How hard is it to paint your interior???

[Daisalana 33]

We moved into a brand new house, but they're spec houses so we couldn't pick wall colors. I wanted to paint some of the rooms, but DH is nervous I'm gonna mess up our new pretty house.

I'm too cheap to pay someone to do it.

All those tv shows make it look easy.

Is it that easy? You just paint with a roller and ta-da?

Or can you leave areas that look faded, and roller streaks, etc. if you don't do it all fancy? I've painted on canvas, but never on a wall..

Anyone have advice, tips, or share your story so I know how easy or hard it really is?

[Jachut 487]

I've done the entire inside of our house by myself twice. Its not hard at all, just tedious, boring and very messy, lol. I get paint all over me. The first time I did it, I ruined our carpet, but it was beyond help anyway and I didnt even bother dropsheeting. I've just done it again recently and we have all hard floors, so I covered them but was also able to remove the odd splash.

What I loathe big time is the timberwork and trim. Oh god, that's simply an AWFUL job and I"m not good at it. I cant get the smooth glossy look that I want, there's runs and thick bits, but it beats paying someone else $15,000 to do it!

I was lucky though, we built our house - no real repair work or bad paint jobs to undo, just a clean up and a few new coats.

[DerickM 1]

boring oh dear god it is so damned boring. just make sure you tape off windows and floors and the like.

[anonemouse 1]

And remember to wash the walls before you paint! They never show that on the shows, but to have a proper, lasting paint job, you need to wash whatever it is that you're painting with a mild soap (water with a little dish soap added, for example) and let it dry thoroughly (at least 24 hours) before you paint. That removes at least most of the grease/dust/dirt that builds up in the years between painting.

[HarleyNana 10]

I've never heard of washing the walls, although, it does make sense if smokers are involved, otherwise, I think I'd skip that step

I tried painting once and found out my hands were too small, the paint brush just didn't fit, hahaha!

[mbanja 1]

If you are gonna paint over a darker color with a lighter color you have to prime it first. Although, if it is a demo house the walls are probably creme or off white. If you do two coats of paint you shouldn't have streaking. The bitch is painting near the top and around the edges. I used that blue painters tape and it sucked and wasn't that easy to remove. The clean up is the bigest problem. Washing everything. I have a septic tank so I had to wash my stuff in my back yard with the hose. Then I felt guilty because I was polluting my yard!!!! Rollers are the best cause you can throw away when done, but you need to use a brush for the edges. I used foam brushes cause they were cheap and can be thrown away but they don't work as easily as a paint brush. Washing the walls is a must. I started painting cause I didn't know and ended up painting cob webs onto the wall. I was also told not to paint when it is raining cause the humidity would make you paint dry sticky. Don't know if that is true but I didn't risk it.

[Wheetsin 714]

It's actually very easy. IMO the hardest part is going to be 1) if you have a popcorn ceiling and 2) if you have intricate moulding to deal with. The PITA part for me is all the masking/taping. The NICE part is that's only an issue with baseboards and rooms with crown moulding. Since I ALWAYS paint the ceiling the same color as the walls, I can be uber sloppy everywhere else!

There is a chemical that I'm completely drawing a blank on now, that I've used to wash the walls with first. It was recommended by three prof painters I know personally. But you have to wear gloves when you work with it, I guess it can be nasty stuff. Last time we painted was a bit of a rush job, so instead of that chemical, I just used the Mr. CLean magic erasers, or whatever they're called.

You need to pay attention to what paint is currently on the walls. Not just in terms of color/priming as a previous poster mentioned, but also in terms of type of paint. E.g. trying to paint latex over oil will require a special primer. Finish also matters. I'm a matte girl so it's no problem for me, but if you prefer glossies, they're a lot harder to get a good result from, and you may want to think twice about trying to DIY them.

We're actually getting ready to contract out painting of the living room (22 ft ceilings - I'm not even pretending I'd do that DIY), kitchen, both hallways, DH's home theater room, and a spare bedroom, and a repaint of a bathroom. We've worked with the same painter for a while and we've sent him a lot of business. Our price for all those rooms is $1200 with materials included, it's not even worth the brain power to think about doing it myself for that amount.

:whoo:

If you're interested in bidding out, now would be a good time to get estimates. It's starting to get chilly out (depending on where you live) and painters' outdoor work is tapering off. They'll want to get some interior jobs in before winter hits.

Some tips from our lessons learned if you're going to DIY (these are also a matter of preference):

The blue tape isn't as non-sticky as they make it out to be. Tack it into your shirt or carpet before putting it on the wall.

• Edging kits (that claim they can make trim work happen without tape) aren't all they're cracked up to be.
  
• Don't bother with one of the flat pads for painting walls. They're ok for edging, but DH bought the big one "made for walls" when we painted his bathroom, and it's a mess. (previous mention of a repaint).
  
• If you have popcorn ceilings, scrape them. Ok seriously - if you do have them, consider renting a sprayer. Popcorn ceilings are not fun to paint. The popcorn pulls off as it gets moist, while at the same time you can rarely get decent coverage without also making it moist. This equals a few passes to get it right, then having to wait until it's dry to get what you missed (which will be a lot). If you go over it one too many times, it will begin to pull off leaving big white/bare spots (yes, even with the slit sponge rollers made for popcorn).

[Daisalana 33]

Thanks for all the info! I'm just as conflicted as when I started LOL!

We don't have popcorn ceilings-- but I didn't *plan* to paint the ceilings.

The walls are drywall with some.. spray on textured paint. It makes the walls have a.. texture, I don't know how to explain it. I asked someone at work about it, she just told me make sure I use a thick roller that will get into the holes and stuff.

We've been living in the house since July, so it's not too dirty BUT we are both smokers, 3 cats and a dog, and I know I've seen cobwebs already.. so I'll likely need to wash the walls.

And the walls are a pale beige color (ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ)

I wanted to start in the master bathroom to test my hand at it.. if I mess up, only me and DH will ever see it.. Was wanting a pale green on top of pale beige.

We only have trim along the floor, and it's white painted wood.. and single molding.

[green 6]

I have painted my various shacks many, many times and it is very easy to do. It is also, just like the other posters have said, boring. Prepping the room will take the major part of your time. If the walls are dirty, greasy, or painted with an oil or glossy paint you will need to first wash them down with a mix of Water and TSB. TSB is something that you can find at any paint store - along with lots of excellent advice. If the original paint job was oil paint and you want to switch to latex - and, trust me on this, no one should ever, ever use oil paint on household walls now that we do have excellent latex paints - then you must first use a primer. Once this is dried you can then paint with a latex paint.

This is only one part of prepping the room. You will also need to remove or cover your furniture; you will need to mask or remove everything which is currently hanging on or afixed to your walls and this includes electrical outlet covers. Anything you don't want to get paint on - window and door sills, wood panels, baseboards, etc - must be masked with masking tape. And you must cover your floors.

At this point, and assuming that you do have your paint roller and your brush (which you will need in order to get into those tight corners), you can start painting. You will be amazed at how quickly you can cover your room with paint once it is prepped and you are ready to go.

A few additional hints: for walls and ceiling you should use a matte or eggshell finish; if or when you are painting wood trim (doors, window frames, baseboards, etc.) a semi-gloss is the way you must go. Do indulge yourself in trying out interesting colours and colour combinations: paint is relatively cheap and if it doesn't work you can easily paint over your mistake, and when it does work, well then, you will find the results abolutely glorious! (This is why Green has come to know a fair bit about painting houses. She loves to experiment with colour and does a lot of this.)

You mention that you are acquainted with painting on canvas. This would indicate that you are aware of the advantages of working with acrylics/latex over that of working with oils. As to the texture-y walls, this is going to be a pain in the arse for it will take you much, much longer to cover them and you will use up significantly more paint than you would have on a flat surface. Your friend is right; you will need a fluffy roller. You will also find yourself resorting to your brush quite often in order to push that paint into the cheeks of your walls. Do yourself a favour: buy yourself an expensive brush or two and treat them like gold.

If you do have to use an oil to latex primer, buy cheap brushes for this from a discount store, and when you are through for the day toss them out. I figure that it this is easier on the environment than washing them in solvents. Latex paints are nice in that they have a quick dry time. You can start mending your newly repainted room fairly quickly. Do bear in mind that the cure time for a latex paint is much longer that its dry time. Don't try washing down your new walls for a least a month after they have been painted.

As for the business of paid help, it may surprise you to learn that Green once had an under-the-counter gig to repaint a house. She got the gig while she was laid off from her well-paid union job. She was pretty happy. She needed the money. She had a mortgage to support. She also had a friend who wasn't doing so well and who badly needed the money. "Howzabout we split the work and the cash?" Green said.

Now, the reason why I am telling you this story is because I know that there are always folks around who would be happy to do a little grunt work for a bit of cash either over or under the counter. Anyone who needs help with the grunt work of painting or gardening can usually hook up with some decent individual who desperately needs a little spare cash.

As for my last couple of tips, well, here they are: view the job as an opportunity for a physical work-out and get yourself some work-out music to listen to; and do take advantage of all the advice which the salesfolks in the paint stores can offer to you.

And, by the way, pale green sounds much more sophisticated than boring beige. :eek:

[Wheetsin 714]

See, I paint my ceilings and assume everyone does, even though I know it's not true. (But everyone SHOULD). :heh:

When you go to buy rollers, they will be packaged based on the texture, and usually give you some examples of the texture they're suited for. E.g. "lightly textured, wood or sanded drywall", "medium texture, stucco or cement," etc.

If you are uncertain, go to a paint store (not hardware store) and ask them what nap you should use. You can even bring in pics of your walls to show them the texture.

[Lucy 0]

Martha Stewart (love her or hate her) has a ton of painting advice. I think you can find it on her website.

if you paint your ceiling the same color as the walls, the ceiling will feel higher than it is.

[vinesqueen 2]

oooh painting!!! I love to paint!

I think the chemical you are thinking of is TSP. If it isn't, it should be. It will even take the gloss off semi-gloss if you need to.

Always, always, always wash the wall before you paint. My very least favorite part about painting, but you gotta do it, smokers or no.

The very best part about painting Laura, is that if you don't like it, you can always repaint.

When I painted one of our rooms, I chose yellow, gold and white. My DH just about had a panic attack when he saw me toting in those colors. I sponged the colors, with the darker gold towards the bottom of the walls, fading to lighter the closer to the celing. I painted the celing yellow and white, sponged on. The effect is so wonderful and cheery! This room is an East facing window, and it gets zero direct sun, but because it's so cheery, it is never gloomy, ever.

Once it was done my DH complemented me, and said he would never doubt my color choices again. Or at least, he said he would never tell me he doubted them again...

[anonemouse 1]

My brother and sister-in-law just bought their first house together. It's a house in Memphis' Central Gardens, which is one of the major historic neighborhoods. It was built in 1898, and it still has a lot of the charm of an antique house. I'm probably going to be drafted into helping paint it.

[Jachut 487]

I'd only help paint it for a fair share of the capital gain over the next 20 years, lol.

I've done that. Helped friends paint the outside of their Californian Bungalow way back in about 1990. They bought it for $130,000. Its now worth $600,000 odd (they've long since moved on, into much better neighbourhood). We built our house in the outer burbs. Its still worth jack shit, lol (oh boy what I know about Melbourne real estate now that I could go back and rethink that decision!). And they didnt give us one single bit of help with doing the garden etc.

Ditto SIL. Gorgeous Cal Bung over the other side of the bay. We helped them with everything. They've made a $750,000 capital gain on it so far.

Notice a pattern, lol?

[anonemouse 1]

You might have a point. They're probably going to make a hefty profit on the house whenever they sell it. Central Gardens is one of the more sought-after old neighborhoods because it's a protected historic district, so it's not likely that it will go down in value. Of course, it's surrounded by the 'hood on all sides, and my brother's car has been broken into twice in the last 3 weeks. This last time, it was parked in the back of the driveway of his in-laws house (that's where they've been living), penned in by other vehicles. Kind of creepy, when you consider that the person had to walk up the driveway to get to it, and was in the back yard, which is fenced on three sides. The in-laws' house is about a block from my brother's new house.