Redecorating - recommendations on tools
Discussion
After some advice, I need to completely redecorate my property and I'm looking for any recommendations on the best tools to make life easy (I'm doing it myself). If anyone has any views on the best rollers / extensions or tools that will make the job less of a chore and make the end result look better, I'd appreciate it.
Cheers
Cheers
Best advice i can give with rollers is don't bother with over priced ones, just buy standard stuff from somewhere like screwfix, I used to buy from Wilko. Don't bother cleaning them, just put them in a bin liner and chuck in the bin. Life is too short to clean them, which you will feel obliged to do if you spend big on them. Brushes for emulsion doesn't really make a lot of difference as long as you don't buy the cheapest. If you are using gloss invest in a nice quality brush especially if you are using oil based paint. I have no recommendations, but follow those rules and you should be OK. The biggest one is buy paint from a decorators merchant rather than a DIY shed, and buy it all in one go. If buying a lot, ask for a discount.
I’ve decorated my whole property. I can recommend hamiltons prestige brushes. Don’t put frog tape on your newly painted emulation … it will pull. Mask on the top coated wood instead.
Use Toupret filler it’s the best. Don’t go thinking you will get the same result getting colours matched at the sheds thinking it’s the same as farrow and ball. Wrap used paint rollers on cling film … good to go next day.
Use Toupret filler it’s the best. Don’t go thinking you will get the same result getting colours matched at the sheds thinking it’s the same as farrow and ball. Wrap used paint rollers on cling film … good to go next day.
ARHarh said:
Best advice i can give with rollers is don't bother with over priced ones, just buy standard stuff from somewhere like screwfix, I used to buy from Wilko. Don't bother cleaning them, just put them in a bin liner and chuck in the bin. Life is too short to clean them, which you will feel obliged to do if you spend big on them. Brushes for emulsion doesn't really make a lot of difference as long as you don't buy the cheapest. If you are using gloss invest in a nice quality brush especially if you are using oil based paint. I have no recommendations, but follow those rules and you should be OK. The biggest one is buy paint from a decorators merchant rather than a DIY shed, and buy it all in one go. If buying a lot, ask for a discount.
Mostly this. But get the Harris Trade rollers, a set of their poles, and a deep paint tray/bucket. Oh, and a small scuttle for when you're up ladders cutting in. The poles make it so much faster, even when dealing with relatively normal walls and really make it much easier with ceilings.Where cheap brushes can be a PITA is for cutting in. You need ones where the bristles don't stick out at all angles or fall out!
Nice thick dust sheets too. Screwfix do some heavy fabric ones that paint wont easily go through.
Best thing one of my decorators showed me was rolling gloss for doors. Seems to be much easier to get a good finish that way.
Never forget that the quality of the final product will be very much influenced by the prep work you do. Filling and sanding (great excuse to buy a multi-tool) even the smallest imperfections can make a huge difference.
Tools will depend on what you are decorating over, and the state of your currecnt walls.
I really like my Mirka Sander and with decent Dust-Extraction is the first time I can say I can sand and be pretty much dust free
Decent Steamer if you have any anaglypta/Woodchip and even for normal paper removal.
Good sturdy painters stand, plenty of plastic paint kettles to decant into, good brushes as mentioned by most.
Satin wood rather than Gloss as it comes water based so easier to clean brushes.
I have found the new V&O paint from B&Q to be the best I have used, covers well and patches up without trace.
Also as mentioned, a multi tool with detail sander head for corners, nothing gets in better.
I really like my Mirka Sander and with decent Dust-Extraction is the first time I can say I can sand and be pretty much dust free
Decent Steamer if you have any anaglypta/Woodchip and even for normal paper removal.
Good sturdy painters stand, plenty of plastic paint kettles to decant into, good brushes as mentioned by most.
Satin wood rather than Gloss as it comes water based so easier to clean brushes.
I have found the new V&O paint from B&Q to be the best I have used, covers well and patches up without trace.
Also as mentioned, a multi tool with detail sander head for corners, nothing gets in better.
ARHarh said:
Best advice i can give with rollers is don't bother with over priced ones, just buy standard stuff from somewhere like screwfix, I used to buy from Wilko. Don't bother cleaning them, just put them in a bin liner and chuck in the bin. Life is too short to clean them, which you will feel obliged to do if you spend big on them. Brushes for emulsion doesn't really make a lot of difference as long as you don't buy the cheapest. If you are using gloss invest in a nice quality brush especially if you are using oil based paint. I have no recommendations, but follow those rules and you should be OK. The biggest one is buy paint from a decorators merchant rather than a DIY shed, and buy it all in one go. If buying a lot, ask for a discount.
...and this is the type of approach which just adds to the mountain of needless stuff going to landfill.It's interesting how one can view rollers as disposable, yet the assumption from your statement above is that the brushes should be cleaned. It can take longer to clean a brush properly than a roller.
Get decent rollers, and at the end of the day, wrap them in clingfilm, or better still, just an old plastic bag, and they'll be ready to go the following day.
If you've finished with the roller for a while, cleaning emulsion from it under a running tap is not particularly time consuming, then give it a quick shake and stand on its end to dry.
On a more positive note, if you have to strip old wallpaper, then get a decent steamer, a good quality scraper, and importantly, a decent wallpaper scorer such as this one.
The steamer can be relatively simple, but a large steaming head enables more area to be steamed quickly.
The scorer is particularly important if you end up dealing with wallpaper which has been over-painted. The most challenging being old woodchip painted with several layers of vinyl silk.
The steamer can be relatively simple, but a large steaming head enables more area to be steamed quickly.
The scorer is particularly important if you end up dealing with wallpaper which has been over-painted. The most challenging being old woodchip painted with several layers of vinyl silk.
This may be a tedious answer, but my advice is:
Pay a decorator.
We had to decorate a whole house, same as you, and we found a well recommended local guy for £200 a day. But for that £200 a day he really cracked on with the job, and made an amazing job of absolutely anything.
Naturally, he had all the right ladders, tower scaffold, electric sanders, good brushes, heaps of quality tools, and more importantly, 25 years of experience. The crispness of his lines, the cutting in, the filling, the sanding, and the bits of wallpaper he did were all insanely good.
You can always tell when a house has been decorated by a professional or by DIY, unless you are one of the lucky few who are really skilled at stuff like that.
A decorator will always make a nicer job, use far less paint and materials, and be much faster.
Save the money on tools, and spend it on a decorator. For something that you will look at every day, and literally be the finishing touch to your home, it is worth every penny.
We found that our decorator was pretty much doing a room per day, as he would do bits on one room, and while that was drying he would go and start another room, and so on. Larger rooms or more complex bits were more like 1.5 days.
I don't own any decorating tools and doubt I ever will, as I don't see the point. How often do you decorate your house? for £1000-2000 you can pretty much have a decorator spend 1-2 weeks working flat out, to do a large house from start to finish (plus materials).
Pay a decorator.
We had to decorate a whole house, same as you, and we found a well recommended local guy for £200 a day. But for that £200 a day he really cracked on with the job, and made an amazing job of absolutely anything.
Naturally, he had all the right ladders, tower scaffold, electric sanders, good brushes, heaps of quality tools, and more importantly, 25 years of experience. The crispness of his lines, the cutting in, the filling, the sanding, and the bits of wallpaper he did were all insanely good.
You can always tell when a house has been decorated by a professional or by DIY, unless you are one of the lucky few who are really skilled at stuff like that.
A decorator will always make a nicer job, use far less paint and materials, and be much faster.
Save the money on tools, and spend it on a decorator. For something that you will look at every day, and literally be the finishing touch to your home, it is worth every penny.
We found that our decorator was pretty much doing a room per day, as he would do bits on one room, and while that was drying he would go and start another room, and so on. Larger rooms or more complex bits were more like 1.5 days.
I don't own any decorating tools and doubt I ever will, as I don't see the point. How often do you decorate your house? for £1000-2000 you can pretty much have a decorator spend 1-2 weeks working flat out, to do a large house from start to finish (plus materials).
Edited by Mont Blanc on Friday 10th May 15:30
Mont Blanc said:
This may be a tedious answer, but my advice is:
Pay a decorator.
We had to decorate a whole house, same as you, and we found a well recommended local guy for £200 a day. But for that £200 a day he really cracked on with the job, and made an amazing job of absolutely anything.
Naturally, he had all the right ladders, tower scaffold, electric sanders, good brushes, heaps of quality tools, and more importantly, 25 years of experience. The crispness of his lines, the cutting in, the filling, the sanding, and the bits of wallpaper he did were all insanely good.
You can always tell when a house has been decorated by a professional or by DIY, unless you are one of the lucky few who are really skilled at stuff like that.
A decorator will always make a nicer job, use far less paint and materials, and be much faster.
Save the money on tools, and spend it on a decorator. For something that you will look at every day, and literally be the finishing touch to your home, it is worth every penny.
We found that our decorator was pretty much doing a room per day, as he would do bits on one room, and while that was drying he would go and start another room, and so on. Larger rooms or more complex bits were more like 1.5 days.
I don't own any decorating tools and doubt I ever will, as I don't see the point. How often do you decorate your house? for £1000-2000 you can pretty much have a decorator spend 1-2 weeks working flat out, to do a large house from start to finish (plus materials).
Its easy to do a nice tidy job when decorating. You don't need a professional at all. I can see some would, but really a bit of practise and your away. Pay a decorator.
We had to decorate a whole house, same as you, and we found a well recommended local guy for £200 a day. But for that £200 a day he really cracked on with the job, and made an amazing job of absolutely anything.
Naturally, he had all the right ladders, tower scaffold, electric sanders, good brushes, heaps of quality tools, and more importantly, 25 years of experience. The crispness of his lines, the cutting in, the filling, the sanding, and the bits of wallpaper he did were all insanely good.
You can always tell when a house has been decorated by a professional or by DIY, unless you are one of the lucky few who are really skilled at stuff like that.
A decorator will always make a nicer job, use far less paint and materials, and be much faster.
Save the money on tools, and spend it on a decorator. For something that you will look at every day, and literally be the finishing touch to your home, it is worth every penny.
We found that our decorator was pretty much doing a room per day, as he would do bits on one room, and while that was drying he would go and start another room, and so on. Larger rooms or more complex bits were more like 1.5 days.
I don't own any decorating tools and doubt I ever will, as I don't see the point. How often do you decorate your house? for £1000-2000 you can pretty much have a decorator spend 1-2 weeks working flat out, to do a large house from start to finish (plus materials).
Edited by Mont Blanc on Friday 10th May 15:30
I like decorating and do at least one room a year, its easy to do a reasonable size room in 3 days, without breaking your back. I would far rather spend 3 days and £100 than try and find someone and spend £1500.
ARHarh said:
Its easy to do a nice tidy job when decorating. You don't need a professional at all. I can see some would, but really a bit of practise and your away.
I like decorating and do at least one room a year, its easy to do a reasonable size room in 3 days, without breaking your back. I would far rather spend 3 days and £100 than try and find someone and spend £1500.
If you like it, and can make a real tidy job, that’s great. I like decorating and do at least one room a year, its easy to do a reasonable size room in 3 days, without breaking your back. I would far rather spend 3 days and £100 than try and find someone and spend £1500.
But honestly, the vast majority of people aren’t good decorators. They just cannot get the razor sharp lines that a professional can get, and they don’t know the best ways to fix any imperfections before painting.
At £200-300 a room via a professional, I just can’t see the point in doing it yourself. If you do one room a year it’s peanuts.
Many thanks all, noted regarding the Harris kit, I just took a quick look on the Screwfix website and prices seem reasonable. The corner painting roll looks a good idea too.
I did get a quotes pre covid to repaint the property and it was £3.5k including materials so I'm guessing it would probably £5k now (which seemed crazy, it's not that big!) I did it myself back then but it needs refreshing again, I'm not planning any colour change on 90% of the walls.
I did get a quotes pre covid to repaint the property and it was £3.5k including materials so I'm guessing it would probably £5k now (which seemed crazy, it's not that big!) I did it myself back then but it needs refreshing again, I'm not planning any colour change on 90% of the walls.
C n C said:
On a more positive note, if you have to strip old wallpaper, then get a decent steamer, a good quality scraper, and importantly, a decent wallpaper scorer such as this one.
The steamer can be relatively simple, but a large steaming head enables more area to be steamed quickly.
The scorer is particularly important if you end up dealing with wallpaper which has been over-painted. The most challenging being old woodchip painted with several layers of vinyl silk.
That looks a very handy tool - I'm hoping I don't need to remove any wallpaper but if I do I'll get one.The steamer can be relatively simple, but a large steaming head enables more area to be steamed quickly.
The scorer is particularly important if you end up dealing with wallpaper which has been over-painted. The most challenging being old woodchip painted with several layers of vinyl silk.
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff