Renovator:painting a house

RENOVATOR: Guide to painting a house, originally published in The Australian Women’s Weekly, January 2006

By Alex May

My carpenter calls paint “the coat of slops”. Something you slap on to cover up a multitude of sins. I think paint is more like the coat of many covers. It can turn the dull, dirty and drab into the clean, colourful and cheerful. And painting is so easy, right?
STEP ONE: Choose colour. Be slightly boggled by the fact that there are 306 different shades of beige. Be further boggled by colour names like Cuddlepot, Bashful and Sultry Glance.
STEP TWO: Visit bank. Take out loan. Buy paint. Lay down drop sheets and start painting. Try not to be disturbed by paint dripping into hair, eyes and clothes. Wonder why paint isn’t on walls, yet covers you completely. Spend hours cleaning.
STEP THREE: Take a quick course in tai chi. Breathe. Apply principals to self and discover that Grasping Tiger’s Tail on Waxing Moon is easier than grasping a paint brush for hours on end. Apply second coat to cover up drips and streaky patches of first coat. Chase cat out of the room. Apply the now-needed third coat to cover up crap second coat. Debate the best way to remove cat’s paw prints that decorate hallway floor. Take another deep breath as cat sits on freshly painted window sill.
STEP FOUR: Hire a professional painter?
Dulux colour and communication manager Andrea Lucena-Orr says market research shows about half of all paint-buyers attempt to paint a house themselves. The rest choose a professional to tackle the job.
All-knowing professional painter Lynton Smith says dodgy DIY paint jobs are a dime a dozen. “You can always tell when someone’s had a go at trying to paint a house themselves,” says Lynton, who runs Allways Painting in Adelaide. “People choose the wrong paint for the wrong surface, use acrylics where they shouldn’t, and apply it badly.
“When you paint a wall in the fast-drying acrylics, you can’t go off for a fag or a drink half way through or you come back and no matter how well you apply the paint, you can see the join. It looks awful.”
Oh. So here’s some little lessons to avoid paint disasters:

PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE:

Preparing the surface for painting is more important than applying the paint. All surfaces should be sanded, clean and dry before fresh paint goes on. Yep. It’s lots and lots of work. Lynton reckons he spends 60 per cent of his time on the job preparing – usually stripping old paint off, filling holes and gaps and sanding – before applying any paint.

BE KEEN ON SHEEN:

Sheen is the shine level of paint, usually described as gloss, semi-gloss or matte(flat). The flatter the sheen, the more coverage the paint has. Glossier paints have greater strength and protective qualities. Learning your sheens will make your paint jobs shine.

ACRYLIC PAINT VS ENAMEL PAINTS:

Solvent-based paints such as enamels are still used, but they are considered less environmentally friendly as brushes need washing with turps or thinners and they release more Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Acrylic paints have better coverage and flexibility and wash out in water. There are also so-called natural paints such as limewash that don’t contain man-made chemicals. Ecospecifier Technical Director and author of The Healthy House, David Baggs, says natural paints often don’t have the durability that families need. “Most families with children need paint that is easy to maintain and wash,” he says. Lynton reckons the low-VOC paints are worth using if someone in the house has asthma or respiratory problems.

THE PAINTING SEQUENCE:

Whether you are painting a lounge room or a picket fence, you should plan a sequence to make the job as easy as possible. Lynton suggests a typical lounge room sequence could be to 1) clean and sand all surfaces, 2) paint the interior wood work (skirtings, doors, picture rails), 3) then do the ceiling first by cutting in around the edges and then rollering the rest, 4) tackle one wall at a time, cutting in first and then rollering the walls being careful to blend all wet edges before they begin to dry. When painting windows or doors, it is easiest to choose certain panels or sections in sequence rather than starting at one side and moving to the other.

CUTTING IN:

This is usually done on large surfaces like exterior and interior walls. The edges near the floor and ceiling are usually painted with a brush first to make sure the edges receive straight and even paint coverage. The rest of the wall is then filled in with a roller, which gives a thinner load of paint than a brush. Cutting in is vital for even edges. Oh, and make sure you don’t overload the brush with paint and create a thick border around the edges – this is called “picture framing” and is the sign of an amateur (a bit like those ladies who leave a high tide line between their foundation on the face and their bare neck … wrong, wrong, wrong).

YOU’VE GOTTA LOVE THE ADDITIVES:

There are all kinds of things to add to a can of paint. Low-fume additives can take away smells while anti-fungal additives can be used in wet areas like bathrooms and laundries. There are literally hundreds of colour tints that can be added, but most of these will be enamel-based. Check with paint manufacturers to find the paint that best suits the job you plan doing. Most paint companies have websites with detailed specifications that are worth looking up before you tackle the job.
So bring out your inner artist and remember that painting is all about P-words. Planning, Preparing, and the Power to undertake hard work. Or maybe it’s just about chucking a coat of slops on the walls and taking tai chi lessons, But beware, Waving Hands Like Clouds while applying Sultry Glance could get messy.

QUICK DIY TIPS

Buy the best paint for the purpose – mould-resistant paints for bathrooms, wash-and-wear acrylics for busy living areas and durable acrylics for exteriors.
Splurge on the tools – buy the best paint brushes and rollers you can afford, it makes the job easier. Professional painters always buy the most expensive brushes as they make it easier to load the paint on the wall easily and are often lighter and easier to manoeuvre.
Make it shine – use the new-style metallic paints as a dramatic light-reflecting feature wall in a dark room. There are also special effects paints to create distinctive textures or unusual colours.
Earthy colours – greens, blues and neutrals from nature are the colour trends for the future, according to Dulux colour forecasts.
When choosing exterior colours, lean towards the lighter shades as they tend to look better for longer before requiring repainting.
Canvas drop sheets are the best to stop paint penetrating floors and furniture – but old bed sheets can work too. Some professional painters buy second-hand sheets from hotels to use as drop sheets.

TOP TIP: CALCULATING QUANTITIES
To work out how many litres of paint you need to buy for your job, measure up the room or object you plan on painting to find the square metreage. A wall that measures 4m by 3m needs12 square metres of coverage (3m x 4m = 12sq m). If that wall needs two coats of paint, it needs 24 square metres of coverage. Most acrylic paints have between 14 and 16 square metres of coverage per litre, so two litres of paint will be needed for the job and there will be paint left over. Check paint manufacturers specifications for exact square metre coverage per litre.


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RENOVATOR: Guide to painting a house, originally published in The Australian Women’s Weekly, January 2006 By Alex May My carpenter calls paint “the coat of slops”. Something you slap on to cover up a multitude of sins. I think paint is more like the coat of many covers. It can turn the dull, dirty and drab into the clean, colourful and cheerful. And painting is so easy, right? STEP ONE: Choose colour. Be slightly boggled by the fact that there are 306 different shades of beige. Be further boggled by colour names like Cuddlepot, Bashful and Sultry Glance. STEP TWO: Visit bank. Take out loan. Buy paint. Lay down drop sheets and start painting. Try not to be disturbed by paint dripping into hair, eyes and clothes. Wonder why paint isn’t on walls, yet covers you completely. Spend hours cleaning. STEP THREE: Take a quick course in tai chi. Breathe. Apply principals to self and discover that Grasping Tiger’s Tail on Waxing Moon is easier than grasping a paint brush for hours on end. Apply second coat to cover up drips and streaky patches of first coat. Chase cat out of the room. Apply the now-needed third coat to cover up crap second coat. Debate the best way to remove cat’s paw prints that decorate hallway floor. Take another deep breath as cat sits on freshly painted window sill. STEP FOUR: Hire a professional painter? Dulux colour and communication manager Andrea Lucena-Orr says market research shows about half of all paint-buyers attempt to paint a house themselves. The rest choose a professional to tackle the job. All-knowing professional painter Lynton Smith says dodgy DIY paint jobs are a dime a dozen. “You can always tell when someone’s had a go at trying to paint a house themselves,” says Lynton, who runs Allways Painting in Adelaide. “People choose the wrong paint for the wrong surface, use acrylics where they shouldn’t, and apply it badly. “When you paint a wall in the fast-drying acrylics, you can’t go off for a fag or a drink half way through or you come back and no matter how well you apply the paint, you can see the join. It looks awful.” Oh. So here’s some little lessons to avoid paint disasters: PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE: Preparing the surface for painting is more important than applying the paint. All surfaces should be sanded, clean and dry before fresh paint goes on. Yep. It’s lots and lots of work. Lynton reckons he spends 60 per cent of his time on the job preparing – usually stripping old paint off, filling holes and gaps and sanding – before applying any paint. BE KEEN ON SHEEN: Sheen is the shine level of paint, usually described as gloss, semi-gloss or matte(flat). The flatter the sheen, the more coverage the paint has. Glossier paints have greater strength and protective qualities. Learning your sheens will make your paint jobs shine. ACRYLIC PAINT VS ENAMEL PAINTS: Solvent-based paints such as enamels are still used, but they are considered less environmentally friendly as brushes need washing with turps or thinners and they release more Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Acrylic paints have better coverage and flexibility and wash out in water. There are also so-called natural paints such as limewash that don’t contain man-made chemicals. Ecospecifier Technical Director and author of The Healthy House, David Baggs, says natural paints often don’t have the durability that families need. “Most families with children need paint that is easy to maintain and wash,” he says. Lynton reckons the low-VOC paints are worth using if someone in the house has asthma or respiratory problems. THE PAINTING SEQUENCE: Whether you are painting a lounge room or a picket fence, you should plan a sequence to make the job as easy as possible. Lynton suggests a typical lounge room sequence could be to 1) clean and sand all surfaces, 2) paint the interior wood work (skirtings, doors, picture rails), 3) then do the ceiling first by cutting in around the edges and then rollering the rest, 4) tackle one wall at a time, cutting in first and then rollering the walls being careful to blend all wet edges before they begin to dry. When painting windows or doors, it is easiest to choose certain panels or sections in sequence rather than starting at one side and moving to the other. CUTTING IN: This is usually done on large surfaces like exterior and interior walls. The edges near the floor and ceiling are usually painted with a brush first to make sure the edges receive straight and even paint coverage. The rest of the wall is then filled in with a roller, which gives a thinner load of paint than a brush. Cutting in is vital for even edges. Oh, and make sure you don’t overload the brush with paint and create a thick border around the edges – this is called “picture framing” and is the sign of an amateur (a bit like those ladies who leave a high tide line between their foundation on the face and their bare neck … wrong, wrong, wrong). YOU’VE GOTTA LOVE THE ADDITIVES: There are all kinds of things to add to a can of paint. Low-fume additives can take away smells while anti-fungal additives can be used in wet areas like bathrooms and laundries. There are literally hundreds of colour tints that can be added, but most of these will be enamel-based. Check with paint manufacturers to find the paint that best suits the job you plan doing. Most paint companies have websites with detailed specifications that are worth looking up before you tackle the job. So bring out your inner artist and remember that painting is all about P-words. Planning, Preparing, and the Power to undertake hard work. Or maybe it’s just about chucking a coat of slops on the walls and taking tai chi lessons, But beware, Waving Hands Like Clouds while applying Sultry Glance could get messy. QUICK DIY TIPS Buy the best paint for the purpose – mould-resistant paints for bathrooms, wash-and-wear acrylics for busy living areas and durable acrylics for exteriors. Splurge on the tools – buy the best paint brushes and rollers you can afford, it makes the job easier. Professional painters always buy the most expensive brushes as they make it easier to load the paint on the wall easily and are often lighter and easier to manoeuvre. Make it shine – use the new-style metallic paints as a dramatic light-reflecting feature wall in a dark room. There are also special effects paints to create distinctive textures or unusual colours. Earthy colours – greens, blues and neutrals from nature are the colour trends for the future, according to Dulux colour forecasts. When choosing exterior colours, lean towards the lighter shades as they tend to look better for longer before requiring repainting. Canvas drop sheets are the best to stop paint penetrating floors and furniture – but old bed sheets can work too. Some professional painters buy second-hand sheets from hotels to use as drop sheets. TOP TIP: CALCULATING QUANTITIES To work out how many litres of paint you need to buy for your job, measure up the room or object you plan on painting to find the square metreage. A wall that measures 4m by 3m needs12 square metres of coverage (3m x 4m = 12sq m). If that wall needs two coats of paint, it needs 24 square metres of coverage. Most acrylic paints have between 14 and 16 square metres of coverage per litre, so two litres of paint will be needed for the job and there will be paint left over. Check paint manufacturers specifications for exact square metre coverage per litre.