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

arbrighton

EssexExile wrote: »

Plastering ceilings after decorating is not the way I'd go!

No, definitely not, all your beautiful new paint will be splattered, cutting in will need to be done again anyway.

I know it'd be easier to paint without the furniture but if you think painting the ceilings is wasted effort, painting the walls before the plasterers come in certainly is

newbieFTB

arbrighton wrote: »

No, definitely not, all your beautiful new paint will be splattered, cutting in will need to be done again anyway.

I know it'd be easier to paint without the furniture but if you think painting the ceilings is wasted effort, painting the walls before the plasterers come in certainly is

Thanks, realistically plastering the ceilings is very low on my priorities - as a first time buyer buying at a time when house prices are riduculously high I just don't have the money to do everything I'd like. It's not like I plan to do the ceilings imminently, it may even be a few years before I can afford it so I'd rather have nice walls and lovely carpets now and worry about mess if and when the time comes that I can afford to get the ceilings done.

wantonnoodle

spadoosh wrote: »

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

I would disagree - Ceilings first, for sure, but then I would do skirtings/woodwork. Gloss paint takes longer to dry (3 or 4 days to properly harden in my experience), and its easier to clean waterbased emulsion off gloss paint than the other way round if you make a mistake.

newbieFTB wrote: »

Most of the rooms have laminate at the moment, hoping this will help doing the floor edges easier as it's coming out and new carpets going down once all the painting is done and before I move in.

I would take the laminate up before you start, depending on how flush it is to the skirting, you will likely scratch the new paint on the skirting if you take it up after painting.

For the reason mentioned above - I would do the woodwork first, otherwise you will need to leave a good 3-4 days after painting before getting the carpet fitted. Most good carpet shops and fitters will recommend this, and will refuse to accept liability for any damage to the finish of the paint if it has been painted before this, as they are likely to have the excess carpet up the skirting board as they fit it into the corner of floor and wall. If paint has not fully hardened (it creates a surface skin first before hardening fully) then you will end up with at best a puckered finish on your skirting and at worst, the paint may be wiped off completely.

LandyAndy

I agree two weeks is pushing it for an amateur.


May be obvious but don't do one room at a time. Prep them all and then you can move from room to room painting continually while the previous ones dry and there will be no dust in the air.


Also if it looks like you'll run out of time before the carpets arrive make sure all the skirtings are done. Architrave and doors can be done with carpet down.

trailingspouse

I reckon to be able to roller a room in 2 hours. As emulsion takes 2 hours to dry, that means you can start the second coat straight away (providing you start in the same place again), as the bit you did first is dry by the time you finish. 2 hours + coffee break + 2 hours - you could get a room painted in half a day.

BUT - it's the preparation that takes the time, and the walls will never look good if you skimp on it. I've had rooms that have taken a week just to prep!!

phill99

trailingspouse wrote: »

I reckon to be able to roller a room in 2 hours. As emulsion takes 2 hours to dry, that means you can start the second coat straight away (providing you start in the same place again), as the bit you did first is dry by the time you finish. 2 hours + coffee break + 2 hours - you could get a room painted in half a day.

BUT - it's the preparation that takes the time, and the walls will never look good if you skimp on it. I've had rooms that have taken a week just to prep!!

And what about the cutting in? That's what takes time.

newbieFTB

Thanks to everyone for all the tips and input, so many things wouldn't have occured to me - like taking the laminate up before painting so as not to scratch it, or doing the skirting in all rooms first so it's bone dry for when the carpets are fitted to avoid squishing the finish.

I'll be sure to come back to this thread when it's all done and dusted to see who guessed right on how long it would take us!

newbieFTB

newbieFTB wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for all the tips and input, so many things wouldn't have occured to me - like taking the laminate up before painting so as not to scratch it, or doing the skirting in all rooms first so it's bone dry for when the carpets are fitted to avoid squishing the finish.

I'll be sure to come back to this thread when it's all done and dusted to see who guessed right on how long it would take us!

Revisiting this one year on - the verdict is...


NO, it wasn't possible to paint an empty 3 bed house (walls/skirting/doors) in a week with two people. This wasn't helped by painting the (shiny) brown skirtings with satin wood, 3 coats, without sanding before being told it was sure to chip within minutes so had to then try and scrape tacky paint off the skirting in the biggest room in the house before sanding and doing another 3 coats. I officially hate skirting boards :rotfl:


Although the house was empty it wasn't like a shiny new build, there were fixes needed at every stage, from removing and filling rawl plug holes to glueing skirting, tidying up plaster work around wall lights - everything took longer than anticipated and I had to draft in friends and family to get it done before the carpets were laid and I moved in. I was working on the house 7am-11pm most days and can only now talk about it without welling up! :rotfl:


Many of the replies commented that I should get the hideous artex ceiling re-plastered at the expense of a lovely new carpet and redecoration. I knew that this wasn't going to be an option for me but what I didn't know was that the artex would grow on me! Some of the patterns are a bit too much but the living room and bedrooms I actually quite like now.

FreeBear

Mojisola wrote: »

Plaster dust gets absolutely everywhere and takes weeks to completely settle out of the air.

There shouldn't be any dust from plastering as long as they do the mixing outside. If there is dust from sanding the plaster, then they are either doing a crap job or using drywall mud (and still a crap job).

As to how long to redecorate a three bed house - I'm still at it three years on. But then some of the redecorating involves ripping down ceilings along with some building work and fixing 60 years or more of bodges.

Depending on the state of the ceilings, you could try X-Tex artex stripper. It does work, although a somewhat messy job, and if your ceilings are free of cracks, would save skimming them.

onomatopoeia99

FreeBear wrote: »

As to how long to redecorate a three bed house - I'm still at it three years on. But then some of the redecorating involves ripping down ceilings along with some building work and fixing 60 years or more of bodges.

Eight years and still going in my case. The 60 years of bodges is also true for me!


Still got the third bedroom and lounge to do, I have no idea how I will empty the lounge so the plasterer can work. I think it will have artex weave on the ceiling forever