Painting & Wall Finishing

Part 1

The order of work, which is most of the job

Doing these out of order means doing several of them twice. This sequence is why professional results look different.

1. 1

   Empty and protect first

   Everything out that can leave. What stays goes into the middle under a cloth. Take down curtain rails, switch plates and socket covers rather than taping round them — it takes ten minutes and it is the difference between a neat edge and an obviously amateur one.

2. 2

   Fix the surface before anything else

   Fill, let it dry fully, sand flat. Every defect you can see now will be more obvious under fresh paint, not less, because new paint is uniform and draws the eye to anything that is not.

3. 3

   Wash the walls

   Sugar soap and warm water, top to bottom, then clean water to rinse. Kitchens and anywhere near a cooker need it most. Skipping this is the commonest reason paint peels off in sheets a year later.

4. 4

   Prime what needs priming

   Bare filler, bare wood, water stains and any dark-to-light color change all need primer. Filler is far more absorbent than the wall around it, so painting straight onto it leaves visible dull patches called flashing, no matter how many coats you apply.

5. 5

   Ceiling, then walls, then woodwork

   Always top down, because everything drips. Woodwork last, because it is the fiddliest and you do not want to protect it while rolling a wall above it.

6. 6

   Cut in, then roll, one wall at a time

   Brush the edges of a wall, then roll the middle immediately while the brushed edge is still wet. If the edge dries first, the join shows as a visible band of different texture.

Part 2

Filling holes so they disappear

Nearly every bad filling job is the same two mistakes: one thick application, and not sanding it flush.

1. 1

   Prepare the hole

   Scrape away anything loose and any raised edge around the hole with the corner of the filling knife. A hole with a lip around it cannot be filled flat, and pushing filler over the lip just makes a bump.

2. 2

   Fill slightly proud, in thin coats

   Press filler in firmly so there is no air behind it, and leave it very slightly above the surface — filler shrinks a little as it dries. For anything deeper than a few millimetres, build it in two or three thin layers with drying time between, because a single thick fill cracks in the middle as it cures.

3. 3

   Sand flush, not flat

   Once fully dry, sand with a sponge using light circular strokes, feathering out well beyond the repair. Run your fingertips over it with your eyes shut — your hands detect a ridge your eyes will miss under work lights and then see clearly in daylight.

4. 4

   Prime the repair

   Always. This is the step that separates a repair you cannot find from one that shows as a dull patch through two coats of finish paint.

5. 5

   Larger holes need backing

   Anything bigger than a coin has nothing to hold the filler. Use a self-adhesive mesh patch, or for a real hole, cut a neat rectangle, screw a scrap of wood behind it as a backing, and fit a patch of matching board before filling the seams.

Part 3

Cutting in: the skill that makes it look professional

This is one technique and it takes about twenty minutes of practice to acquire. It is worth more than any tool.

1. 1

   Load the brush properly

   Dip about a third of the bristle length, then tap each side against the inside of the tin rather than dragging across the rim. Dragging strips one side of the brush and gives you an edge that runs.

2. 2

   Lay off a line, then push it in

   Make a first stroke about a centimetre away from the edge, so the brush unloads slightly. Then come back along and gently push the loaded edge of the bristles into the corner. A fully loaded brush placed straight onto the line floods it.

3. 3

   Long, slow, continuous strokes

   Move along the line in one steady pass rather than short dabs. Brace your little finger against the wall as a guide, and move your whole arm from the shoulder rather than flicking the wrist.

4. 4

   Consider skipping the tape

   A steady hand and an angled brush is faster than masking, and gives a crisper line, because paint wicks under tape edges. If you do tape, seal the edge by running a thin bead of the underlying color along it first — that seals any gap, and then the new color cannot bleed through.

5. 5

   Pull tape at the right moment

   While the paint is still slightly soft, pulling back on itself at a shallow angle. Left until fully cured, the paint film tears along the edge and takes flakes with it.

Part 4

Rolling walls without patches and streaks

• Wet the roller sleeve and spin it out before the first use. A dry sleeve absorbs the first load unevenly and sheds fluff into the paint.
• Work in sections about a meter square, and always finish each section with light strokes going one direction, floor to ceiling. That is called laying off and it is what makes the texture uniform.
• Keep a wet edge — always roll back into paint that is still wet. Coming back to an area that has begun to dry leaves a visible lap mark that no further coats hide.
• Two thin coats, always, and never one thick one. Thick coats sag, dry unevenly and take longer overall.
• Do not press hard. Pressure squeezes paint out of the sleeve at the ends and leaves tram lines. Let the roller carry the paint.
• Between coats, wrap the roller and brush tightly in a plastic bag and they will be usable hours later without washing.
• Buy enough paint for the whole job in one go and mix the tins together in a bucket if you have more than one. Batch-to-batch color varies slightly and a join is visible on a large wall.

Part 5

Choosing paint, briefly

Sheen matters more than brand. It decides durability, how washable it is, and how much of the wall's imperfection it shows.

• Flat or matt hides surface imperfections best and marks most easily. Right for ceilings and low-traffic rooms.
• Eggshell and satin have a slight sheen, wipe clean, and are the usual answer for hallways, kitchens and children's rooms.
• Semi-gloss and gloss are for woodwork, doors and trim — hard-wearing and washable, and they show every flaw in the surface underneath.
• Bathrooms and kitchens want a product specifically labelled for moisture. It contains a mildew inhibitor that ordinary paint does not.
• Water-based paints have improved enormously and now cover most jobs that once needed oil-based. They dry faster, smell less and clean up with water — and they do not yellow over time the way oil-based white does.
• Order of magnitude for planning: a gallon covers roughly 350 square feet in one coat. Measure the walls, subtract nothing for doors and windows, and buy for two coats.

Part 6

Cleaning up so the tools survive

1. 1

   Wash brushes immediately

   Water-based paint comes out with warm water and a little washing-up liquid; work it right up into the base of the bristles where paint collects and hardens. A brush left overnight is usually finished.

2. 2

   Reshape and hang to dry

   Squeeze the bristles back into their original shape, wrap in the paper sleeve the brush came in if you kept it, and hang bristles down. A brush dried standing on its bristles is permanently splayed.

3. 3

   Never pour paint down a drain

   It sets in the pipe and it is a pollutant. Leave leftover water-based paint open to harden, or stir in cat litter until solid, then it goes in ordinary waste. Solvent-based paint is hazardous waste and goes to a council facility.

4. 4

   Keep a labelled record

   Write the color name, code, finish and which room on the inside of a cupboard door, and keep a small sealed jar of each. Touching up a scuff in two years is a five-minute job if you have the exact paint and a repaint if you do not.