[Closed] please bear with me 🙂 decorating help

Probably worth enrolling at www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk - brilliant forum and loads of good advice.

Readers digest do a good DIY book, everything is covered from wallpapering to fixing guttering.

Also if lining buy a heavyweight paper, they do one with a slightly rough (like parchment) finish that is good for covering rough walls. It's also easier to hang.

With the gloss don't strip anything unless you have too, you'll be making more hard work for yourself. Basically you need to key over all the old gloss that’s good and feather edges where it’s chipped down to wood. Also don't forget to undercoat bare wood. Consider using something like an egg shell paint on the gloss areas (unless you really want a shiny finish) it's much easier to get a nice finish & IMHO looks better. Getting perfect shiny gloss takes alot of prep and skill.

Don't use cheap sandpaper/sanding discs its false economy and will take you much longer as the paper degrades much faster.

For materials see if you have something like a dulux decorators centre local or a good builders merchants with a decorators section. They can give good advise on paints/brushes etc and it should be cheaper than focus/B&Q. If you find one of these places don’t feel afraid to ask questions no how matter how stupid you think they sound.

Mick just noticed you are in Yorkshire, if not too far from Skipton I'd be happy to give you advise on the jobs. I'm not an expert but have renovated a couple of houses and done more decorating than I care to remember.

Buy a filling knife or a stripping knife. Then try a few bits of the wallpaper in different places. If it won't come off easily, or if you can't stand to do the rest, hire a steam stripper.

Wash everything - don't forget the ceiling. A big sponge is useful.

When its all off and clean then check the walls. You can line it but if its bad re-plastering will always be much better. For lining you'll need: big brush, papering table, bucket, big scissors, tape measure, paper, paste, length of string with a weight on the end. You'll need a screwdriver to remove switch faceplates. The one you use to adjust your gears will be perfect. Before lining you'll need polyfiller for all the holes in the walls - the powder you mix yourself is best.

For rubbing down the woodwork you need sandpaper of various grades, sanding block, dust mask. You don't need to get it all off. You'll probably need flexible filler to fill any gaps between the woodwork and the walls. Get the tubes and the gun type applicator because then you can pretend its a real gun when nobody is looking. If lining you want to rub down before the lining does up, then seal with the filler after. Remove the door, hinges, etc cos painted hinges look crap.

I prefer then to do the rest in this order: ceiling, wood, walls. You'll need: a good quality small brush 1-2 inches, roller, tray, cloth for spills, a stiring stick, white spirit if its oil based, and dust sheets if you care about the floor. Don't paint from the tin - decant into something else (the bucket or tray). You'll need 2 coats minimum depending on the paint. More expensive paint is worth it IMO. Take your time on the wood. For walls and ceiling cut in with the small brush and fill with the roller.

+1 on the readers digest book

Strip down peeled gloss and i presume sand door gloss then gloss them

How old is the gloss paint on the doors mi©k?

Your probably aware of the danger of lead in early gloss paint, but just in case you are not, if it is old, get it checked/tested 😉

You can save quite a lot by using Glidden paints instead of Dulux - it's made by the same people and I actually think it goes on better. It's thinner than Dulux retail emulsion, so you'll get a bit more splatter if you try and throw it on quickly, but if you use good quality 1.75" rollers and go steeady, you'll be fine.

There wood system is spot on to, a couple of coats of undercoat and one of satinwood gives a good finish over pre-painted stuff. If you're covering varnish, consider using Zinsser Cover Stain to stop the pigment leeching through the top coat.

You'd be surprise what you can get away with when painting bad walls - I give them a coat of cheap Glidden white trade emulsion, then de-nib with a scraper and fill any holes (use B&Q Value coving adhesive for filling - it's miles cheaper than polyfiller etc and is easier to sand if you need to).

If you repeat this process a couple of times, you'll have a really nice flat, even-coloured wall to put your expensive colour coat on.

Good point Ski forgot about lead paint, if your house is 70's or older it's worth checking.

The kits are cheap - http://www.premier-paints.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2&zenid=8ba32403ab797b08d137f8b728d02d72

Oh, another tip for stripping wallpaper, put a glug of fabric softener in a bucket of water and get the walls nice and wet with a big sponge. It works better than plain water or steam IMO.

heck thats a lot lol thanks for all the tips. Im in leeds fella so a bit far away cheers tho. Gloss paint is only a few years old really so should be ok. Id ideally have skimmed the walls but if ive never touched wall paper christ knows how id get on with skimming it lol 🙂 thanks all i'll have a look for the book and take a look at the link. Thanks all mrs thinks i should pay someone and get out on my bike maybe shes right 🙂

shibboleth do you mean a 1.75" roller ? And whats denibbing . Are you meaning to do this rather than line paper it? Thanks

ok are harris brushes any good as local hardwear shop sell those thanks

The rollers you get in B&Q tend to be 1.5" diametre. Decorators use 1.75" (have a look at www.tradefirst.co.uk for really cheap, pro quality stuff like this) which give more even coverage and less splatter.

Denibbing is simply going over the wall with a scraper to get rid of any little lumps or 'nibs'. A mist coat (slightly diluted cheap trade emulsion) hardens up any lumps of wallpaper or adhesive that may have been left after stripping and makes it easy to smooth down with a scraper and some sandpaper.

If you've not done any decorating before, papering is a big undertaking - filling and sanding will be far easier and you're less likely to make a pig's ear of it!

Harris brushes are fine - the zero loss are quite nice for glossing. Just remember to wash them carefully as they get better with use, so don't think of them as disposable.

Wrap them in cling film (or foil for gloss) so you don't have to wash out between each coat. Same goes for rollers - I have a white and a magnolia roller permanently wrapped up ready to go, they stay wet forever.

ah right thanks very much for the info . Cheers all 🙂 wish me luck lol

Best of luck Mick, for the record, I'm not a professional decorator - I have rental properties so got an awful lot (far too much!) experience tidying up houses.

lucky man lol cheers mick

The old saying of 'buy cheap, buy twice' is a good guide.

Best tip i had when hanging lining paper was to paste 4 or 5 drops, to really let the paste soak in, use nice heavy paper, and to paste the wall just before hanging. Ours (pre 1900) have come up a treat.

And I would agree on the ceiling/woodwork/walls plan as cutting in edges isn't much fun!

Have fun 🙂

I'm a ceiling/walls/woodwork kinda guy - you get a much sharper edge cutting in gloss/satinwood over emulsion.

Yes don't get thin wallpaper!! and those paint pads are really good for edges and awkward bits and are quick too.

And don't get too thick lining paper either - it is a bitch to fold into corners etc. If it were me I would rather use a thin paper than a thick one any day of the week.