Book III
Painting and Wallpapering
In this book . . .
More people probably tackle painting and wallpapering than any other type of home improvement project. Applying a fresh coat of paint or hanging wallpaper is the easiest and most economical way to transform a room or a home’s exterior and to make it uniquely your own. The chapters in this book take you through every step of the way – so get stuck in!
Here are the contents of Book III at a glance.
Chapter 1: Planning Your Painting Project
Chapter 2: Preparing Surfaces for Painting
Chapter 3: Painting, Finishing, and Cleaning Up
Chapter 4: Choosing Wallpaper and Preparing Walls
Chapter 5: Hanging Wallpaper
Chapter 1
Planning Your Painting Project
In This Chapter
Choosing the right finish for the job
Playing it safe with lead paint
Estimating how much paint you need
Selecting the right applicators
Using the proper painting techniques
With good preparation and planning, any job – big or small – will go smoothly, and you’ll reap the rewards of an attractive, long-lasting finish. This chapter walks you through the stages of planning a painting project, from selecting a finish to buying the right amount of paint to finding the best technique for the surface you’re painting.
A Primer on Finishes
The greatest hurdle you’re likely to face isn’t on your walls or ceilings; it’s in the aisles of your DIY store. Faced with mile-long shelves stacked to the ceiling with paints, stains, and other finishing products, you may stand there musing, ‘How on earth do I know what kind to buy?’
Beyond the ornamental purposes that paint, varnish, and other finishes provide, they bond with wood or other materials to protect the surface from heat, moisture, sunlight, chemicals, dirt, stains, and even fire. Depending on the formula and the application, a finish prevents (or slows) degradation caused by weathering and sunlight, wood rot, mildew growth, and rust; limits expansion and contraction due to changing moisture content and temperatures; and keeps surfaces cleaner and, when they get dirty, makes them easier to clean.
Water-based or oil-based?
When you reach the paint department, you face a choice between the two major types of paint, stains, varnishes, and other clear coatings: oil-based and water-based. Oil-based paint produces more durable and washable surfaces, but because cleaning up afterwards involves using paint thinner (or white spirit), it isn’t as user-friendly.
Water-based paint is the more popular choice because it’s much easier to work with and cleans up with soap and water. Plus, water-based paint dries quickly and produces fewer odours.
The most common approach is to use oil-based paint on woodwork and trim (such as skirting boards and architraves), where a hard, durable finish can be washed frequently, and water-based paint on the walls. First things first: Primers and sealers
Base coats include primers, sealers, and combination primer-sealers. You apply a base coat, or undercoat, under a topcoat (the top colour) to provide better adhesion and to seal and cover the surface for a more even application of the finish.
Certain topcoats don’t require a primer when used on certain surfaces. For example, you don’t need to prime when you’re recoating well-adhered paint with an identical paint (water-based gloss over water-based gloss, for example) and you’re not making a significant colour change. Fortunately, you don’t need to remember these rules – just read the label on the tin of topcoat paint: It will specify primer requirements, if any, for various surfaces.
Before you paint, you need to prime all unpainted surfaces, patched areas, and spots that you make bare in the preparation stages.
Primer generally dries fast; some can be topcoated after as little as an hour.
Use a sealer or primer-sealer if you’re painting a material that varies in porosity, such as newly installed plasterboard or a wood such as pine. The seal prevents the topcoat from being absorbed unevenly, which would give the finish a blotchy appearance or an uneven texture. Sealers also block stains. If you have kids, for example, you may have pen or crayon stains on your walls. To prevent bleed-through, apply a stain blocker, stain-killing sealer, or white-pigmented shellac. These primer-sealers are available in spray cans for small spots and in litre and 2.5 litre containers for large stained areas. You can also use primer-sealers to prevent the resin from wood knots bleeding through the topcoat.
Having had mixed results with the stain-sealing effectiveness of these products, especially when it comes to knots, we recommend that you apply two or three coats. Categorising finishes
Sorting through the myriad choices of topcoat isn’t as difficult as it may seem at first. Most fall into one of the following categories:
Exterior paints are formulated to withstand the effects of weather, damaging ultraviolet radiation, air pollution, extremes in heat and cold, expansion, and contraction. Exterior topcoats include masonry paints (intended for the body of the house but may be used for trim), trim paints, and a variety of speciality paints, such as those for metal roofs, barns, aluminium or UPVC cladding.
You can use some exterior paints indoors (read the label), but they aren’t designed to hold up to scrubbing as well as some interior paints are. Never use an interior finish outdoors. Interior paints include ceiling and wall emulsion in a range of sheens from matt to gloss, trim paints, and enamels in higher gloss ranges. Consider using special interior paints that contain fungicides for high-humidity areas such as kitchens and bathrooms. Interior textured paints, intended for use on ceilings and walls, contain sand or other texturing materials.
Interior and exterior stains are formulated for interior, exterior, or interior/exterior use. Although people associate stains primarily with wood, they are also available for concrete. Stains intended for interior applications offer little or no protection and must be topcoated with a protective, film-forming sealer finish such as varnish, or with a separate sealer and a wax or polish. Exterior stains have water-repellent and UV-reflecting qualities.
Varnish offers more protection than other sealer/finish approaches, such as shellacs, oils, and polishes. However, varnish masks the beauty of the wood more than the...
