[int]: workshop - painting

This weekend I spent the best part of my Saturday morning repainting a room. My parents are having a bit of a swap around of rooms, so I'm helping out redecorating the guest room that will mostly be home to me on visits, and designing the look of the room. It's far from finished, but for now here's an update on what's been done so far.

Photo credit: eyeseyeseyeseyes.com

When I told my Dad I'd be blogging about our DIY exploits he told me that this was far from the correct way of repainting. But really, does anyone other than a paid decorator go through all the correct steps? I'm pretty happy with the result, despite the awful phone photographs, so I thought I'd take you through what we did.

1. Preparation

This means moving furniture out of the room and into the centre, and setting out sheets to avoid ugly paint splatters. But it also means cleaning. Dust can ruin a paint job, so I took the hoover out straight away to get rid of any dust we might kick up with movement and activity. I dusted down the skirting boards, radiator, and fittings where dust could gather. We took down the curtains and the roller blind and stowed them away in another room.

2. Making good

The room used to be my little brother's bedroom, which meant it's had a lot of wear and tear. there were shelves put up on the walls, leaving holes in the plaster. We filled the holes with general purpose filler, which Dad mixed up to the manufacturer's instructions and then put into the holes, using a filling knife to scrape the excess from the top. This also worked for small dents in the wall.

Filling a hole left from a shelf

3. Sanding

My parents' house is relatively old, and it has never been replastered. When we moved in there was a strange sort of distemper on the walls, and it has made it difficult for paint to stick to the walls. The previous coat of paint had a strange, crazed texture in places. There were chips around the window and marks under blu-tack. That meant we needed to sand. I went around and paid particular attention to troublesome spots. My Dad followed me lightly sanding the entire walls.

Sanding the walls

4. Cleaning

The sanding created a lot of dust, so I hoovered again, and washed the walls. I used slightly soapy water to pick up all the dust, making sure to pay attention to the skirting boards where the dust gathered.

5. Cover the surfaces

The paint is about to come out, now, so make sure there are sheets on the floor and any remaining furniture.

6. Rolling

This was my Dad's job, and he's become very good at it over the years. From watching him, I think the trick is not to overload the roller, to keep the coat even. Work down the wall to catch any drips as you go downwards.

Paint roller

7. Cutting in

I followed Dad around with a paintbrush, painting between the trims and the painted areas. You're supposed to use painter's tape to mask the edge of the trims but if you have a steady hand you can still get a clean line, and any mistakes in emulsion paint can easily be wiped off gloss paint skirting or plastic sockets with a piece of tissue.

Cutting in around a doorframe

So far, it was all going well. And then we went back to where we started to see how well the paint was taking. Which is when we found this. The paint looked as if it was bubbling from the wall.

Paint bubbling off the walls

Dad went to apply a second coat but he didn't leave the paint to dry before he started. Where the paint was failing to stick, layers started to peel off the wall when he touched them. So we learnt our lesson and left the paint to dry.

Paint peeling off the walls

I sat and waited nervously over lunch while we waited to see what the room would end up looking like. When we had finished eating, Dad went upstairs and called for me. I expected to see paint flakes all over the floor but somehow, miraculously, the patch pictured above was the only one flaking. Once the rest of the room had dried, I sanded the flakes down and painted over the top/

While the paint was wet the previous colour showed through a little, but when it had dried we realised it didn't need a second coat. The room, overall, looked pretty good once it was done. I'll show you more when the new furniture is bought and in place.