Painting Interior Walls

smr

smr

smr

Soldato
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Leicestershire
Hi,

I'm a total DIY newbie. I'd like to paint the walls in my new build house. Currently every room is white, and the walls are plasterboard. I've bought some emulsion paint and rollers, but before applying the paint, do I need to apply anything to the walls first or can I just start painting with the emulsion paint I've bought?

Thanks!
 
Dust sheets and take your time with rollers as they will spit paint everywhere if overloaded and will spit fine paint anyway.

Have fun.
 
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Thanks guys, re rollers - I bought a Harris roller set, comes with 4x roller sleeves, 1x tray & 1x frame. But the reviews for it aren't that great - would I be better off buying the Hamilton perfection 9" roller?
 
smr said:
Thanks guys, re rollers - I bought a Harris roller set, comes with 4x roller sleeves, 1x tray & 1x frame. But the reviews for it aren't that great - would I be better off buying the Hamilton perfection 9" roller?
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Harris is fine, just make sure the roller matches the paint used.


I use no name rollers, unless the neighbours are looking in and then a flash the big name rollers :cry:
 
What I tend to do is wrap the tray is shrink wrap so I can take it off when I’ve finished - saves cleaning.
I also wrap the roller tightly in it as well to stop it drying out if you are painting over a few days.

Might also want to get a multi tool:

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I’ve found it really useful. It’s amazing how much paint you can scrape out of a roller.
 
Liquid_Entity said:
Make sure you cut in well and use decent frog tape. There was also a video in circulation a while back on here on hpw to cut in some special way. Can't find it now.
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Never really understood why people mask stuff off when painting? I’ve very rarely seen a pro do it and only used it myself when the wife wanted the top and bottom of a wall differedent colours!
 
a1ex2001 said:
Never really understood why people mask stuff off when painting? I’ve very rarely seen a pro do it and only used it myself when the wife wanted the top and bottom of a wall differedent colours!
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I only mask when spraying, but not everyone has a steady hand and good eyes.
 
aVdub said:
I only mask when spraying, but not everyone has a steady hand and good eyes.
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Taping stuff up takes so long even if you make a few mistakes cutting in it’s so much quick just to touch up not to mention the inevitable pulls or bleed when you remove the tape that still mean a touch up is needed.
 
I've had two new builds. Every wall I painted, I sanded down first. I hate the texture of the paint - it should be smooth IMO. The way they apply it leaves a weird texture. I think it also conrtibutes to dust issues, so painting will help at the very least.
 
Get an extention pole for the roller, it makes doing walls and ceilings so much easier, quicker and a lot less strain on your back.

How they connect to your roller frame can be different for each brand.
I went for Wooster
https://www.screwfix.com/p/wooster-sherlock-gt-convertible-extension-pole-2-4/9014g
and
https://www.screwfix.com/p/wooster-sherlock-paint-roller-frame-9/5139g

It's worth getting a bigger paint scuttle, it makes loading the roller a lot easier and then gives up a place to store all your decorating tools afterwards.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/harris-trade-paint-scuttle-15ltr/1014x

Harris or Hamilton rollers and brushes are good to use.
 
Also a DIY newbie and recent first time homeowner who recently painted my entire house. My advice:

  • Prime the surfaces with a primer first. Possibly unnecessary depending on how much of a cheapskate your building developer was, but mine must've used some of the cheapest "paint" (if you can call it that) possible - incredibly chalky and horrible to paint over.
  • No matter how much of a chore it is, you're likely looking at a minimum 2 coats for most walls. I managed to get away with just 2 for my house.
  • Look on Youtube beforehand for proper rolling and cutting in technique.
  • Don't cheap out on tools. They make your life so much easier. The bare minimum you'll want will be a decent 9" roller frame with a pole extension, a 2-3" angled brush for cutting in (Purdy, Wooster and the like). Visit a Dulux decorating centre if you have one nearby; they tend to stock the good stuff compared to B&Q/Wickes
  • When cutting in, I found having one of those little painting pails with the disposable inserts and magnet to hold the paintbrush and some way to hold a small 4" roller an absolute lifesaver. Screwfix sell one. I got a Purdy one, but for some reason all the inserts are sold out everywhere, so I had to scrub it out with each paint change.
  • Cling film wrap your brush/roller securely if you're going to take a break but still need to paint with that particular paint. It should keep for a good week or so.
 
As above and can also recommend spending as much as possible on quality paint. It can really make a difference.
 
Also it used to be the case (not sure anymore) that there were 2 different diameters of rollers, this is only an issue when you get new sleeves, but it's still something to watch out for. I prefer taping to get a nice sharp edge, but it does somethings bring the paint off when you peel it (only on emulsion, doesn't seem to pull gloss off).
 
after a nightmare experience last year with awful paint from johnstons (never again) no two cans of paint mixed/stating the same colour are the same believe it or not.

If you need more than one tin of paint for a room the best practice is to mix two tins of the same paint together then apply.

Delux is no where as bad as how far off johnstons is though.
 
Another thing to watch out for is buying reduced price paint from the large DIY stores and not buying enough and then finding out that paint has been discontinued.

I've seen someone kicking off in Homebase over this and the fact he'd only painted half a room :cry:
 
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