once observed:
DO NOT apply latex paint over enamel or oil-base paint. It will peel
at the slightest touch, and look like heck in a very short time.
These smart people will probably give you better clues about primers
and such that will deal with this sort of thing...
Good luck.
Debbie the Gruesome
says...
> In article <MPG.15d060b42...@news.drizzle.com>,
> Debbie the Gruesome <d...@spamcop.net> wrote:
> >Thank you, everyone! This is all fabulous
> >advice! Keep it coming!
> >A related question: my house is a 1917
> >Craftsman bungelow.
>
> Oooooooh! *drool*
Well, it's a very modest house. It was built by a
working-class man for his wife and family, and it
looks like one of the kit houses you could order
out of catalogs back then, although I've done research
and found a lot of similar kit houses, but not one that's
exactly like mine. It started life as a 1 bedroom,
but at some point someone carved another room out of
half of the attic, so officially it's now a 1 1/2 story
house. It was remodeled in 1985 by the previous
owner, and luckily they left the wood archway in
the living room and several built-in cabinets in the
kitchen and hallway to the bathroom. I'm going to
slowly revert it back to something Craftsman-esqe,
with a touch of Victoriana where I can fit it in
without being too out of character. The typical
Craftsman interiors are too dark and have too
many right angles for me - I like things that
flow a bit more.
> >and paint the rest. I'm assuming you paint
> >first, wallpaper second, right? Given the
>
> Yup! Good luck with your project. I *heart* Arts & Crafts houses!
I'll have to start posting pictures on my web site. The house
originally had wood siding, but in 1944 it was redone with fake
brick asphalt shingles - which amazingly, are still in fine shape
today, and actually don't look too bad at all. I can tell you,
I will enjoy replacing the hideous many-shades-of-brown-and-tan
vinyl flooring in the kitchen, bathroon and utility room with
something more era-appropriate and just plain pretty.