Painting, decorating and home improvement tips blog
What you will find under your wallpaper
Posted by Adrian
April 27th, 2018
what you will find under your wallpaper
When removing wallpaper, you never know what you might find underneath. This is typically true of older houses but can also apply to newer houses.
I’ll use one of my jobs as a case study. The job was a spare bedroom, a simple remove old wallpaper, paint the ceiling and woodwork and then re-paper, but like the title of this post says, you never know ‘what you will find under your wallpaper’.
Removing Wallpaper
I removed the wallpaper top layer and soaked the under layer, all was going well and as expected. Then I removed the paper around the windows. These were not original windows and had been renewed with uPVC windows.
It was here that I found the broken away plasted that had left a deep hole. I have come across this problem many times so wasn’t surprised.
Luckily I always carry a fast setting filler so I could fill the deep hole to just below the surface, and finish of with a fine filler. This was done within half a day so I wasn’t help up, I then waited until the next day to hang the wallpaper and could complete the work on time at no extra cost.
As you never know what you may find under the old wallpaper, it is best to expect the unexpected, sometimes it maybe just lots of holes, other times it may involve blown plaster or loose render and plaster around replaced windows and doors.
You may be lucky and only find the dates of when the room was decorated over the years written on the wall, don’t forget to add yours!
Tags: bedroom, Ceiling, Door, Filler, Holes, Paint, Plaster, Removing Wallpaper, Render, replacement windows and doors, UPVC, Wallpaper, Walls, Window, Woodwork
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Painting pipes and Pipework
Posted by Adrian
January 31st, 2017
Painting Pipes and pipework
From time to time we have to paint pipes or pipework, this can be inside or outside a property. It could be plastic PVCu drainage pipes from kitchens or bathrooms, or maybe copper water pipes for heating etc.
What ever the situation un-painted pipes can look unsightly, pipes look better painted. They maybe in a different colour, sometimes a different finish such as gloss or satinwood.
To get a good professional finish you don’t want to get paint from the pipes onto the surrounding area, such as walls. A good trick is to put cardboard of a sheet of paper or old wallpaper behind the pipes to protect the area behind getting splashed or the brush touching the wall as you try to get the back part of the pipes, once done you will have beautifully painted pipes and no paint on the walls behind.
This tip works for all types of pipework, interior and exterior.
How to paint pipes and paintwork
To paint new copper pipes you need to ensure they are free from any plumbing flux and grease, so a wipe over with soapy water, methylated spirits or white spirit should remove this. With the pipes clean you can prime the pipes and then topcoat. I prefer satinwood but you can use gloss or emulsion. Oil based paints can yellow on hot water or heating pipes due to the heat.
To paint previously painted copper pipes, give them a quick wipe over to remove any dust etc, gently rub down to give a key, prime / undercoat and them topcoat with your preferred paint.
To paint plastic PVCu pipes, such as soil pipes, drainage pipes etc, ensure they are free from dirt and debris, including any plumbing grease etc. Give them a rub down with a fine grit sandpaper to give it a key, then prime, and paint with topcoat of choice.
Tags: Bathroom, Copper, Downpipe, heating, Kitchen, Painting, Pipes, Pipework, Plumbing, UPVC
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Spring decorating ideas
Posted by Adrian
May 5th, 2013
Spring decorating ideas
As the weather begins to warm up and the first signs of spring start to appear you may start thinking about doing some jobs around the home and garden. After what feels like an eternity since last years washout Summer and a very long Winter the house may well have been neglected for a year or so and in need of some decorating.
Interior decorating
If the weather turns for the worst or we get more frosty nights it is not the time to be painting your house outside, so why not turn to those decorating jobs inside. It’s time to clear out the spare room and give it a lick of paint, or give the home office new modern look. After such a long dull cold winter any room would benefit form a nice bright Spring like makeover.
If you are looking to keep your house looking ‘on trend’ then how about looking at the colour trends for 2013 and using some of the colours from this years palette, such as the colour of the year 90BB 09/186 or indigo blue to give it its name. This could be used as a feature wall to create a stunning modern look to any home.
You may want to do a little more than just paint the walls, you may want to do some repairs or make a room look more modern. If you have a nasty crack around the ceiling and wall line you could put some coving up, it will hide the crack and give a softer edge to the ceiling and wall line.
It could also be the time to tackle the job most DIYers hate, wallpapering the hall, landing and stairs. You could, if you prefer paint the hallway instead.
Exterior decorating
If your house needs some attention outside, wait until there are no more frosts before painting. Otherwise your hard work will not last long and the nice gloss finish on your front door will end up with a lovely bloom over it by the next day, and you will have to do it all again.
Wait for a day that is going to be dry and not windy ideally, not always easy in the UK! But for best results it is best to pick your day.
If you are thinking of painting your fascia or soffits or maybe the masonry there is an order in which to paint, if you paint in the correct order you will get the best results and make your life easier.
If you have algee, mould or dirt on you house, ensure you wash all of this off first, and never paint over it. If you have lead flashing that isn’t paint, don’t paint it just treat it.
If you have plants growing up the outside of your house, be aware the plants could damage your house. Ivy for example can suck the moisture out of the mortar or render and pull it out. Plants can also hold moisture against the house and cause damp issues, so be aware of this.
If you do not have rendered walls and you have plastic Upvc windows, do not forget the other exterior parts of the house, the fascia boards, soffits and bargeboards, these will need painting every few years. If you neglect these for long enough they will rot, birds will be able to get in and nest and they will be able to get into your loft space. You could also get other unwanted wildlife in your loft space such as squirrels.
Spring and Summer decorating
Hopefully this post has given you some ideas for decorating this Spring, and if the weather is bad there are always jobs inside you can do. I hope you found his post interesting, please feel free to leave a comment and share on Twitter and Facebook.
Tags: Bargeboard, Decorating, Exterior Decorating, Fascia, Interior Decorating, Masonry, Render, Soffit, UPVC
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