Redecorating a whole house, properly -advice

Redecorating a whole house, properly -advice

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Discussion

Prohibiting

Original Poster:

1,734 posts

117 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
I'm about to start redecorating my entire 2 bed BTL property.

I've bought Leyland contract matt white for the ceilings and walls and I've gone all posh for the woodwork; Dulux trade diamond eggshell... £55 for 5L but has fantastic reviews.

The whole house is grotty. Every surface needs sanding, polyfilling and caulking.

My method is:
1) Unscrew loosely all sockets and switches. Remove curtain poles and dig out all wall plugs/screws/picture hooks.
2) Sand walls with orbital sander with grade 80 paper.
3) Sand woodwork by hand with sheets of grade 80 paper.
4) Caulk the top of the skirting and any gaps along the ceiling line etc. Polyfill all old screw holes and leave over night.
5) Sand the polyfill bits and caulked skirting with grade 120 paper.
6) Sugar soap everything and leave overnight for house to dry.
7) Paint first coat and allow to dry.
?? 8) Sand grade 180 by hand everywhere to remove any paint imperfections ??
9) Paint second final coat and allow to dry.
10) Sand grade 320 by hand everywhere for a smooth finish.

Let me know what you guys think and if this is what the professionals do?

I'm sure that plan is adequate but correct me if I'm wrong anywhere.

CorradoTDI

1,432 posts

170 months

Wednesday 24th August 2016
quotequote all
Good choice on the Diamond Eggshell, best paint I've ever used..

Get some easi fil powered filler, much easier to sand and much better than polyfila

AC43

11,435 posts

207 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
I've never seen pros sand walls except for where they've filled cracks and imperfections.

I like Polyfilla One Fill as it's incredibly easy to apply, doesn't sag and therefore needs minimum re-work.

Ideal for an amateur like me.

olimain

949 posts

134 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
Also never seen a pro sand a whole wall - Easi Fill is good but Toupret even better: http://www.screwfix.com/p/toupret-tx110-expert-rap...

If you did want to spend extra on the walls, the Dulux Diamond Trade Matt is excellent and very hard wearing - good for a BTL and completely scrubbable.

Craikeybaby

10,369 posts

224 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
Prohibiting said:
I'm about to start redecorating my entire 2 bed BTL property.

I've bought Leyland contract matt white for the ceilings and walls and I've gone all posh for the woodwork; Dulux trade diamond eggshell... £55 for 5L but has fantastic reviews.

The whole house is grotty. Every surface needs sanding, polyfilling and caulking.

My method is:
1) Unscrew loosely all sockets and switches. Remove curtain poles and dig out all wall plugs/screws/picture hooks.
2) Sand walls with orbital sander with grade 80 paper.
3) Sand woodwork by hand with sheets of grade 80 paper.
4) Caulk the top of the skirting and any gaps along the ceiling line etc. Polyfill all old screw holes and leave over night.
5) Sand the polyfill bits and caulked skirting with grade 120 paper.
6) Sugar soap everything and leave overnight for house to dry.
7) Paint first coat and allow to dry.
?? 8) Sand grade 180 by hand everywhere to remove any paint imperfections ??
9) Paint second final coat and allow to dry.
10) Sand grade 320 by hand everywhere for a smooth finish.

Let me know what you guys think and if this is what the professionals do?

I'm sure that plan is adequate but correct me if I'm wrong anywhere.
Steps 8 and 10 aren't necessary! I'm not sure about 2 and the second bit of 5 either.

Prohibiting

Original Poster:

1,734 posts

117 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
Craikeybaby said:
Prohibiting said:
I'm about to start redecorating my entire 2 bed BTL property.

I've bought Leyland contract matt white for the ceilings and walls and I've gone all posh for the woodwork; Dulux trade diamond eggshell... £55 for 5L but has fantastic reviews.

The whole house is grotty. Every surface needs sanding, polyfilling and caulking.

My method is:
1) Unscrew loosely all sockets and switches. Remove curtain poles and dig out all wall plugs/screws/picture hooks.
2) Sand walls with orbital sander with grade 80 paper.
3) Sand woodwork by hand with sheets of grade 80 paper.
4) Caulk the top of the skirting and any gaps along the ceiling line etc. Polyfill all old screw holes and leave over night.
5) Sand the polyfill bits and caulked skirting with grade 120 paper.
6) Sugar soap everything and leave overnight for house to dry.
7) Paint first coat and allow to dry.
?? 8) Sand grade 180 by hand everywhere to remove any paint imperfections ??
9) Paint second final coat and allow to dry.
10) Sand grade 320 by hand everywhere for a smooth finish.

Let me know what you guys think and if this is what the professionals do?

I'm sure that plan is adequate but correct me if I'm wrong anywhere.
Steps 8 and 10 aren't necessary! I'm not sure about 2 and the second bit of 5 either.
I did wonder about 8 and 10 and I'll probably just see how it goes.

Step 2 I've read online seems to be highly suggested so that you start with a nice smooth wall to begin with. Again, sanding the caulked skirting I'll just play by ear and see how I get on with the actual caulking.

richatnort

3,018 posts

130 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
I was thinking with point 3, have you thought about heat gunning the paint off instead? If it's got quite a few layers on it then might be an absolute pig to get off.

I'm thinking of doing it myself at the minute to save me having to sand it all down by hand as i'd like to get back to the wood and start again.

Prohibiting

Original Poster:

1,734 posts

117 months

Thursday 25th August 2016
quotequote all
richatnort said:
I was thinking with point 3, have you thought about heat gunning the paint off instead? If it's got quite a few layers on it then might be an absolute pig to get off.

I'm thinking of doing it myself at the minute to save me having to sand it all down by hand as i'd like to get back to the wood and start again.
The idea isn't to sand it back to bare wood. It's to remove flaking, peeling paint and any imperfections.