Decorator's tips and tricks

Decorating tips

A few tips to make your DIY decorating more rewarding.

  1. Preparing surfaces
    • To repair a few wall defects use gypsum based fillers like Tetrion or Polyfilla. For larger defects you might need to fill and sand several times to achieve the necessary effect. If the wall is badly damaged it is often faster and easier to plaster the wall rather than fill and sand numerous times.
    • For cracks along inside corners and between wall and any skirting, door cases, window seals etc. it is best to use decorators caulk, or mastic. Apply with a glue gun and smoothen with your finger.
    • For wood defects use wood filler. Water based filler does not have the strong smell, but is harder to work with and dries slower.
    • Water stains will come through any new water based paint you apply unless blocked first. You can do it with a stain blocker designed for the purpose or if you just have a small patch to block, use undercoat paint - it will have the same effect.
    • Stripping wallpaper is best done with a steamer. It will not damage the walls or create any more mess than any other method of stripping, is faster and saves you breathing the stripping solutions.
  2. Applying the paint
    • A chain of stores is advertising their paint as applicable on wet plaster without the need of a priming coat, suggesting that it is therefore special. You can apply ANY water based paint in this way, once the plaster has set /gone dark/.
    • Choose the right brush - a pure bristle one is better for oil based paint, synthetic ones are better for emulsions. Unless you need to paint a really small patch, don't go for the cheapest brush - it makes painting a lot harder.
    • Put a piece of pipe insulation around the brush handle if you find it straining to hold it for longer.
    • Dry new plaster needs to be primed with diluted paint before the first coat of paint. Add about 20% of water to the emulsion for the purpose - if you add too much water it will be runny and messy to work with. Not enough water will cause the paint to dry too fast and crack. In cases when there is only a small patch of dry plaster to be primed it is easier to just wet the plaster, instead of mixing paint with water.

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