As with many DIY'ers, you take a trip to your local DIY store, pickup a tin of paint and you are back home and painting your walls and skirting boards. That's great but you soon come to realise you my have been hasty in your approach and start to see problems like peeling paint. So if you did it again what could you have done differently? We're here to make sure you take a few things into account before buying your next tin of paint.
Which Paint?
The first point to make, is look at what you're painting. You need different paint for your walls than you do for you doors and skirting boards. A lot of people however believe paint is paint and you can paint any surface. In fact this is not the case and you should be careful of which paint to use and how to apply it. We have other articles looking at the specifics of wood paint for instance. We are however making sure you check the difference before paying for that next tin of paint.
Watch our for water-based paint!
In the last 5 years we have seen an explosion of water-based paints. Long term this is a great thing for the consumer and the paint producers however, short term it is causing problems for homeowners. If your home is painted with oil based paint (which most home are over 5-10 years old) then you cannot simply paint your skirting or doors with the latest Satinwood paint for instance. If you do the paint will simply start to peel and flake looking terrible and leaving you with serious problems long term. Instead you need to first apply a primer, this will create a bond between the old oil based paint and provide a surface for the new water-based paint to stick to.
Make those repairs!
We are all guilty of getting carried away and getting paint on the walls before checking for lumps and bumps, in the hope the paint will cover a multitude of sins. Newsflash, the paint will not miraculously cover those holes or repair the walls. Make sure you take care of any imperfections before you open the tin of paint. This will ensure you get the "perfect" finish.
Where to buy your paint?
Did you know that standard paint and trade paint is different? A lot of people don't. Rather than going to your DIY store, we recommend for people to go to their local decorating centre. Whether it be Dulux, Johnstone's, Crown or Brewers, the trade paint you purchase will be better quality and you can call on help and advice from the professionals. Don't worry you're not a trade customers. They are more than happy to serve members of the public.
Conclusion
In this article we've covered the basics. Want to know more? Take a look at our more detailed blogs where we answer all your decorating questions.
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