painting whole house tips?

turando · Jan 21, 2010 6:15 pm

Hi,

I've been reading through the forum and wanted to get some more tips

Basically we just bought our first home - yay! - and need to paint the whole inside of the house as it is currently a pale yellow colour in every room. We want to paint it white - the ceiling is white thankfully so don't need to do that. I'm thinking to paint it Antique White USA including the trims and around the doors and windows etc (which are currently a dark brown).

We've never painted before but we can't afford to get a painter in as we went over our budget just to buy the house. And it will be much easier to paint now when it is empty than a year down the track with furniture (and kids!) in there.

Does anyone have any tips for us on things to do / not do or even links to tips?

Thankyou!

Michelle · Jan 22, 2010 9:38 pm

It’s so much easier and faster to give you reading material on this.
I could be here all night otherwise.

http://www.dulux.com.au/advice/how-to-guides

kek · Jan 23, 2010 7:30 am

Buy the best brushes and rollers you can afford - cheap ones won't give you the same result, and the brushes will shed nasty hairs in your fresh paintwork.

Same goes for paint - pick one that has an eay to clean finish. There are a number of good ones that can be scrubbed to remover dirty handmarks, food splashes etc without damaging the surface or leaving shiny patches.

Get a cheap screw-in pole for your roller....saves going up and down ladders constantly. You still need the ladder for edges, but at least the main part of the wall is quick to do.

Buy more drop sheets than you think you can possibly use. :wink:

Use a gloss or semi gloss on the trims, even if it is the same colour as the walls. A decent glass finish is hard wearing and will withstand kicks and bumps. Go for an oil-based paint just for those areas - the modern acrylic glosses are OK, but don't have a hard finish like the oils in my experience. Definitely acrylic for the walls though...

The trims are going to take some work to get from dark brown to Antique White, but if you put in the effort, they'll look great. I highly recommend getting a detail sander - the Black and Decker Mouse or similar: http://www.blackanddecker.com/ProductGuide/CategoryOverview.aspx?cPath=1496.1509.1545&discontinued=true. Start with the trims and sand them back to a nice smooth finish. Undercoat (if you've gone right back to bare timber in places, use a proper primer) and then do two coats of your final paint.

I spent a LONG time on our old window trims and architraves (we replaced skirtings) before I went near them with a paint brush and the result was well worth the hard work.

Final tip - wear an old baseball cap. Paint in your hair is no fun. :wink:

wizard · Jan 23, 2010 8:53 am

kek has some good advice there, check this site out, http://www.paintzone.com.au/Paint_Hints.html. Give them a ring if you need to, they have been very helpful to us

Stormy · Jan 27, 2010 2:04 pm

Do you know how long ago the house was painted? I'd still be inclined to paint the ceilings white again. Nothing worse to have done the whole lot and then realise the ceilings look 'grey'. Nothing better to freshen up a house than to paint EVERYWHERE all in the one go!

Another tip: you can never do enough preperation work! Clean all wall surfaces with sugar soap (twice if it's really dirty), then rinse well. Dig out any plaster from popped nail heads and re fill. Fill any other minor imperfections and sand well! Then wash the walls again with water to get rid of all the sanding dust.

Don't hurry! Be patient, it will take a while, but all of your care and effort will be worth it in the long run!

Good luck!!

wizard · Jan 27, 2010 2:16 pm

Stormy

Clean all wall surfaces with sugar soap

Did you know that Sugar Soap leaves a residue on the surface that needs to be removed before painting? So you actually wash the surface twice, once with sugar soap and then once to wash the sugar soap off. A better product to use is Cloudy Ammonia, a table spoon of Cloudy Ammonia in every liter of warm water with a drop of dishwashing detergent. Wash the area once and let it dry, it won’t leave a residue and it gives a better wash than sugar soap.

wizard · Jan 27, 2010 2:24 pm

kek

The trims are going to take some work to get from dark brown to Antique White, but if you put in the effort, they'll look great. I highly recommend getting a detail sander

Just a note with this point kek made, if the trims are in good condition (smooth), to save sanding, just use a primer sealer undercoat like Haymes Tricoat or Taubmans 3 in 1. With one coat of undercoat and 2 top coats of a good trim paint (enamel or acrylic), this will cover anything (no matter how dark, this would be sufficient to go from black to white), but the key is to use the right products, cheaper products will not cover properly.

Stormy · Jan 27, 2010 2:26 pm

wizard

Stormy

Clean all wall surfaces with sugar soap

Did you know that Sugar Soap leaves a residue on the surface that need to be removed before painting? So you actually wash the surface twice, once with sugar soap and then once to wash the sugar soap off. A better product to use is Cloudy Ammonia, a table spoon of Cloudy Ammonia in every liter of warm water with a drop of dishwashing detergent. Wash the area once and let it dry, it won’t leave a residue and it gives a better wash than sugar soap.

No, I didn't know that Wizard, but I've always used it, then rinsed it off before painting anyway! I'll keep that in mind when it comes to paint my house again, though, cheers!

wizard · Jan 27, 2010 2:35 pm

Most people don’t realize this, they end up washing the walls down twice and they don’t realize that they are creating extra work for themselves by using sugar soap. You can also use Cloudy Ammonia in your washing machine for better soaking power and softer rinsing (whatever that means, can you tell I copied that straight from the bottle :lol:

)

turando · Jan 31, 2010 12:25 am

Hi,

Thanks everyone for the great tips! Can't wait to get started.

Does anyone have recommendations on equipment whether its rollers, paintbrushes or even masking tape!

Thankyou.

wizard · Jan 31, 2010 7:21 am

turando

Does anyone have recommendations on equipment whether its rollers, paintbrushes or even masking tape

Use a good brush, expect to pay at least $20 - $30

Use a 270mm roller frame with a sheepskin 10mm to 14mm nap

If using masking tape (if you have a steady hand then there is no need to use masking tape) get a 14 day tape, you can leave this kind of tape on for days and it won’t leave glue or pull paint off. If putting masking tape over fresh paint, make sure the paint is no less than 4 to 7 days old or you may pull the paint off. Also get one with a high tack.

Get plenty of canvas drop sheets

To keep paint, rollers and brushes from drying out:
Put a damp rag over your tray (and roller) to prevent it from drying out, make sure it is a few layers thick
Wrap brushes in a plastic bag and make sure it’s sealed (some people put them in the fridge but it doesn’t really do anything)

Don’t leave lids off cans

When finished painting, if you have paint left over in cans and want to store it, pour the left over paint in the smallest can possible, eg, if you have about 4lt left in a 15lt drum, buy an empty 4lt can and pour the paint into it. The less air in the can the longer the paint will last.

When painting (more so for the second coat), always keep a ‘wet edge’, this means, when you are cutting in with a brush and then go to roll, the brushed part should still be wet, same with the next section, every time you overlap a section, the previous section should still be wet. DON’T cut the whole wall first, the best thing to do is to start from the left (or right), cut the whole left side, and about 2 - 3 roller frames worth of the top and bottom, then roll that section, then cut the top and bottom (about 2 – 3 roller frames worth), then roll that section etc etc. ALWAYS roll in the same direction (up and down) and Always roll from top to bottom. (hence why kek said get a extension pole, so you don’t have to get up and down a ladder as often, an adjustable one is best)

I can’t think of anything else at the moment, but will let you know if I do

turando · Feb 10, 2010 11:03 pm

Hi,

Thanks wizard for the great tips.

Instead of opening a new topic I'll just ask my paint questions here

- how do I work out how much paint we'll need approximately? As we need to do all the walls in the house (3 smallish bedrooms, hallway, 2 living areas and kitchen) is there a way to work out how much?

- does anyone know how much of a discount a tradie gets on paint? we're looking at dulux wash and wear to buy and my BIL mentioned he knows someone who might be able to get us paint at a discount.

- should I do walls before the trims or it doesn't matter? (both will be white)

- how do i work out what strength of paint to use on the wall? I've seen a lot of people mention 1/4 strength antique white usa and sometimes 1/2 strength? what about on the trims?

- is antique white USA got a yellow tinge? the previous owners told us that the walls are meant to an ivory colour but they look so yellow to me and maybe its the lighting? is there a white that will counteract the yellowness of the lighting?

Thankyou!

turando · Feb 10, 2010 11:04 pm

Also my BIL mentioned doing an undercoat and then one coat of paint? is that a good idea or not? most of the topics i've seen just mention doing 2 coats of paint. Our walls are like a pale yellow and we want to paint them white. They were painted about 2 years ago and are in good condition and don't have any issues like cracks or anything.

wizard · Feb 11, 2010 8:56 am

wizard

how do I work out how much paint we'll need approximately? As we need to do all the walls in the house (3 smallish bedrooms, hallway, 2 living areas and kitchen) is there a way to work out how much?

What you need to know is how many square meters you are painting, roughly is good enough. Times the height by width and you get your square meters, eg. Say you are painting a wall that measures 4m x 2.7m (10.8m2), 2 walls that measure 6m x 2.7m (16.2m2 x 2 = 32.4m2) and 3 walls that measure 4.6m x 2.7m (12.42m2 x 3 = 37.2m2). Add all the m2 together (10.8 + 32.4 + 37.2 = 80.4. If you are doing 2 coats (and you should, times this number by 2 = 160.8m2 in total. Paint covers between 12 and 16m2 per liter, but its best to work on a worst case scenario, so then you divide your total (160.8m2) by 12, giving you 13.4lt of paint. It becomes quite complicated when doing a whole house, that’s why a rough estimation is good enough, and if it works out that you need 4 x 15lt for example, buy 3 and see how you go with that, you might find you may only need a 10lt at the end.

wizard

does anyone know how much of a discount a tradie gets on paint? we're looking at dulux wash and wear to buy and my BIL mentioned he knows someone who might be able to get us paint at a discount.

Painters get a pretty big discount, so if you can get it that way then why not, your not supposed to, but if you can save yourself some $$$. Also, there is better paint out there than Dulux, trust me, I have PM’d you a question, let me know the answer and I can give you some advice on what paint to get if you want.

wizard

how do i work out what strength of paint to use on the wall? I've seen a lot of people mention 1/4 strength antique white usa and sometimes 1/2 strength? what about on the trims?

There are no rules here, what some people do is if they have a colour they like but it’s too dark, they will get it in a half or quarter strength, but it all comes down to personal opinion, sample pots are your best friend, buy some and paint them on the walls (use the whole sample pot, you can’t tell a colour from a small streak). Then pick the colour you like the most. Just note, once a whole room is painted in a colour it tends to look darker that it actually is, and tends to look different that the sample you painted on the wall. Plenty of natural light will lighten a colour (to some extent), less natural light darkens a colour, the darker the colour the smaller the room feels.

wizard

is antique white USA got a yellow tinge? the previous owners told us that the walls are meant to an ivory colour but they look so yellow to me and maybe its the lighting? is there a white that will counteract the yellowness of the lighting?

Antique white USA isn’t very yellow, so it’s probably the lighting, if you want to stop the yellow, you should look at colours that are more beige than yellow, more on the brownish side of things, greys are good for that too. Also note that you mentioned that your walls are yellow now, so any sample pots you paint on your walls will look yellower than they really are because you will get the light reflecting off the yellow onto the samples.

turando

Also my BIL mentioned doing an undercoat and then one coat of paint? is that a good idea or not?

Doing an undercoat is not mandatory when the walls are already painted, but it is always a recommendation, if it was me, I would undercoat 100%. Oh, and if you are going to undercoat, do the undercoat first then paint your sample pots, it will give you more of a true colour, also paint the samples away from each other, not side by side.

Vundaful! · Feb 11, 2010 10:01 am

This thread is BRILLIANT, I had questions about painting that I didn't even know answered! We'll be doing the painting for our new place in the next couple of months so having all these seasoned pro tips means we're off to the best possible start.

Kek and Wizard, you're legends! And thanks to Michelle for the link. I'm armed with a lot of info now...

turando · Feb 11, 2010 1:22 pm

Thanks wizard

I PM'd you back.

quick q - where do I get cloudy ammonia?

And I guess whilst I'm here I'll ask about painting the tiles in the bathroom - i was planning to use the whte knight tile stuff but is there a better alternative. The tiles are in the shower (walls not floor) and also on the outside of the bathtub. As we're on a tight budget replacing them right now is not an option but even if the paint lasts a year or two i'd be happy.

wizard · Feb 11, 2010 1:29 pm

See my PM about cloudy ammonia, as for the tile paint, there are only a couple of products that you can use and they are all quite pricey, there are certain undercoats that will stick to tiles, but would need to know what type of tile you have, then you could use and oil based paint over the top. It’s not the best thing for it, but it’s the cheapest short term alternative

Rex · Feb 11, 2010 10:30 pm

I'd like that PM also

Will be painting our house in a few weeks and would like to use CA also.

Cheers

wizard · Feb 12, 2010 7:20 am

Cloudy Ammonia isn't available in many places, just ring around you local paint and hardware stores.

If anyone in near the Preston are in Melbourne, www.paintzone.com.au sell it