Dulux paint pod V's rollers V's paying a painter!

llh189

I am moving in to my first house I have bought and will have limited funds but would like to use the couple of weeks that the house is empty ( whilst serving my notice on my rented place) to do a mini make over!

The interior whilst of a good standard is not my taste, I will need to spend a while saving to do longterm professional work but in the short term it needs a paint job, the ceilings and glossing is relative newly done so it is over painting the wall paper to magnolia to brighten it and to make neutral!

My painting to be fair is a bit rubbish, I will be doing it all by myself, after work ( I do have quiet a demanding job and work long hours) so was thinking of getting a paint pod, £25 ish from Amazon and pods on 2 for 3 in b&q, but have had very mixed reviews, I also know a retired handyman who has a day rate of £60 but that could soon add up! I am getting very mixed opinions from people. I am worried that I'll invest in a paint pod to find that they are rubbish, find my painting over a big area is crappy and the job is too big for me and will ned upmthen resorting to get someone in, so a little confused and wondered what you guys would do!

I am really keen to do it whilst the house is empty as moving furniture on my own ( and I am a girl ) will be nye on impossible to therefore do overtime! I don't have any family close and all my friends are in relationships with small children so limits what help they can provide!

Thanks

Leif

I painted my own home when I moved in, and like you I was very apprehensive, and unsure. Well, if you are reasonably sensible, you can cook a decent meal for example, then you can paint your walls. You need to first do the edges, where a wall meets skirting board, coving, and other walls, using a paint brush, then use a roller to fill in. It might be best to cut in the edges of an area, then roller the area, then move to the next area. You can find videos on YouTube that will show you what to do. Also you have light switches, and sockets to paint round. I unscrewed mine, so I could paint behind. Do be VERY careful for obvious reasons, as you have live electricity. Perhaps I should advise you not to do what I did, and just paint round. I don't want to be responsible for accidents. I turned off the power first, just to be sure, and that is the best approach if you must do like me.

Buy a good brush for cutting in, a 2" or 3" Purdy for example, and a couple of microfibre sleeves for the roller. Microfibres make it easier to get a good finish, and they do not lose hairs unlike the cheap and nasty ones I used in my kitchen. I prefer a short roller, and a trestle. Some prefer a roller on a long handle.

I suggest you practice cutting in using some scrap material. Maybe you've got some scrap pieces of wood that you can nail together, so you can pretend you are cutting in at the coving or skirting edges. Hold the brush like you hold a pen, close to the bristles, you'll get more control. And align the long edge of the bristles with the edge you are painting (see You Tube and other sources).

Oh, and if you have carpets, be aware that a roller WILL splash everywhere, even if you do not see the drops immediately. It will splash on woodwork, so be prepared to give the woodwork a wipe with a damp cloth.

I think you will have to clean the walls first with sugar soap. Hopefully someone else can confirm. I've only painted bare plaster.

ian103

A convential roller would be the fastest way to paint the walls, Ive never got on with rollers or paint pads and now use a good quality emulsion brush, it can be tiring if doing a lot of painting. I wouldn't waste my money on a gadget.

Ask the handiman how long it will take him, it may be money well spent even if he only does an ok job as at least you'll have the benefit of him decorating whilst you're at work.

WhiteChristmas

In years of home decorating I have tried every gadget and wotsit which has claimed to be The Answer.

I always come back to brushes for gloss and rollers for emulsion.

gibson123

Buy a really good roller and extension pole, a good set of brushes, not cheapies, a good sized roller tray and a paint pot. Mask everything you don't want to paint, (use tin foil for awkward shaped things like knobs and masking tape elsewhere. Put on your favourite music,do the edges first and go for it.

look on youtube for videos showing how to roll evenly and blend in edges, good luck.

nickj_2

if paint pods werethat brilliant , all painters would have them ,i've not got one and none of any other painters i've met got one , don't waste your money

abankerbutnotafatcat

Someone at work raves about paint pods especially for ceilings as they don't drip so we've got one as we're decorating most of the house. We had mixed feelings but thought we'd give it a go. He says you only need to buy a paint pod paint once and when you've used that you can refill it by pouring in normal paint, just water it down slightly if you use trade paint as it's thicker.

We got ours off Amazon as you said and then a white paint pod for £27/2.5l and a long handle £15 both Homebase. If it just helps us do all our ceilings without splattering paint everywhere it will be worth it for us as we are dreading doing the ceilings and we're in exactly the same situation as you in that, for the tricky hallway at least, we'd eventually like to get it professionally done but for now we just want to get rid of the dated current decor.

footiefanian

i'm with everyone else on this brushes to a good standard for gloss , roller for emulsion (brush for the edges) and some decent music and crack on

diable

You'll spend more time cleaning the paint pod then using it.

If you have a demanding job and can afford it get the handyman to do it for you, you could ask him for a price for one room and "try" him out to see if his work is any good as working all day then coming home and having to decorate is a killer as the amount of times that I have still been working decorating at 3 in the morning is unbelievable.

jonas123

don't forget you need to wash all the walls down with something like sugar soap before you start. Painting on greasy walls is a depressing and neverending process

Kiran

I have never used a paint pod as I always considered them a gimick but I have and HVLP sprayer which I bought for another purpose and have used a few times in completely empty rooms. Results are fantastic but if the rooms weren't bare any time savings would have been eaten by masking up etc.