Browse Forums Finishing Touch 1 Sep 07, 2009 10:13 pm Hi all, I unfortunately have picture rails in my apartment. I am not a fan of them (ok I hate them). I wanted to take them off and have the area rendered where they were, but dont want to make a mess of things. So im keeping them up there. BUT......im painting my walls and am stumped as to what I should paint first, the walls with the undercoat followed by 2 coats of colour, then the picture rails, or the picture rails first, then the walls? And, what type of paint should I use on picture rails? My walls are all low sheen. My trims are going to be a glossy white. So should I use a gloss white on my picture rails as well? And how many coats? 1 or 2? Currently the picture rails are white, and im going to be painting them white again - no change of colour. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated! Thanks guys Re: Picture rails.......paint before or after the walls? 2Sep 07, 2009 11:23 pm ash108 .........im painting my walls and am stumped as to what I should paint first, the walls with the undercoat followed by 2 coats of colour, then the picture rails, or the picture rails first, then the walls? I'd do the picture rails last. Using a roller on your walls 1st, with all the coats & then concentrate on your rails. That's what we did in our 1st home. Quote: And, what type of paint should I use on picture rails? My walls are all low sheen. My trims are going to be a glossy white. So should I use a gloss white on my picture rails as well? Absolutley Quote: And how many coats? 1 or 2? Currently the picture rails are white, and im going to be painting them white again - no change of colour. If they're white now, you can probably get away with 1 coat gloss. YOu'll have to decide that after teh 1st coat. Anyhoo........that's my opinion based on my experience. Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: Picture rails.......paint before or after the walls? 3Sep 08, 2009 7:37 am Have you considered painting them the same colour as the walls, so they blend in and become less noticeable? I mean, given that you hate them and all.... Re: Picture rails.......paint before or after the walls? 4Sep 08, 2009 4:08 pm I'm a fan of picture rails, I put them in all the bedrooms here. I'd paint them in a water-based semi-gloss enamel. Use the blue masking tape after the walls have have been dry a couple of weeks Re: Picture rails.......paint before or after the walls? 5Sep 08, 2009 10:41 pm Thanks guys for your feedback and helping me clarify the situation, very helpful indeed! Kek, painting them the same or similar colour as the walls seems like a good idea, although Im not sure how nice it would look in the end. The issue that I have is that the picture rails run through the whole apartment, except the kitchen, laundry, and bathrooms. The bedrooms are a different colour to the rest of the apartment, with each room having a single wall of a darker shade (ie, feature wall), and there will also be a feature wall in the lounge room. So painting the picture rail the same colour will not only be painful, but with my setup, I dont think it will achieve the desired effect of invisibility Dukekamaya I'm a fan of picture rails, I put them in all the bedrooms here. I'd paint them in a water-based semi-gloss enamel. Use the blue masking tape after the walls have have been dry a couple of weeks Hi Dukekamaya, I am interested to know why you would use water based semi-gloss enamel? Re: Picture rails.......paint before or after the walls? 6Sep 09, 2009 4:00 pm Because its much easier to clean up than oil based enamel. I think a full gloss is too much over what is probably low-sheen finish walls Re: Picture rails.......paint before or after the walls? 7Sep 14, 2009 10:07 am Dukekamaya Because its much easier to clean up than oil based enamel. I think a full gloss is too much over what is probably low-sheen finish walls I didnt think of that! Nice one, thanks muchly! Re: Picture rails.......paint before or after the walls? 8Sep 14, 2009 9:31 pm We have picture rails throughout our house except for the kitchen and back room. We have just finished painting the whole house and we chose to paint the rails the same colour as the wall. Initially we thought we kind of had to paint it white because that seemed to be the norm...but our painter suggested that we keep it all the same because our house is old and the rails might actually be a bit crooked it would stand out with it a separate colour. Anyway we're really happy we decided to take his advise and have it all the one colour. Here's a pic so you can see how it looks. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Hope this helps. Re: Picture rails.......paint before or after the walls? 9Sep 16, 2009 11:13 pm virginia8586 We have picture rails throughout our house except for the kitchen and back room. We have just finished painting the whole house and we chose to paint the rails the same colour as the wall. Initially we thought we kind of had to paint it white because that seemed to be the norm...but our painter suggested that we keep it all the same because our house is old and the rails might actually be a bit crooked it would stand out with it a separate colour. Anyway we're really happy we decided to take his advise and have it all the one colour. Here's a pic so you can see how it looks. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Hope this helps. Thanks so much for your feedback! The picture rails do seem to look much better painted the same colour as the walls in your picture. I would have loved to do the same, however I have a feature wall in the lounge area, as well as one in each bedroom. So I dont think in such a circumstance painting the picture rail the same colour as the wall will look to good. However I could be wrong and hence my confusion I am in the same situation, would you be able to give some insights in to this? I am in SA 8 17045 Ardo That is so funny! I wonder how many people know who Larry Haun is these days. I have a couple of young guys we call Mo 1 & Mo 2 who run a crew of 6 boys and… 9 15511 Building a fence now will help limit people dumping rubbish and soil on your property. Many houses in suburbia on small lots have fences up before a build. I moved into a… 1 4390 |