In what order would you start redecorating?

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Just bought a two bed maisonette in London, currently in rented accommodation and have about a week's grace to play with where the newly bought flat will be empty.

I am intending to do the below and in this order, would that be right?

1) Rip out the carpets revealing the floorboards
2) Sand said floorboards
3) Repaint the walls / ceiling
4) Varnish sanded floorboards

I'll be doing all of the above steps myself. One of the rooms possibly needs replastering or skimming, if so can I still crack on with step and 2 in that room? I presume I can?
 
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Don
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I would do all the sanding and preparation maybe any mist coat and skimming before you lift the carpets. That way you’ll trap all the dust and splashes and easily roll it up and dispose. If you weren’t mucking about with floorboards I’d say leave the carpet down till last before you’re replacing it.
 
Soldato
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Personally I'd do 4 before 3 because paint is usually easier to get off varnish than the sanded wood floor boards but there's pro's and cons to both ways.

As said what about plastering/skimming the walls and you also haven't said anything about the skirting/door frames etc or are they just painted?
 
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I would do all the sanding and preparation maybe any mist coat and skimming before you lift the carpets. That way you’ll trap all the dust and splashes and easily roll it up and dispose. If you weren’t mucking about with floorboards I’d say leave the carpet down till last before you’re replacing it.

Thank you, that's a good idea.

Have you missed step one, or have you already completed it

Step 1 ) check floorboards are actually decent enough that planning to sand (and varnish/oil) them is a valid option

Valid question and a good point. The floorboards in the kitchen and hallway are already exposed but looking a bit worn. So you're right, I may find that under the carpets in the rooms that some of the floorboards are rekt, if that is the case, I presume I can hopefully replace the worn out floorboards?

Personally I'd do 4 before 3 because paint is usually easier to get off varnish than the sanded wood floor boards but there's pro's and cons to both ways.

As said what about plastering/skimming the walls and you also haven't said anything about the skirting/door frames etc or are they just painted?

I think my thinking was that even though the floor would be covered whilst I paint, if anything did drip I could sand it out before varnishing.

Re door frames and skirting, they will need repainting too I think.
 
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1) Rip out the carpets revealing the floorboards
1.5) Fill gaps between floorboards
2) Sand said floorboards
4) Varnish sanded floorboards
3) Repaint the walls / ceiling

Based on the fact, from experience, the dust when you sand the floorboards is horrific, and if you've already painted the walls will leave dust all over them. Depends on the paint though, we used a rally mat emulsion and the dust stuck to it like **** to a blanket! Also you'll scuff the skirting boards with the sander. As said above getting paint of a varnished floor is easy.

We also filled all the gaps in our floorboards to reduce drafts and make them easier to clean. It is however a worse job than actually sanding them! Used Ronseal wood filler in silicon style tube though so can just squeeze it into the gaps.
 
Soldato
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Are you getting any help? That's a surprising amount of work to do for 1 guy in a week. It's surprising how much longer things end up taking.

Do you need to account for moving all your stuff in by the end of that week as well?
 
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Just bought a two bed maisonette in London, currently in rented accommodation and have about a week's grace to play with where the newly bought flat will be empty.

I am intending to do the below and in this order, would that be right?

1) Rip out the carpets revealing the floorboards
2) Sand said floorboards
3) Repaint the walls / ceiling
4) Varnish sanded floorboards

I'll be doing all of the above steps myself. One of the rooms possibly needs replastering or skimming, if so can I still crack on with step and 2 in that room? I presume I can?

Yes, but you need to cover the floorboards while you are painting. A thick plastic sheet and some 2" masking tape is a good idea. mask it off so you can still paint the skirting. It has the added bonus that the masking tape is doing two jobs at once, it's stopping you getting paint on the floor and it's also holding the plastic sheet in place. Also be aware that when you remove the carpet there may be a considerable gap between the skirting and the floor. Assuming you don't have tons of DIY equipment then you may need to apply a beading all around the skirting to close the gap.
 
Soldato
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A week will go faster than you think.

If possible do the dirty/dusty tasks first before moving any stuff in. Open windows and fan the dust out whilst working. It's possible to fill any cracks at the same time. Rip out carpets etc. Then hoover, wipe down and clean for paint/wallpaper.
It will take time for plaster to dry, for paint layers to dry etc.. so time will go quick.

Once you have stuff in the house it will be far harder to work around it. We planned 2 weeks overlap, but then the house took longer to go through and we ended up with less than a week. We had chance to shampoo the carpets and get dry but nothing else.
 
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Beware if not already, that paint on the skirting and doors takes time to harden. I remember when decorating my last house to sell I organised the carpet fitter to come 2 days after painting, he highly recommended waiting a week if not longer. He was right, the paint was way to soft.

Get some LED site lights if painting in the evening and night time for illumination or you'll wake up the next day to blotches and missed patches.
 
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Are you getting any help? That's a surprising amount of work to do for 1 guy in a week. It's surprising how much longer things end up taking.

Do you need to account for moving all your stuff in by the end of that week as well?

It'll be me and my partner - but yes, I appreciate it's probably quite a lot to try and do! Yes - moving stuff at the end of that week.

Having looked again at the surveyors report it might be that we can do without the replastering as it seems to be largely cosmetic - cracks in the plaster etc.
 
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I ended up buying one of these after a recommendation by another forum member. It was an absolute godsend and I only wished I brought one earlier.

https://www.toolstation.com/mirka-dust-extraction-handy-sander-kit/p86220

Good idea but not cheap for what it is! I've got a Macallister 1/3 sheet sander which I connect to the wet/dry vac for extraction and it works a treat.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/mac-allister-msss200-electric-sheet-sander-220-240v/126gf

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKbVSP2nYaK/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
 
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Good idea but not cheap for what it is! I've got a Macallister 1/3 sheet sander which I connect to the wet/dry vac for extraction and it works a treat.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/mac-allister-msss200-electric-sheet-sander-220-240v/126gf

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKbVSP2nYaK/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
That’s an alternative although the abranet sanding sheets it uses are superb and very long lasting.

https://www.toolstation.com/mirka-dust-extraction-handy-sander-kit/p95150
 
Associate
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For £40 I want it to be doing the work for me though! Having just scotchbrite'd a floor to smooth it up after varnishing I'm not doing that again!
 
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