Painting over a few decades - advice

Painting over a few decades - advice

Author
Discussion

untruth

Original Poster:

2,834 posts

188 months

Monday 27th January 2014
quotequote all
We're repainting the hallway of our 70s house which was painted sometime in the 90s ish in some rather dark colours. It was done using cheap B&Q "Colours" range vinyl silk. The paint is crap, and very very rough to touch, plus there are some weird bubbled areas, but not damp related - seems like it was just applied very badly on top of the previous coat.

So, we're going to repaint it all to a (light!) colour we actually like.





I've already removed the dado rails which left holes in the plaster. I've sanded back and filled all dents in the wall that I can see so far.



The plan was to sand the whole wall once dry to a smooth finish, not necessarily removing all paint. I've done a test of this, and it looks like it could be a good surface and any 'bad' bits of orange paint will come off in the process, but will it be enough? Do I need to strip the paint?

How would you approach this next?

PS. Can't afford to skim, so please don't say skim the walls!

decadent

2,134 posts

174 months

Monday 27th January 2014
quotequote all
Is that painted lining paper at the moment?

If you can't afford the skim I'd say strip off exisitng lining paper and re-line with new paper as it looks past its best in the photos (peeling away, torn off border etc).


untruth

Original Poster:

2,834 posts

188 months

Monday 27th January 2014
quotequote all
No lining paper, the green underneath is the previous paint which looks like it was done onto plaster.

decadent

2,134 posts

174 months

Monday 27th January 2014
quotequote all
ahhh sorry didn't realise. I'm not sure on this scenario so will leave it for fellow PHers.


Simpo Two

85,147 posts

264 months

Monday 27th January 2014
quotequote all
I think if you just sand it there will always be a step between paint layers. So I think sand and then paper is the best bet for a smart finish.

untruth

Original Poster:

2,834 posts

188 months

Monday 27th January 2014
quotequote all
No problem. Whatever is underneath the orange has done OK. The only damage to it is where dado rail has been glued to it. Everywhere else, the significant paint issues I see are all associated with the orange.

steveo3002

10,493 posts

173 months

Monday 27th January 2014
quotequote all
when you think its close to ready , put a coat of some cheap emulsion round it then inspect with a halogen flood light at a sharp angle , will show up all the dings n dents etc , then go round with a tube of sandable filler

might take a few applications until its tidy

Prizam

2,335 posts

140 months

Monday 27th January 2014
quotequote all
Skim it over with plaster. Its the only way to get a good finish.

Recently been there and done the same thing with most of the rooms in my house. Its a real PITA !

shtu

3,407 posts

145 months

Monday 27th January 2014
quotequote all
A decorator dealt with similar for me by "skimming" the worst with plasterboard jointing compound, then papering over.

It might not be ideal, but papering over with a textured paper would save a lot of work when compared to trying to get a surface good enough to paint.

Grandad Gaz

5,090 posts

245 months

Monday 27th January 2014
quotequote all
Are they ariel cables on show there, or micro bore copper?

Whatever, they need tidying up!

untruth

Original Poster:

2,834 posts

188 months

Monday 27th January 2014
quotequote all
Thanks for comments so far. Really reluctant to skim unless the finish is really unusable just as it's such a large area (includes downstairs, upstairs landing too) so could come out very costly - and we have bigger fish to fry elsewhere.

But, lining paper sounds almost worse as I remember last time I did lining paper it took forever.

I like the idea of doing a basic paint job on it and seeing what it looks like first.

The cabling is a sore point. There's alarm cabling (and the occasional terrifying electric cables going to things we're removing) all over the place which I've not yet decided on the destiny of yet. If it was being skimmed it would probably make sense to chase it into the wall.

mart 63

2,068 posts

243 months

Monday 27th January 2014
quotequote all
I would oil seal the walls first with zinzer or oil undercoat.It will give you a good base.Painting over the old paint might craze.

untruth

Original Poster:

2,834 posts

188 months

Sunday 2nd February 2014
quotequote all
Update. Have spent a lot (lot) of time filling, which has been largely successful. Got myself a nice Makita 1/4 Palm Sander which is brilliant, way better than the cheap 1/3 I found in the shed here.

Had loads of different opinions, went down the middle with local paint merchant advice to get some contract white emulsion as a couple of base layers and see how I get on. Had plasterer over to quote the artex ceiling upstairs, but we agreed that if we're to gallery most walls (we have a lot of framed prints that in the old house covered the walls) and we're likely to do significant works to the house, it's not worth skimming it as it'll get damaged in no time.

Spent today sanding with 80 on my 'test' wall. Super easy to get the plaster repairs into good shape. However, paint is super problematic. I have an amazing smooth surface but there are parts where it refuses to sand and goes into tiny little crackled patches, which once worn, encourage other patches.

Eventually cut my losses, left messing with the (rather troublesome edges) and just got the roller out just to see what it'd be like. Have done the first coat and it's not too bad. My view has been that, as mentioned here - it'll never be perfect. So I'm going to accept that and if it looks real bad with a fully opaque coating of contract white, we'll have to skim it.




untruth

Original Poster:

2,834 posts

188 months

Monday 3rd February 2014
quotequote all
I've surrendered. We're going to get it skimmed.

I could cope with the work, the perpetual filling, but the dust which will be 30x that thin strip of wall (literally) is just something I'm not sure is practical never mind safe in the house! And ultimately we'd still be doing the wall the 'wrong' way.

So, plasterer it is.

mart 63

2,068 posts

243 months

Monday 3rd February 2014
quotequote all
What about 1400 lining paper?

untruth

Original Poster:

2,834 posts

188 months

Monday 3rd February 2014
quotequote all
mart 63 said:
What about 1400 lining paper?
I've helped a friend lining paper a room, and we both swore never to do it again. If there is a secret to it I can imagine it's a secret as big as good skimming is a secret.

Also, the walls aren't particularly flat on average - some palm width dips in the plaster - so I think I'd be chasing air bubbles for the rest of my life. And I still think I'd need to sand all the rough paint flecks.

It's OK. My fancy extractor fan plan has been replaced with some nice smooth walls instead.

untruth

Original Poster:

2,834 posts

188 months

Thursday 13th February 2014
quotequote all
And here it is, plastered, finished today.









Downstairs ceiling not being plastered because eventually the area will be opened up but nice to see the Artex gone upstairs. Finally the 70s lines make sense now all the crazy cornicing is gone.

Now my attention moves to stripping a lot of paint work...

greggers

208 posts

197 months

Thursday 13th February 2014
quotequote all
Part way through a similar job, although I couldn't live with painted stairs so we've done a refurb in oak.

We didn't have to have our walls skimmed in the end, I just put a lot of effort into filling the cracks and dents and then getting everything a uniform white before top coat.

You going to water down your first coat on the fresh plaster?

untruth

Original Poster:

2,834 posts

188 months

Thursday 13th February 2014
quotequote all
You were brave. I know the wood is going to be multiple weekends as it is and the walls were horrendous. I didn't realise just how wobbly they were never mind rough.

All the wood's being stripped (with my patient hands...) and eggshelled. The wood isn't quality enough grain to be varnished and a refurb would be pretty difficult, so we're avoiding that.

Plan with the walls - we have contract matt emulsion from Brewers, which will be 30% watered down and mist coated one or two times. Then, painted a very light greyish (Clouded Pearl 3) in Dulux Trade Diamond Matt for hopefully just 2 coats.

tbc

3,017 posts

174 months

Thursday 13th February 2014
quotequote all
Don't be tempted to touch it for about 3-4 weeks

Then thin down emulsion 3 to 1 and put it on.

I used to work in paint and it all ended in tears if you put a full coat of emulsion on the day after finishing plaster work

It will probably involve a few weekends of filling in hairline cracks with with liquid filler and a tiny brush.