Eeek! Just bought my first flat - Inept at DIY :)
Discussion
Well, I've just bought my first flat, it's far from sealed and delivered, but it's been taken off Rightmove, my mortgage application is progressing, and solicitors are instructed.
Without wanting to get my hopes up too much, I've already been starting to look at what I'll do with it, but realised I have no experience with DIY at all, and no tools.
The flat is in good order, but some of the rooms definitely need re-painting, for example, some of the walls are coated in purple emulsion which I'll want to cover.
So, are the Paint Pods any good that I've seen on the B&Q website? Or am I better off sticking with an old-fashioned roller?
What else should I have on my shopping list other than-
I promise to update the thread with pictures, although please don't expect anything too grand, it's just a repaint and new furniture job, not that this stops me being hellishly excited about it
Without wanting to get my hopes up too much, I've already been starting to look at what I'll do with it, but realised I have no experience with DIY at all, and no tools.
The flat is in good order, but some of the rooms definitely need re-painting, for example, some of the walls are coated in purple emulsion which I'll want to cover.
So, are the Paint Pods any good that I've seen on the B&Q website? Or am I better off sticking with an old-fashioned roller?
What else should I have on my shopping list other than-
- A sander of some sort?
- Polyfilla
- Loads of dust sheets
- Brush cleaner
- Grout cleaner for the bathroom maybe (it's not bad but would like to freshen it up)
I promise to update the thread with pictures, although please don't expect anything too grand, it's just a repaint and new furniture job, not that this stops me being hellishly excited about it
Blue Oval84 said:
Have just been browsing the B&Q site, a little Black & Decker Mouse complete with sanding papers looks great for £20, it only needs to last long enough to do the glosswork in four rooms so sure it will be fine
It'll work, but it would take forever. Good advice with the Collins DIY book, excellent reference book and well worth it. Excellent, congrats!
Other essentials for a house:
Pliers/wire cutters
Set of flat blade and Philips screwdrivers
Mains electric drill with normal and hammer action
Set of drills for wood and masonry
Selection packs of screws, nails and rawlplugs
That's probably enough for now
Blue Oval84 said:
The flat is in good order, but some of the rooms definitely need re-painting, for example, some of the walls are coated in purple emulsion which I'll want to cover. So, are the Paint Pods any good that I've seen on the B&Q website? Or am I better off sticking with an old-fashioned roller?
DIY really took off in the 1980s and that's when marketing departments started launching expensive and needlessly complex gadgets like garden vacuum cleaners and Things That Are Supposed To Make Painting Easier. Buy good quality paint and rollers and roll away.Blue Oval84 said:
What else should I have on my shopping list other than-
Emulsion paint - which is what you normally use on interior walls - is water based so you can wash the brushes in water. You only need white spirit for oil-based paints. There are also cellulose thinners for Hammerite but we'll save that for another day. Buy some decent brushes - cheap brushes will shed bristles and drive you nuts. Wash brushes up immediately you finish; don't them clag up.- A sander of some sort?
- Polyfilla
- Loads of dust sheets
- Brush cleaner
- Grout cleaner for the bathroom maybe (it's not bad but would like to freshen it up)
Other essentials for a house:
Pliers/wire cutters
Set of flat blade and Philips screwdrivers
Mains electric drill with normal and hammer action
Set of drills for wood and masonry
Selection packs of screws, nails and rawlplugs
That's probably enough for now
The mouses are really good bits of kits, invest in a decent drill for putting up shelfs and stuff I got one with a 101 peice kit by makita for £150 which is great.
Don't bother with paint pods, when I worked for B&Q we had loads of tjem back, the paint is very thin and it doesn't save much time, I would recommend the paint pad kits you can get which is a tray and a flat pad and it makes it much easier to paint.
You can use sheets instead of buying dust sheets, get good masking tape and buy yourslef some basic tools. Like screwdrivers, level and a tape measure
Personally I would shop in homebasr they have 15% off nearly every weekend and B&Q is abismal at ordering stock in for you, do not buy a ordered or designed kitchen from them it will go wrong.
B&Q will shortly be doing away with dulux paint and will be selling off dulux stock for £5-£15 a tin so it would be time to stock up.
Don't bother with paint pods, when I worked for B&Q we had loads of tjem back, the paint is very thin and it doesn't save much time, I would recommend the paint pad kits you can get which is a tray and a flat pad and it makes it much easier to paint.
You can use sheets instead of buying dust sheets, get good masking tape and buy yourslef some basic tools. Like screwdrivers, level and a tape measure
Personally I would shop in homebasr they have 15% off nearly every weekend and B&Q is abismal at ordering stock in for you, do not buy a ordered or designed kitchen from them it will go wrong.
B&Q will shortly be doing away with dulux paint and will be selling off dulux stock for £5-£15 a tin so it would be time to stock up.
Blue Oval84 said:
What else should I have on my shopping list
Think about now starting to build up a decent toolbox that you can use for many years to come.So get a toolbox and fill with a decent set of screwdrivers,pliers, wrench,18v combi drill/twinpack deal with drilling & screwdriver bit sets, angle grinder, tape measure, knife, box of good quality mixed screw sizes, spanner/socket set etc along with a ladder.
Some comments from someone who is probably just 10% better at DIY that you are:
Purple walls will take more than one coat to return to a more neutral colour, so don't make the same mistake my sister and I did in getting expensive "One coat" paint thinking it would actually do that, because it won't. Use some cheaper paint for the first coat.
With woodwork preparation is 95% of the job. I made the mistake of not sanding the edges of some newly fitted doors before applying primer & undercoat, and as a consequence have had to do far more work than would've been necessary had I just sanded it properly in the first place, and it still doesn't look as good as one of the pre-finished doors.
As has already been said get some decent basic tools. A 18v combi drill with extra bits (drilling and driving) is a boon.
Purple walls will take more than one coat to return to a more neutral colour, so don't make the same mistake my sister and I did in getting expensive "One coat" paint thinking it would actually do that, because it won't. Use some cheaper paint for the first coat.
With woodwork preparation is 95% of the job. I made the mistake of not sanding the edges of some newly fitted doors before applying primer & undercoat, and as a consequence have had to do far more work than would've been necessary had I just sanded it properly in the first place, and it still doesn't look as good as one of the pre-finished doors.
As has already been said get some decent basic tools. A 18v combi drill with extra bits (drilling and driving) is a boon.
Yazar said:
So get a toolbox and fill with a decent set of screwdrivers,pliers, wrench,18v combi drill/twinpack deal with drilling & screwdriver bit sets, angle grinder, tape measure, knife, box of good quality mixed screw sizes, spanner/socket set etc along with a ladder.
People will have different views and tools according to their interests, but an angle grinder and socket set is more engineering and metalwork than light interior DIY.Apart from a vew few essentials as already mentioned it's probaby best to buy tools as you need them. I didn't need an angle grinder until I was about 46 - but used a bandsaw regularly from 16.
Durzel said:
Purple walls will take more than one coat to return to a more neutral colour, so don't make the same mistake my sister and I did in getting expensive "One coat" paint thinking it would actually do that, because it won't. Use some cheaper paint for the first coat.
Big vat of cheap white emulsion as a first coat over bold colours works well I find. Can be partly diluted with water for more coverage (just as a first coat on new plaster), but then gets messy as anything to apply.I am a reasonably capable (if clumsy and impatient) DIYer, but not so much decorating, and don't know WHAT to do until someone tells me the best way.
This thread covers my task of re-decorating an orange(!) hallway, which was fairly involved. Probably of most importance is to look at the dates. It's taken months - maybe you have more free time than me, or you're less of a perfectionist. Both slow down the process!
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
The thread is good for some opinions people can have about a seemingly simple task. There are a million ways to repaint paintwork, for example. Even though it bores the life out of me, I still swear by heat stripping paint.
This thread covers my task of re-decorating an orange(!) hallway, which was fairly involved. Probably of most importance is to look at the dates. It's taken months - maybe you have more free time than me, or you're less of a perfectionist. Both slow down the process!
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
The thread is good for some opinions people can have about a seemingly simple task. There are a million ways to repaint paintwork, for example. Even though it bores the life out of me, I still swear by heat stripping paint.
The mouse sanders can be useful but I found they had a limited life and found it expensive to buy the custom sheets. Get a decent full size sander that takes normal sheet of sandpaper cut into thirds, will have metal levers to clamp the sheets. An angle grinder is a useful tool, get a grinding disc, a sanding/linishing disc and a diamond cutting disc, useful for cutting tiles etc.
WRT paint, don't bother with all these easy paint one coat stuff, use trade & professional ranges and learn how to load the brush properly, buy decent brushes and look after them. Remember with any paintwork the finished article is only as good as the preparation that goes into it, the topcoat is only a small part of it.
WRT paint, don't bother with all these easy paint one coat stuff, use trade & professional ranges and learn how to load the brush properly, buy decent brushes and look after them. Remember with any paintwork the finished article is only as good as the preparation that goes into it, the topcoat is only a small part of it.
S1_RS said:
Get a decent full size sander that takes normal sheet of sandpaper cut into thirds
It's called a 1/3rd sheet sander Get a good selection of sandpaper grades to go with it - I find that you need a coarser paper on a sander than you do then when hand sanding - but too coarse will leave scratches. Also get good quality sandpaper because cheap stuff clogs and the bits of sand rub off. With good paper, once it's clogged with dust, give it a few wallops with the palm of your hand and you can use it again.
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