What type of paint?

ST1991

Hi all!
New home-owner and first time try-er of DIY here.
My Husband is away for 10 days, and i'd really like to get a few rooms painted for when he gets back as a surprise.

We have already done the living room 90% - the last thing is the radiator. I have also just made a start on the bedroom and kitchen. My questions are...:

1. Can i use normal gloss paint on a radiator? I have some left over satin from the walls and would have liked to use that but can go and buy colour match gloss if not.

2. Is it OK to just paint over a radiator that has previously been painted but gone a nasty colour? Do i need to prep it..? It's gone an off-white and i'd like to paint it light grey to match the walls.

3. Tile paint... The previous owner had tenants who painted the kitchen tiles black... which looks awful. As a quick fix, can i just paint those too? I have seen a paint specially for tiles, and wondered if anyone had any reviews of this.

Thanks everyone!
P.S we will be replacing the radiators one-by-own with nicer ones. We will also be re-doing the kitchen at some point in the not-too-distant future too, but it is so grubby-looking that a lick of paint is needed for my sanity, as a cheap short-term fix!

gardner1

ST1991 wrote: »

Hi all!
New home-owner and first time try-er of DIY here.
My Husband is away for 10 days, and i'd really like to get a few rooms painted for when he gets back as a surprise.

We have already done the living room 90% - the last thing is the radiator. I have also just made a start on the bedroom and kitchen. My questions are...:

1. Can i use normal gloss paint on a radiator? I have some left over satin from the walls and would have liked to use that but can go and buy colour match gloss if not.

2. Is it OK to just paint over a radiator that has previously been painted but gone a nasty colour? Do i need to prep it..? It's gone an off-white and i'd like to paint it light grey to match the walls.

3. Tile paint... The previous owner had tenants who painted the kitchen tiles black... which looks awful. As a quick fix, can i just paint those too? I have seen a paint specially for tiles, and wondered if anyone had any reviews of this.

Thanks everyone!
P.S we will be replacing the radiators one-by-own with nicer ones. We will also be re-doing the kitchen at some point in the not-too-distant future too, but it is so grubby-looking that a lick of paint is needed for my sanity, as a cheap short-term fix!

It's all about the prep

Radiator will need a rub down and possible primer.......kitchen tiles will need to be dirt and grease free

ST1991

gardner1 wrote: »

It's all about the prep

Radiator will need a rub down and possible primer.......kitchen tiles will need to be dirt and grease free

Thanks! I have a 'crazy mouse' for sanding things down now so can do that no problem
Just wondering if i can paint over the existing paint... or whether it would need to be sanded all the way back and starting a-fresh.

Radiators are painted OK, just discoloured. Tiles are glossed... i think? (very drippy...)

Kiran

You don't need to sand back to bare metal, just enough to give the surface a key. Last one I refurbished I did with spray enamel from screwfix.

flashg67

I've found oil based paints better on metal, so gloss or oil based satin would be best. A light sanding first will be fine.

I've used tile paint in the past - it is relatively tricky to get a perfect finish and you'll lose the grout lines unless you can be bothered to mask off and do a bit at a time. 'Tile transfers' might be worth a google instead

ST1991

Thanks everyone. I have had some paint mixed up as gloss in the colour i wanted to match the room accents (they only sold matt and silk off the shelf) so i'm excited to paint them later this week!

I also went ahead and bought the tile paint. I don't think the grout lines are even there any more. my mum made a good point in that as the tiles have already been painted i probably could've just glossed over them - but the tile paint is supposedly 'one coat' and it has to cover black paint...!

Do the grout paint pens do a good job of putting the colour back into the grout afterwards? I'm thinking of glossing over it all, and then buying a white grout pen to put the white lines back in afterwards....

arbrighton

If the grout has been painted black, I don't think the white grout pen will do anything apart from make it look grubby grey

ST1991

arbrighton wrote: »

If the grout has been painted black, I don't think the white grout pen will do anything apart from make it look grubby grey

I've never used a grout pen before - so glad you said this before i did anything and made it look even more awful!

I'm painting the walls to liven up the place in a very light warm grey, and the tiles will be gloss red (i was also going to go white, but then the cabinets will look more grubby... and i'm leaving that for another day...) as our small appliances are red.
It's currently black tiles and dark turquoise (almost black..) walls in a 3x2 kitchen...!

Perhaps a black grout pen? Just to touch up any red bits that get in it - do you think that would work?

arbrighton

We painted the rather dark yellow and blue tiles in the original kitchen of this house when we moved in- it's a north facing room with a tiny window and they were overpowering. I think the grout used to be white

We did them white with specific tile paint but it was difficult to get a decent finish without a load of runs. I don't know if they do a spray paint that might work better? Just paint the lot, or you're going to have to tape off each tile and paint separately!

thescouselander

Ugh, I hate painting radiators - they're a right load of messing about. Probably better just to buy a new one. They're not expensive and the saving in time and materials is worth it IMO.

ST1991

Well, my gloss paint cost £18 to have mixed up to the color i want, and have done 3 radiators! (i'd say that was cheaper than buying new?)
They aren't particularly small, with the bedroom one being 2M in width (difficult to get a radiator cover without it costing a bomb).

I also have enough paint left over to give the skirting boards in the bedroom a new lease of life, too.

The first coat looked awful. I was scared of putting too much paint on in-case it dripped so it was streaky light grey with some faded yellowy-white peeking through. Ugh.
I did a second coat and they look great now! I am most pleased with myself

Haven't tackled the tiles yet... that one is for tonight....