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Need to paint the interior of a house

Z

ZowieHowie

Diamond Member
The interior of my house needs to be painted. I was consider painting myself, but I hear that if I am going to do so, it would be best to get one of the "power painter" kits. Given the fact that I know nothing about painting or which kits are good, does anyone have a recommendation of the best and most efficient way to paint the interior of a house?

Would it be best for me to do it myself, or should I hire a painter?
 
Get a few rolls of that blue painters tape, brushes to do the trim, and make sure your rollers are not cheap and are SHORT KNAP rollers. if you use the cheap ones you have all kinds of lint in the paint.

Tape the area where the all and ceiling meet and any base boards. Do your timming first you can also use 1" foam brushes for triming. If you need to use brushes in any tight areas make sure you do not skimp on the brushes.
 
1. Clean wall with TSP to remove dirt/oil.

2. Test paint on a spot that isn't going to be a concern if you crew up.

3. Tape area & trimings that you don't want to paint.

4. Lay down drop cloth or plastic sheet to protect the floor & have card boards/news prints to set tray & bucket on it to absorb drips.

5. Cut in with primer if paint light colour over dark colour (good brush make your job nicer & quicker).

6. Use tray, roller, and roller rod/extension to prime.

7. Cut in paint.

8. Paint quickly to compleat job and peel tape befor paint dry to avoid peeling the dry paint off the wall.

9. Step back and look at the great job that you have done... now plan for the next room/project.

Good luck.

[add]
Use paint thiner or finger nail check to see what type of paint you are painting over. Match the paint to the old base paint, or use transition primer if you are going from one base to another base.

 
Thanks for all your responses!

I went to Home Depot today. I'll probably be better off paying a painter.

I know they would have to come to the house to give an estimate, but does anyone have an idea as to approximately what it should cost for a 1400 square foot home?
 
PATIENCE!

All the suggestions thus far are spot-on, but good heavens you'll never paint any home interior again after you do it once. It's just not worth it. Paintings, wood trims, etc. are all better ways to decorate than painting. If you're doing more than like 1 room, you'll quickly understand the aggrivation that painting becomes.

God help you if you're really painting 1400 square feet...get your friends on suicide watch!

Seriously though, remove that blue painters tape from the wall JUST AS SOON AS YOU'RE DONE PAINTING. Even when the paint's wet, take it off. Every minute longer you leave it, the more chance it'll tear the paint you just painted. *learn from experience.
 
Originally posted by: SouthPaW1227
PATIENCE!

All the suggestions thus far are spot-on, but good heavens you'll never paint any home interior again after you do it once. It's just not worth it. Paintings, wood trims, etc. are all better ways to decorate than painting. If you're doing more than like 1 room, you'll quickly understand the aggrivation that painting becomes.

God help you if you're really painting 1400 square feet...get your friends on suicide watch!

Seriously though, remove that blue painters tape from the wall JUST AS SOON AS YOU'RE DONE PAINTING. Even when the paint's wet, take it off. Every minute longer you leave it, the more chance it'll tear the paint you just painted. *learn from experience.
Click to expand...

Give me a break...

Painting is a great way to change the mood of a room...I guess a person just needs to have some common sense to be able to do it....

 
Get a lot of painters tape and tape off ALL the trim. Also don't be lazy- take off the electrical and light switch covers.

Get an angled brush to cut between the wall and ceiling...other that that, it's easy.

Oh, and a Paintstick from Sears can't hurt- those things rock!
 
^^ It's not common sense, painting is fairly easy. But I just hate doing it.

to each his own, but painting annoys the heck outta me
 
Paintstick or Paintmate are great for home owner & one use deal, and they are a pain to clean.

A paint roller/brush cleaner that spun the used paint off your brush into a bucket before cleaning is a good thing to have. It also is great to clean your brushes & rollers before painting because new brushes/rollers may have lint in it (clean brushes & rollers with water before use is a great way to eliminate lints).

With practice a person will paint quicker with traditional brush & tray (there are paint bucket/deep tray that is great to use for holding large amount of paint) than Paintstick/Paintmate.

The trick to painting is keep the tray inline with the wall that you are painting for easy access to bucket/tray for loading the roller & the extension rod will speed up painting and eliminate painfull bendings.

For a strong person that have to cover large area an 18 inch roller setup will speed up painting tremendously.
 
Originally posted by: ZowieHowie
Thanks for all your responses!

I went to Home Depot today. I'll probably be better off paying a painter.

I know they would have to come to the house to give an estimate, but does anyone have an idea as to approximately what it should cost for a 1400 square foot home?
Click to expand...


thats in the thousand+. figure about $150-$250 per room.

They can quote you per project, per room, standard 1 coat, more per request, any prep work you want them to do like patching, or you want to pay per hr... then they get the paint or you supply them... all factors involved.

You can do it, just labor intensive, not really complex.

Homedepot, try to pass on Glidden... Behr is decent like Sears EasyLiving, or Lowes Tradition... But I prefer Ben Moore.

Are you going from a dark color to a light color? may have to figure at least 2 coats, and a primer. Prime is a must if you're going from some old oil based paint to the more modern latex based... this is no big secret.
 
Painting interior is pretty doable - there are a lot of good tips in this thread (and probally others posted on ATOT). I would seriously give it a try before going to a contractor.

Prep work and clean up is probally 80% of the work. If your prep right all you need to do is paint, and painting is not difficult. Mask off everything, make sure you throw down tarps (most likely cheap plastic and low mil drop cloths) and then go at it. Keep a wet edge when you paint and your job will look nice.

Painting 1400 Square feet of wall (unless you have funky walls) won't be too difficult. Just get a handle on edging and you will be fine. I have only used a sprayer indoors once (a real sprayer, Graco rig), Most of the time indoors i just use the good old fashioned rollers and brush. Once again.. if you do the prep, you will just have to roll for a little bit, edge for a little bit, then clean up.

I prefer to use Kelly-Moore paints, Paint quality does matter, but unless you're using the water colors from some cheapo place (walmart...) you'll probally be fine. Painting is almost intuitive.

Painting Exterior is something i'd want a full time painter to do, but with an interior job - It's not very difficult. My parents repainted their entire house with paint and prep stuff i picked up for them, and they had no problems. I'm sure you can manage it too 🙂

Checklist
1) Paint - select the right paint, most likely interior flat, stir sticks, etc
2) Drop Cloths
3) Tape (Get the blue painters tape as it will be least likely to damage the surface it is applied to. Pull slowly, because if you pull fast it will tear at the surface regardless)
4) Roller Frames
5) Roller Covers
6) Roller Extension - if you have tall walls.. also you probally have one at home as this is usually just a broom/brush handle.
7) Brushes (get a nice good brush. Though they may run you upwards of 20-30, it will more then likely be a one time investment if you take care of it)
8) Roller Trays, Liners, etc
9) Cloths to get dirty
10) cleaners

Just map out what you need, what you need to move, cover with drop clothes, tape off, remove from the walls, etc - once you have the parameters of the job, it'll seem pretty simple (because it is)
If you have a buddy whose ever painted, ask him to go with you and help you pick out what you need. Good painting and pics of the place when you're done. 🙂
 
consumer reports recently did a test on paints. bear tended to come up tops🙂

use roller.. do one square at a time. couple feet by couple feet starting from top corner and working down to the ground column by column so you have the shortest edge of drying paint. wet the roller, roll it on the wall in a Z shape to dump paint, then go over it acrross and couple times or whatever to spread it out the rest of the way. oh, edge the room first with a quality brush, don't try to do it after or at the same time. keep stuff wet with damp paper towels if you ever leave the brush/roller just sitting there.

good ventilation

buy cheap plastic sheeting from homedepot or whever, comes in packets. cover up stuff or ground.
do prep, takes the longest almost. wipe down walls to get rid of dirt dust, do all patching and stuff.
 
hah that was on mythbsuters. didn't work so well🙁

and yea, prep prep prep. a pain in the ass. moving all the furniture, vacumning the hideous dust...ugh...
 
If you intend on removing the masking tape from the base within 24 hrs save your money and just use regular masking tape.

For your brush get a 3" square brush and load the brush with paint. Buy a good one ($20) The key to cutting in is to have a brush that holds a lot of paint and dip and wipe the excess off. That way you dont have to dip your brush every 2-3 inches. On the base boards keep the paint in light coats.

Use runner tarps instead of plastic, keep them close to the wall, never step on them.

If you are painting big rooms or the same color throughout use a 5 gallon bucket with a screen instead of a paint tray. Avoid dipping your roller cover in so deep that the ends of the roller get submerged in the paint, that causes a lot of drips and runs on the walls.
 
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