How to do a good paint job?

PiKe

PiKe

PiKe

Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Lake District
I'm good at the theory behind things but when it comes to practice, it never quite works out.

I bought some brushes and some johnstons water based paint as it dries faster with having a cat in the house. I painted the window frame and skirting boards in the bathroom. After two coats it looked reasonable but the brush strokes are an eyesore. Also found that paint soaks through masking tape so it didn't really protect the surfaces I wasn't painting...

One day in decided it would be a good idea to paint one of those white, faux woodgrain doors with the same paint but it looked patchy, has runs in it and started to peel off. So I've had to get a new door, which the joiner then took 2.5hrs to hang it and then put a hole in the face of the door when drilling for the latch!!!

What am I doing wrong? I don't have days and days to painstaking prep and paint every inch of the house, are my brushes rubbish? Am I using the wrong paint? Hundreds and hundreds of people paint their own houses, are they not as fussy with getting it perfect or do I just suck?
 
Water based gloss/wood paint is pap, get some acrylic based satin gloss, much better finish, as for brush strokes get some good quality brushes, cheap brushes and a heavy hand will make a right mess of the paintwork.

The first door your painted was probably factory painted that's why the paint ran and peeled, it would need to be stripped with white spirits or turps before you could paint it with normal paint.
 
Not an expert but prep work is where its at, sanding machine if not peeling away the older multiple layers on paint to get that extra smooth surface and using sugar soap to clean the rest of the bits and dirt off.

And yes good paint brushes are a must, you would have to paint slowly and evenly and not overload on the brushes, search for some how to paint videos on youtube. I found a mini roller (good quality fluffy mini roller) provided a nicer finish then brushes.

Sometimes however I hear people buy new doors or get it paint dipped so its just done properly.

Again depends on surface, I also reckon its down to how many coats you use 2 imo does not cut it and can still show patches or blockyness, 3-4 really covers it and smooths it out.
 
light sand, acrylic primer/undercoat let dry then light sand again, dust off using a dust brush or large paintbrush, then apply top coat using a quality synthetic brush (purdy are best but also pricey) make sure the rooms not hot as it will dry even quicker
 
Perfect preparation prevents **** poor performance

Spend time sanding/stripping to get a good surface. If your fingertips can detect imperfections, you haven't done enough.
Use good quality paint and brushes.
Prime if raw wood surface is showing after sanding a painted surface
Always brush in the direction of the grain of the wood. On MDF and similar materials, usually best to use brush strokes in the direction of the longest edge (e.g. vertical on doors, horizontal on skirtings)
On large areas such as door panels use a "crosshatch" technique (brush across the grain, then with, repeat ensuring that the last strokes are "with" the grain).
Use thin coats, not thick ones. If it needs 2 coats, don't try to cover in one - it won't look nice
 
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If it is peeling then it could be dirt or grease etc on door. Plus, you have to use the right paint for the right surface!
 
I hate painting, and that's having spent far too much time working with my dad who is a painter and decorator by trade.

I've always been tempted to look at a sprayer but the prep work is even more then, although spraying radiators is always fun :D

Lots of advice here that will help. You can use a heat gun to remove old paint with a decent scraper. Wire wool can help too. I've never had any luck sanding a heavily painted surface with a sander, they always break on me. Take your time, lock the cat away and do it slowly.
 
Your door painting question has been answered well above so won't repeat.

I don't have time to wait when it comes to painting so I've never once used either damp sponge or sugar soap - I just buy a job lot of tac cloths and they do the job brilliantly. No they aren't the cheapest solution but rather than waiting 1/2 hour + I can crack on immediately.

If I do any filling, once dried (a good day for Easyfill) then I go over it with a coat of Zinniser Bullseye 123 to seal/prime it as sometimes water-based paint can cause filler to flake (worse with pollyfiller). This stuff is brilliant and may well be worth using to prime your doors.

This tape is brilliant and I use a clean 4” width wallpaper stripper to push the tape down between the skirting and carpet to ensure it doesn't get over carpet. I would look to remove tape after 12-24 hours and doing it in stages rather than metres at a time helps too.

I’ve recently started to use Farrow and Ball estate eggshell (brilliant white I believe) for skirting’s and sills and it is great stuff to work with, although will need 2 coats – very pleased with it so far and will be going over all the woodwork that has been done in satinwood at some point. May well work on your doors too (mine are pine so couldn't say for sure).

With walls (thanks to advice on here) I use telescopic roller pole and makes walls so much easier and easily able to apply the right pressure when rolling, rather than too much and paint flecks everywhere or too light and you have to go over it several times.
 
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PiKe said:
I'm good at the theory behind things but when it comes to practice, it never quite works out.

I bought some brushes and some johnstons water based paint as it dries faster with having a cat in the house. I painted the window frame and skirting boards in the bathroom. After two coats it looked reasonable but the brush strokes are an eyesore. Also found that paint soaks through masking tape so it didn't really protect the surfaces I wasn't painting...

above answer:for one johnstones paint are very good (water based) primers/undercoat/gloss/eggshell your problem is not them . bathroom tends to be wet/moist etc if your wood work is not dry when placing waterbase paint on it will not dry off properly this will also make your masking tape not to stick good ensce paint bled.

what to do : make sure all wood work is dry, give all wood work an good sanding down and then with the wife vacum suck all dust up, surround area to mask of is dry make sure the tip of the masking tape is pressed firmly. only when all dry and dusted apply 1st coat of undercoat when dry light sand over and dusted off apply 2nd coat again light sand pior to top coat. if you want an smooth baby bottom finish instead of sand paper use fine wet and dry


One day in decided it would be a good idea to paint one of those white, faux woodgrain doors with the same paint but it looked patchy, has runs in it and started to peel off. So I've had to get a new door, which the joiner then took 2.5hrs to hang it and then put a hole in the face of the door when drilling for the latch!!!

above anwser:again if its peeling you got some grease of some type on the door may be from kids who knows.
the prep from above if their grease on the door warm soapy water dry it all off,sand and vac off -_- 1st undercoat if ok top coat if not give it 2 undercoats light sand when dry then top coat


What am I doing wrong? I don't have days and days to painstaking prep and paint every inch of the house, are my brushes rubbish? Am I using the wrong paint? Hundreds and hundreds of people paint their own houses, are they not as fussy with getting it perfect or do I just suck?
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your problem :it sounds to me you trying to paint with just top coat alone (this wont work)grease on doors id like putting water on top of oil just floalts on top. water and oil don't mix.
it always best to prep your work 1st as it will pay of in the end. if you use cheap crap paint brushes you get what you pay for. always use primer or primer undercoat and then an top coat. don't use these one coat crap paints you end up doing 2-3 coats. with over 38yrs of experince am not talking rubbish i hope it helps you and others
 
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