Hi all, I am going to redecorate my house and am starting with a bedroom and was wondering which order I should paint. Should I do the ceiling first then the walls then the skirting/door frames. Also how do I get a neat edge between the skirting board and the walls. The previous owner made a bit of a mess of it. Also between the ceiling and the walls. Thank you in advance for any help, Tracy
Ceiling first then whatever order suits you after that.
Also how do I get a neat edge
Decent brush and a steady hand is the only way I know. One of the reasons for picture rails and coving is they give you a straight edge to paint to.
Yes definitely ceiling first because of the high probability of splotting while you're doing it.
Personally, I then always do the walls next, because the work is much less precise than needed for the fiddly bits with woodwork, so you can use a relatively large brush to paint the borders (ie adjacent to the doorframe/skirting etc) without worrying overly about overpainting the woodwork. Indeed, I find it's best at this point if you *do* overlap onto the woodwork slightly; that gets lost when you paint the woodwork and makes for a neat interface.
Go round the ceiling/wall and wall/woodwork junctions first using a tube of decorator's caulk in a sealant gun to cover any cracks - makes a big difference to the quality of the finish.
David
Overlapping definitely makes getting a straight line finish easier. I usually put the finish coat onto the woodwork, picture rail, skirting etc and overlap onto the wall a bit. Then put the last coat of paint on the wall and cut in to the skirting or picture rail with the emulsion brush.
You have to get your head around the subtle art of cutting in. Once learned it will save hours of time with masking tape and/or strips of board or what have you.
(You can use an old handsaw against the wall when painting skirting. The saw acts as a foil and gets all the paint you mess up with otherwise. It is fiddly and takes ages doing it that way. If you intend to leave the carpet down, you will need wide masking tape and maybe blind it off further back with newspapers.)
To cut in, use a medium sized, well used brush and load the paint well, wipe it on the inside of the tin (use a small tin ) this leaves the optimum amount of paint on the brush now let a flow of paint move from the brush to the top of the skirting. When the stream dries, reload the brush.
New brushes will shed bristles and cause a lot of nuisance. Leave them until later to pick them out. At least you won't get too much paint on your hands that way. Use a roller as far as you can as it cuts out a lot and I mean an enormous lot of brushwork.
It's as simple as that. You need to remove dirt, dust, lumps and bumps. Painted walls will need sanding unless you are going over paper.
Paint the ceiling edges then roller the rest. After that cut in the top edges of the walls and paint them. Paint the walls. Cut in the top edges of the architraves (The wood around the door frames.)
Cut in the skirtings, then paint the door frames and then the skirting.
Oil paint will flow much better onto woodwork that has been very lightly sanded. With moldings on woodwork you usually paint the intricate stuff first then any run off can be bled into the flat stuff quite easily.
Your attitude should not be one of getting as much colour on as soon as possible to make the job disappear. You should aim instead to enjoy the preparation as it is half the work. Divide the time you can give it into targets to reach and don't take too long doing them. After an hour or two of concentrated effort, stop for a quick cuppa.
The day will disappear before you realise it and most of the work will be finished.
As with loading the brush, a roller needs an optimum amount of paint to make life easy. A steady stream of paint should flow ahead of your roller. Otherwise you will be putting it on too thin and may have to go over it. You are not really rolling or brushing it out; -what you should be doing is pouring it on.
It is AFTER the paint has been applied that you can brush it out evenly. Again once you are in the swing of it you will start enjoying yourself. Its only a matter of getting the knack.
Wear a cap or scarf for walls and ceilings to protect your hair. Any acrylic paint that gets on cloth can be washed off with cold water if you notice it straight away. If you leave it 5 or 10 minutes it will dry and become part of the fabric.
You should do them in a three hours max for a cleared away bedroom. Allow another three or four for the woodwork but it could take a lot less. (It's the cleaning and the other prep that buggers me.)
Good luck.
And if you wear glasses, protect the lenses with taut Clingfilm when you do the ceilings. You do not need to do this if you wear contact lenses :-)
Yeah, I just wrap my whole head in the stuff.
David
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