Painting and Decorating

Whether you need advice on how to do it yourself, or you’d prefer a professional Painter and Decorator to finish your project for your, Raymond can help you choose the right option to fit your plan.

First and foremost, you’ll need to make sure you’re at the right stage to consider Painting. If your walls or surfaces are cracked or damaged, you should consider getting them Plastered or repaired first. Take a look at our Plastering page and come back when you know your surfaces are ready for the finishing touches.

How to choose colours for a room?

Once your walls and surfaces are ready for the final stages, you have the enjoyable, but sometimes overwhelming task of choosing your colour scheme. Using a colour wheel can be a useful tool to help you decide what paint, or wallpaper to choose, but your Painter and Decorator can also give you some tips and inspiration if you’re unsure.

How do you prepare a room for decorating?

So you’ve decided on a colour scheme and have consulted with your Painter and Decorator on the colours which suit your room. You can just dive right in and start splashing paint around, right? Not quite! The most important stage of decorating a room is the preparation; get it wrong and you could waste a lot of time, money and paint!

Here is a quick prep guide before picking up a paint brush!

  1. Move Furniture.

You’ll appreciate the time and effort it takes to create a free space to move around when you’re not bumping into sofas, or having to dance around tables to get to walls and ceilings. If possible, move furniture into another room, or cover with a good quality dustsheet.

  1. Protect Carpets and Flooring

Nothing will spoil a perfectly decorated room like finding a paint splodge on your new carpet! Make sure all flooring and carpets are covered to minimise the risk of accidents. Also, buy a good quality paint Scuttle, don’t just try to paint straight from the tin! You’re just asking for trouble. We recommend Purdy paint Scuttles.

  1. Remove curtains and blinds

Painting around curtains and blinds is a false economy. Start with as clean a canvas as you can and you’ll save time removing dried paint later on!

  1. Clean surfaces to be painted 

You may think that you won’t need to clean, because you’re just going to paint over it anyway. But if you want to ensure a smooth, uniform and professional result, it essential that you begin with a uniform and clean surface at the start. Smudges, dirt or cigarette residue can show under, even two coats of paint. Cooking oil, lime and powdery substances can affect the consistency of the paint, making it more likely to flake or peel off altogether. It may feel tedious, but a sponge, and some slightly soapy water will save a whole lot of heart-ache when your first coat sticks.

  1. Tape

To avoid smearing paint along light switches, skirting boards windowsills, take the time to tape these areas before getting out your paintbrush. Cellotape isn’t going to cut it and, along with other household tapes will likely remove more paint than you intended. Masking tape is cheap, readily available from DIY shops, and won’t remove paint when you’re done.

  1. Make a Staging Area

A designated area to store your paint tins, clean brushes, sponges and rags will save you time in searching for missing bits and pieces throughout your project. Being organised doesn’t just help you, but encourages any helpers you might have too. Making it easier to organise your enlisted volunteers without causing the dreaded DIY domestic! A pasting table, or even an area next to the sink it perfect, just remember to cover all surfaces to avoid any unnecessary clean up.

Some tips from a professional Painter and Decorator

Using a roller

 

If you’re planning on painting a large area or a full room, consider buying a paint roller, for the larger areas, and a smaller roller for cutting in.

You’ll need to keep your rollers and paint brushes from drying out in between coats. Instead of cleaning the paint off, which can be laborious, wrap the roller heads in a black bag and tie with string. This will stop the paint drying and will be ready for you to crack on once the coat has dried.

Loading your brush right

You should aim to get as much paint on your brush as you can, while still being able to control any drips. Dip your brush in the paint then, instead of wiping, tap the sides of the paint brush against the sides of the tin. This will knock any drips into the tin and concentrate the paint at the tip of the brush. The brush acts like a fountain pen and, as long as you keep it moving, will release the paint steadily without dripping.

Cutting in

Often DIYers will find that they’re creating a wide “fan” shape with their brush around light switches and skirting boards. This is often because they’re trying to paint too much of the wall, and not concentrating on actually filling the small gap where the large roller can’t get to. This is one reason why we recommend getting a separate, smaller roller to help reduce the size of the gap needing to be filled.

Check as you go

Make sure you’re checking your work as you go along. If you notice any rough bits, bumps or raised areas, make sure you sand them down with some fine sandpaper before moving onto the next coat of paint. If you check as you go along, you’ll finish with a much more professional result. On very rough walls, you will need to make the call whether of not you need to prepare the walls more substantially before considering painting. Your Plasterer, Painter and Decorator will be able to advise if it’s worth painting, or prepping further.

Get the windows right

One pro Painter and Decorator tip is to concentrate on your windows. Of course, you’ll want to do a flawless job across the whole room, but if you’re not used to painting, you’ll want to make sure you perfect the areas where good lighting will show up any imperfections. It’s a good idea to paint around windows a the start of your day, when you’re less likely to cut corners and miss bits. Even your professional Painter and Decorator will really want to take their time on these areas, so make sure you’re not rushing – Do it nice, or do it twice!

Getting the doors right

It may seem like too much effort, but if you really want to paint your doors perfectly, you’ll need to take them down. Sometimes a two person job, removing doors and laying across an old wallpaper pasting table will make them much easier to tackle. Work horizontally, starting with panels and working from the outside inwards to the centre of the door. Remember, you’re working with a liquid, so make sure you’re not creating little puddles, which will need to be sanded off later. Gently brushing with a clean, slightly wet paint brush will soak up any puddles leaving a uniform finish.

Expect to make some mess!

Whether you’re an amateur DIYer, or a seasoned professional Painter and Decorator, you will make mistakes, but if you plan accordingly you’ll end up with a better result. Make sure you have a bowl of clean water at hand with a sponge so you can be ready to mop up any messes. Keep a cheap sponge brush on hand to blend a patch with the rest of the wall or woodwork. To mimic the look of a roller, simply dab on the paint.