Painting my kitchens exposed parts (including ceiling) - Basic questions.

[David Smithz]

Ok my friends etc. have let me down, so it looks like I'm on my own decorating my kitchen tomorrow.

After a newly replastered ceiling and complete kitchen fitting, I need to

1) Paint the ceiling. 2) Paint the mdf bits of wood that are boxing in pipe work. 3) Paint the walls that are still left - currently a bit dirty from previous owner.

I need to consider I have to cover up all my nicely newly fitted kitchen and floor so it does not get ruined so I will get some B&Q plastic sheet sets and use cardboard all over the floor.

So what sort of paints do I need for what? As it is a fresh coat of ceiling plaster, what sort of paint do I use first? I assume the mdf wood that has boxed in pipes needs some primer first otherwise I will need many coats right?

also I was thinking of getting cheap brushes and just chucking them when done - the thought of washing them out and then finding somewhere to store them does not appeal.

So any tips for me:)

Thanks for any pointers to this new decorator.

Cheers

[Chris Cowley]

Don't bother with the cheap brushes, because what happens (at least in my experience) is they they lose bristles left, right and centre and ruin your paint job.

[DJC]

Should have done the painting before you fitted the kitchen

[The Medway Handyman]

Emulsion paint. Current wisdom is to thin the first coat with water, read the instructions on the tin for details.

Emulsion or gloss. Emulsion will go straight on without primer, gloss needs special MDF primer.

Clean down with sugar soap and then emulsion paint.

I assume its dry?

Not with emulsion.

To be honest thats what I do. You might get the odd bristle loss, but thats less of a problem than washing brushes & rollers IMO - life is far too short. B&Q do some decorating 'kits' which include brushes, rollers & trays really cheap & the quality is OK.

The new generation 'kiychen & bathroom' emulsions are worth the extra money. Don't cut costs with cheap paint.

[Stuart]

Personally I would bin the idea of using the plastic sheets .My experience is that they take on a life of their own and are tricky to keep in place and dangerous to walk on as they are slippy as hell. Go to a deorators merchant or somewhere and get decorators dust covers ..they are usually pretty cheap

Stuart

[Stuart]

Use eggshell.. It looks classier..

Stuart

[urchaidh]

I'm just going through the same thing, here's a few observations - assuming you're not already off to Shedworld.

A cotton dust sheet is better than plastic, though where it lies flat on a surface stick a bit of newspaper underneath as paint can seep through a bit if you have a bigger spill. With modern paints and rollers, a little bit of spatter is all you need really worry about.

If you're painting round installed stuff, get busy with masking tape and make a neat job of it. An extra hour ot two's preperation makes all the difference.

Buy decent brushes and resuse them for at least the length of the job. Modern paints all wash out pretty well. I tend to discard rollers more often as, even onece washed and dried, they never seem to work as well again.

I prepared new plaster with a specific plaster prep rather than watered down emulsion. That seemed to wprk just fine, but I can't comment on whether it was better/worse/cheaper than the other options.