How long to paint a 3 bed house for a DIY'er?

newbieFTB

I'm buying a new house and it needs full redocration throughout - the walls are in fairly good condition though and are currently magnolia, no wallpaper.

As I'm moving from a rented house I'm lucky to have a two week gap between getting the keys and leaving my rented house so have two weeks of a totally empty house which I imagine will make things easier/quicker.

I'll only be painting the walls, and skirting boards (not the ceilings, will do the doors if time allows) and will not need to do the kitchen. So basically a living room (15' x 13'), hall/stairs/landing, bedroom one (14' x 9'), bedroom two (9' x 9') and bedroom three (9' x 6') and part of the bathroom as half of it is tiled.

There'll be two of us doing it - one person who has painted before and me, who has never picked up a paint brush or roller in my life!

Any thoughts on how long it might take? I was hoping to get the whole house painted in a week but from googling not sure if thsi is realistic?!

Would also be grateful for any recommendations on paint brands, I'd rather pay more and have to do less coats! We're painting it a pale grey if that makes a difference.

jackieblack

I would say that you can easily do that in a week, especially if you're doing all the same colour throughout and there's two of you.

newbieFTB

jackieblack wrote: »

I would say that you can easily do that in a week, especially if you're doing all the same colour throughout and there's two of you.

Thanks, that's good to hear - we're planning on having it grey throughout, grey is the new magnolia it seems!

victor2

Not sure I'd want an entire house pale grey, but each to their own. As above though, a week should do it. Only difficult part could be the stairs and landing. Painting the woodwork takes some time and needs good preparation.
I always avoid the DIY places own brands and stick to established brands such as Crown and Dulux. Costs a bit more but fewer coats required!

jackieblack

Are you using the same paint for the doors and skirting boards?
A soft dove grey is lovely, very tranquil, (but I'd think twice about battleship grey ) and you can use colour in other accessories if you feel any particular room needs 'brightening up'.
I've never been a fan of magnolia (too green in tone, especially in a north facing room)

newbieFTB

jackieblack wrote: »

Are you using the same paint for the doors and skirting boards?
A soft dove grey is lovely, but I'd think twice about battleship grey
I've never been a fan of magnolia (too green in tone, especially in a north facing room)

Dove grey is the kind of thing I had in mind, with the skirting boards white (satin wood is the type of paint I think?). Doors will also be white but happy to do those once we move in if we run out of time.

newbieFTB

victor2 wrote: »

Not sure I'd want an entire house pale grey, but each to their own. As above though, a week should do it. Only difficult part could be the stairs and landing. Painting the woodwork takes some time and needs good preparation.
I always avoid the DIY places own brands and stick to established brands such as Crown and Dulux. Costs a bit more but fewer coats required!

Thanks, that's doubly reassuring. I have a sander and have read all about sugar soap for prepping, quite looking forward to it actually!

victor2

newbieFTB wrote: »

Thanks, that's doubly reassuring. I have a sander and have read all about sugar soap for prepping, quite looking forward to it actually!

Avoid the cheapest paintbrushes too. No need to go OTT, but pay a bit more for better quality ones and you'll get a better finish on the woodwork, rather than leaving a trail of bristles and associated marks embedded in the paint!

Grenage

Including the prep work of cleaning and rubbing down, I average one room every two days.

newbieFTB

Thanks, so could be closer to 10 days if you count the hall/stairs/landing as a room. I'm hoping the fact it's going to be empty and we'll be focusing 100% on painting it will speed things up as need it to be ready before carpets go down prior to actually moving in.

spadoosh

We did ours in 2 weeks and that involved wallpapering most of the house.

I would recommend doing the ceilings unless youre sure theyve recently been done. When you get furniture et al in, trying to do ceiling becomes a lot more hard work. Unless theyve been painted recently you should see a big difference in brightness in the room.

Work top to bottom. So ceilings, walls, skirting boards (then flooring/carpet). That way youre covering any spills or splashes you may make.

A good paint job relies on good prep work, so do any repairs (cracks dint's in the wall) thoroughly clean the walls and then and then tape off areas if youre a messy painter.

I disagree about the own brand paints. Theres some that have far superior coverage than the standard dulux or crown products and some that are a lot more durable. The calico (dulux) in my living room is disgusting from general marks and doesnt clean without removing the paint. My B&Q cream cleans up easily and was 2/3 the price. I get not all are like that but crown dulux are not the be all and end all. I spent 10 years selling all different brands of paint and i still dont have a particular prefernce. I wont use crown products on wood because i found it truly awful.

Satinwood is perfect for the woodwork, it ticks all the boxes, hardly (if not non) yellowing, durable and nice mid sheen finish.

Finally its nothing like the adverts. Youll be ready to shove the roller pole in any of your assistants orifices by the end. Its tedium defined. Your favourite radio station or playlist might help stave of any attacks.